Adding a messaging feature

As part of the development of an applicant tracking system (ATS), the ability to send and receive messages within the service was a key feature that was required for our initial launch.

# Key findings

User research, and our ATS co-design workshops, highlighted that:

the majority of ATS users felt the ability to send (93%) and receive (79%) messages was essential
users wanted the ability for multiple people to progress applications, improving efficiency and providing an audit trail
users felt they got a higher response rate outside the ATS system and so it was important that candidates got notifications when they received messages

# What we have done

We have developed an internal messaging feature to enable jobseekers and hiring staff to communicate using the service.

This addition allows hiring staff to:

message applicants from the point their application is received (unless the jobseeker withdraws their application)
share attachments or links with applicants through the messaging feature
use formatting (such as bold, italics and bullet points) within the messaging feature
initiate messages from within an individual applicant’s dashboard area
use a dashboard to view all messages, search messages, archive messages and sort by unread, newest or oldest on top
receive a service notification and an email notification once a day for any messages received

This addition allows jobseekers to:

reply to any messages received unless they are marked as ‘not progressing’ (they can receive a message from hiring staff, but not reply) or they withdraw their application
initiate a message to hiring staff once they are marked as ‘interviewing’ or ‘job offered’ for a role
share any attachments or links with hiring staff through the message feature
use formatting (such as bold, italics and bullet points) within the messaging feature
receive both a service and an email notification when receiving a message