Candidate Conversational Messaging for WhatsApp

You can use Candidate Conversational Messaging for WhatsApp to exchange WhatsApp messages with recruiting candidates from their job applications in Workday. Candidates must opt in before recruiters can message them. Recruiters start conversations with Message Builder templates that Meta has approved. After a candidate replies, recruiters can send free-text messages during Meta’s 24-hour customer service window.

Candidate Opt-In

Candidates can opt in to WhatsApp messaging when they enter a mobile phone number during the job application process on an external career site. Workday displays the WhatsApp Opt-In check box when you:

Configure at least 1 WhatsApp sender in the tenant.

Select the WhatsApp Opt-In check box on the

Maintain External Career Site

task.

When candidates opt in, they select a consent check box and can review your organization’s terms and conditions. Workday records the consent on the candidate profile.

Candidates with a Candidate Home account can also manage their WhatsApp preference from the

Change Personal Information

task. They can:

Opt in or revoke consent.

Save the preference so that it persists when they reopen the

Change Personal Information

task.

If a candidate changes their phone number or country code while the

WhatsApp Opt-In

check box is selected, Workday clears the check box. The candidate must opt in again for the new number.

You can use the

Manage WhatsApp Preferences for Candidate

task to opt in or out eligible candidates. You can access the task from candidate related actions or as a stand-alone task. To use this task:

Configure WhatsApp Messaging.

Confirm that the candidate has a valid phone number.

Secure access to the Candidate Data: WhatsApp Opt-In/Opt-Out
domain in the Recruiting functional area.

When you opt a candidate in from this task, you acknowledge that you have obtained and recorded their consent. Manual opt-in bypasses the Workday Messaging consent capture process.

Workday displays a WhatsApp icon on the candidate profile only when the candidate has opted in.

Recruiter Messaging

Recruiters can message opted-in candidates from the collaboration panel on the candidate profile, alongside Candidate Notes and Candidate SMS. Recruiters can use the WhatsApp conversation when:

You have configured WhatsApp Messaging.

The candidate has a valid phone number and a job application.

The candidate has opted in to WhatsApp messaging.

The recruiter has access to the candidate’s job application and the Manage: Candidate WhatsApp Conversations
domain.

To start a conversation, recruiters select an approved message template in the message composer. Recruiters see only:

Templates they have permission to access.

Templates that Meta has approved in the candidate’s language.

If a recruiter doesn’t have access to 1 or more report fields in the selected template, Workday disables the send action.

Workday logs WhatsApp messages that recruiters send and receive in the candidate

Activity Stream

and on the job application

Timeline

24-Hour Customer Service Window

The 24-hour customer service window is a Meta timeframe that controls which messages recruiters can send. The window starts when a candidate sends a message to your organization.

Window State	What Recruiters Can Send
Inside the 24-hour window	Free-text messages and templated messages.
Outside the 24-hour window	An approved message template. Recruiters must send a template to continue the conversation.

Workday displays an expiry alert at the top of the WhatsApp panel with the time remaining in the window. Workday calculates the window from the candidate’s last message. When the window ends, Workday disables the free-text composer until a recruiter sends an approved template.

Candidate Record Merge

Workday retains WhatsApp conversations when you merge or unmerge candidate records. Whether a conversation remains editable depends on the phone number that Workday keeps for the merged candidate:

Conversations that use the phone number Workday keeps remain open and editable.

Conversations that use a different phone number remain in the history. Recruiters can’t edit them.

Notifications

Workday uses the

Candidate Conversational Communications

notification category for incoming candidate SMS and WhatsApp messages.

Recruiters receive notifications for new WhatsApp messages from candidates. The notification includes candidate and job application details and a link to the job application.

You can use the

Candidate WhatsApp Message Templates

notification category to create Message Builder templates for WhatsApp and to segment security for those templates. Recruiters can use a WhatsApp message template after Meta approves it.

Security

These domains in the Recruiting functional area control access to WhatsApp messaging:

Domain	Functional Area	What It Controls
Candidate Data: WhatsApp Opt-In/Opt-Out	Recruiting	Access to the Manage WhatsApp Preferences for Candidate task.
Manage: Candidate WhatsApp Conversations	Recruiting	Who can view or participate in WhatsApp conversations with candidates.
Manage: WhatsApp	System	Tasks and reports that display WhatsApp records, including usage history, opt-in and opt-out history, and changes to the Terms and Conditions.
Set Up: Tenant Setup - BP and Notifications	System	Access to the Maintain Workday Messaging report and WhatsApp messaging configuration tasks.

You can use the

Candidate WhatsApp Message Templates

security segment with the Message Builder
domain to control who can access WhatsApp message templates.

Workday includes in the

Unread Messages

count only the SMS and WhatsApp messages that the recruiter can access.

Reporting

These report fields on the Candidate business object include WhatsApp communications:

Unread Messages

: Returns a consolidated count of unread SMS and WhatsApp messages for active conversations. The drill-down displays the message type, date and time, message text, sender, and job application. Workday returns a count of 0 for a closed conversation.

Has Conversation:

Identifies whether a message history exists across SMS and WhatsApp.

Messages:

Includes WhatsApp communications.

Active Conversation:

Reflects the current status of the communication thread, including the 24-hour customer service window.

When you purge candidates or workers, the

Purge Privacy Data

task removes WhatsApp messaging data for the Job Application Conversational Messaging
and Recruiting Communications
purgeable data types.