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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-04-03
Steps: Set Up Prospects and Candidates

Steps: Set Up Prospects and Candidates

There are 2 types of candidates in Workday:
  • Active candidates, who have at least 1 job application.
  • Prospects, who are contacts you want to track but don't match any specific job postings.
Set up candidates so you can:
  • Create and track prospects.
  • Share prospects and candidates with other recruiters.
  • Invite candidates to apply for jobs.
  • Create job applications on behalf of candidates.
  1. Configure candidate security.
  2. Access the
    Maintain Prospect Statuses
     task.
    Create statuses to track prospects. Examples:
    New
    ,
    Nurturing
    ,
    Ready
    .
    You can define an external-facing status label for prospects in the
    Prospect Label Override
     column. This status displays on the
    My Referrals
     report until the candidate applies for a job.
    Security:
    Set Up: Recruiting
     domain in the Recruiting functional area.
  3. Access the
    Maintain Prospect Types
     task.
    Separate prospects into categories for easier searching. Example:
    Contact
    ,
    Networker
    ,
    Key Influencer
    .
    Security:
    Set Up: Recruiting
     domain in the Recruiting functional area.
  4. Create your library of schools, degrees, and field of studies.
  5. Create your library of companies.
  6. Create your library of languages.
  7. Create your library of skills.
  8. Configure the candidate and prospect profiles.
  9. Change the naming convention for the candidate reference ID that Workday generates.
  11. Set up notifications for internal and external candidates.
  12. For the Recruiting functional area, configure optional fields for the
    Create Prospect
     task.
  13. (Optional) Access the
    Edit Tenant Setup - Recruiting
     task.
    1. Select the
      Enable Automatic Candidate Merging
       check box to have Workday merge duplicate candidates that:
      • Apply to a job posting on an external career site.
      • You upload with the
        Put Candidate
         web service.
    2. Select the
      Enable Candidate School Look Up for External Career Sites
       check box.
      This check box enables external candidates to search for and select schools from your tenant when completing job applications. External candidates won't be able to add their school if it doesn't exist in your tenant.
    3. Select the
      Copy Personal Information from Job Application on Initiate Hire
       check box.
      When you enable this setting and hire a candidate that was merged to a contingent worker, Workday populates some information on the worker profile from their job application.
Use these reports to view candidate information:
Report
Candidate Information
Find Candidates
All candidates that you have access to.
My Candidates
  • Candidates who applied to your job requisitions.
  • Prospects that you added to your prospect list.
My Recruiting Jobs
Number of active candidates for your job requisitions.