For: Recruiters and other users who reject candidates in Talent Acquisition

Summary

Schedule a candidate's rejection for a future date and time, so the candidate receives your rejection email before they see a Rejected status.

What is scheduled rejection?

Scheduled rejection lets you set the date and time when a rejection happens. You complete the rejection dialog as usual and pick a Reject On date and time. Until then, the application stays in its current stage and its status doesn't change. At the scheduled time, Eightfold rejects the candidate and sends the rejection email together.

Why it matters

• The candidate hears from you first. A candidate who logs in to the career site doesn't see a Rejected status before your email arrives.
• The date is filled in for you. Your admin sets a default delay, which can differ by user group and rejection reason, so you don't need to work out the date each time.
• You can change your mind. You can edit or cancel a scheduled rejection until 15 minutes before it happens.

How it works

Schedule a rejection

1. Open the position pipeline.
2. Select one or more candidates, then click Reject. The Confirm ATS action dialog opens.
3. In Enter rejection reason, select a reason. The reason is required. The Reject On date can change when you change the reason, because your admin can set a different delay for each reason.
4. In Add Comments (Optional), add an internal note if needed.
5. Under Rejection Settings, choose when the rejection happens:
• Reject On: Schedules the rejection for the date and time shown. The date and time are pre-filled from your admin's settings, and the time defaults to 9:00 AM. If your admin allows it, you can pick a different date and time. If the pickers are read-only, your admin has fixed the schedule.
• Reject immediately: Rejects the candidate now and sends the email now. This option appears only if your admin allows it.
6. Review the email settings. With Send Rejection Email selected, you can choose a template and edit the subject and body. The email goes out at the time of the rejection, not before.
7. Click Confirm. The message "Rejection scheduled successfully" appears.

The scheduled time must be at least 15 minutes in the future.

Track a scheduled rejection

• In the position pipeline, a red Rejection scheduled tag appears under the candidate's name.
• On the candidate profile, the same tag appears next to the candidate's current stage. Hover over the tag to see the date and time, for example "Rejection scheduled for Sep 15, 2026 9:00 AM".
• The candidate's Activities list shows who scheduled, edited, or cancelled the rejection, and for when.

Edit a scheduled rejection

1. On the candidate profile, open the Applications tab.
2. On the application card, click Edit rejection. The Confirm ATS action dialog opens with your saved details, including the reason, template, subject, and body. The Rejection Settings section is titled Edit scheduled rejection.
3. Change the date, time, reason, comment, or email settings. Confirm stays disabled until you change something.
4. Click Confirm.

To edit several candidates at once, select them in the pipeline and click Reject again with the new details.

Cancel a scheduled rejection

1. On the candidate profile, open the Applications tab.
2. On the application card, click Cancel rejection.
3. In the Cancel rejection? dialog, confirm. The message "Scheduled rejection cancelled successfully" appears.

Cancelling removes the scheduled rejection and its email. The candidate's status doesn't change.

FAQs

What happens if I move the candidate to another stage before the scheduled time? The scheduled rejection is cancelled, and the candidate isn't rejected.

What happens if I reject the candidate immediately instead? Eightfold cancels the scheduled rejection and rejects the candidate right away.

Can I cancel scheduled rejections for many candidates at once? No. Cancel each one from the candidate's application card.

Why is Confirm disabled when I reject several candidates? Your selection mixes candidates who already have a scheduled rejection with candidates who don't. Clear that candidate from the selection, then try again.

Why isn't the rejection email in the Messages tab? The email isn't created until the rejection happens. It appears in Messages after it's sent.

Which email address does the candidate's email go to? The address on the candidate's profile at the scheduled time.

Can I edit or cancel right before the scheduled time? No. Edit and cancel close 15 minutes before the scheduled time.

Do weekends and holidays count? If your admin turned on weekend skipping, a pre-filled date that lands on a Saturday or Sunday moves to Monday. Holidays aren't skipped.