Talent tracking system

T3S position intake: stepper, basic details form and hiring insights

Credits

Me · every flow, screen and prototype, plus design QC on the build 1 product manager 1 engineer 1 engineering lead 2 tech leads joined for the later work

Eightfold owned one step. Four other tools owned the position before and after it.
≈ 62 days
position to signed offer · today
Day 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
External ATS
GreenhouseSAP SuccessFactorsWorkdayLever
Email
GmailOutlook
Eightfold
Excel
E-signature
DocuSignAdobe Sign
Define position5d
Approve10d
⚠ Copied into an email thread
Import2d
⚠ Re-keyed by hand, no history
Find & interview35d
Build offer7d
⚠ Lined up in Excel
Sign3d
⚠ One more tool
Illustrative days · industry benchmarks and project notes, not measured
Before · five tools, about 62 days to a signed offer
One system. The only wait left is the interviews.
≈ 40 days
position to signed offer · target
Day 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Eightfold
E-signature
DocuSign
Define position1d
Approve2d
Find & interview35d
Build offer1d
Sign1d
Define position
5d 1d
start from a template
Approve
10d 2d
one chain, reminders
Import
2d 0
nothing to import
Build offer
7d 1d
variables fill the letter
Sign
3d 1d
sent to DocuSign from the offer
Illustrative days · target, not measured
After · about 40 days, the target
1 / 2
1 / 5
Create position: duplicate from role, duplicate position or create from scratch
Position intake with stepper, section list and hiring analytics
Approvers in order and watchers
Review the position and its route before sending
Approval center with draft, pending and approved positions
The new flow · create, approve, track in one place
1 / 1

Executive Summary

__t3s_exec_bento__

01

Context & Overview

The Product

  • Users|Built for companies with 5,000 to 100,000+ workforce
  • Sparkles|AI finds and ranks candidates for every role
  • CircleCheck|Recruiters sourced, interviewed and got feedback here
  • CircleSlash|No applicant tracking system (ATS) of its own
  • FileText|ATS · holds positions, approvals and offers
  • Building2|Customers used Workday, Lever or Greenhouse
  • Link2|Eightfold depended on those tools

The Users

Recruiter

Opens 100+ positions a month, in many countries Need - start from a copy, and see where each request stands

Recruiter

HR business partner

Owns the templates, the offer letters and the rules Need - set the rules once, every offer follows them

HR business partner

Approver

Hiring manager or leader. Approves headcount and pay Need - the whole request in one place, decide once

Approver

Who’s involved

__t3s_who_table__

Rollout plan

__t3s_rollout_bento__

Customer Goal

Fewer tools, fewer switches, faster hiring.

35%

shorter time to hire for customers · target, placeholder

1

system for every hiring step, instead of five

100+

positions a month, per customer, across the world

6+

months from opening a position to the new hire starting

Business Goal

Turn the ATS into an upsell and an entry plan.

  • TrendingUp|Upsell · existing customers buy the ATS top-up plan
  • Boxes|Simplify · one Eightfold system, no outside ATS
  • Store|Standalone ATS · only what small and mid-size firms need
  • ArrowUpRight|Upgrade path · full TA suite, then talent management
  • Route|Own the journey · find, hire, onboard, manage, offboard

2

systems every customer paid for: Eightfold plus an ATS

<500

workforce: the small business segment we could not sell to

02

Problem Definition

The Problem

  • Database|Partial data · each ATS sent a different slice
  • Mail|Approvals over email · no history, no status
  • Sheet|Offers in Excel · by hand, per country
  • Globe|No global standard · each office hired its own way

__t3s_more_problem__

What people said

  • LayoutTemplate|Templates, not blank forms · one per country or team
  • SlidersHorizontal|Rules change by job · role, country and level
  • Lock|Private data leaks · pay details in email attachments

__t3s_more_research__

Design Question

How might one system take a position all the way from the first form to a signed offer, with every rule set only once?

03

Design Principles

Principles

__t3s_principles__

A

Start from a copy, not a blank page

What changed

  • Copy|Start from a copy · a role, a position or a template
  • Milestone|Stepper and section list · always know where you are
  • Hourglass|Optional steps wait · calibration, interview, posting

__t3s_more_a__

Create position: duplicate from role, duplicate position or create from scratch
Three ways to start a position
Position intake with stepper, section list and hiring analytics
The intake form · stepper on top, sections on the left
1 / 2

B

Set the rules once, in the template

What changed

  • ToggleRight|Four switches per field · set once in the template
  • GitBranch|Approvals as a chain · creator, approvers, watchers
  • Inbox|One approval center · request, history, comments

__t3s_more_b__

1 / 3
Approvers in order and watchers
Review the position and its route before sending
Approval center with draft, pending and approved positions
Set the approvers · review · approval center
Approval center with draft, pending and approved positions
Approval center · full history and comments in one place
1 / 2

C

One letter, different values per country

What changed

  • Scissors|Letter split from the numbers · one template
  • Calculator|Variables fill and calculate · bonus, stock vesting
  • Replace|Clauses for a customer deadline · shipped in week 39

__t3s_more_c__

Offer letter template editor
Offer letter template · the design
1 / 3
Offer letter template editor with a variables panel
Add variable: five field types and four behaviour flags
Edit offer warning: approval-required changes restart approval
Adding a variable, and the edit warning · as shipped
1 / 2

Decision log

What happens when a field changes

Options · re-approve every change, never re-approve, or decide field by field Chose · four switches on every field, set once in the template Trade-off · the admin has to set the switches well

How offer wording changes

Options · paragraphs picked by rules, or clauses with conditions Chose · clauses, shipped in week 39 for a customer deadline Trade-off · I rebuilt the template model under a fixed date

One that didn’t land

Options · Approve and Reject in the page, or a bar fixed to the bottom Chose · the fixed bar, so approvers never scroll to decide Outcome · leadership called its placement inefficient, redesign deferred

__t3s_more_decisions__

Options we weighed

  • LayoutTemplate|Six visual and interaction options · each next to the one we kept
Approving from the email
ConsideredRedrawn from the design file
Approval needed · Product manager
Candidate details
Position details
Compensation
Show more
ApproveReject
“Show more” expands the full summary in the email
ShippedBuild screenshot
Build: approval center with request details, approvers and Approve/Revoke actions
The email opens the approval center, with the full request
Our readingEngineering asked what happens when the summary is long. Deciding in one place keeps the whole request and its history together.
Approving from the email
Checking every clause is in the letter
ConsideredRedrawn from the design file
Offer detail form
Base salary
Joining date
Relocation clause
Continue
Continue stops you with a dialog
ShippedRedrawn from the design file
Offer detail form
Clauses12 of 35 added
Relocation clause
Notice period
+ Add clause
A counter updates as you add clauses
Our readingThe HR business partner could skip the dialog anyway, so it only interrupted. The counter shows the same thing while you keep working.
Checking every clause is in the letter
Editing a field that needs approval
ShippedBuild screenshot
Build: Edit offer dialog warning that approval-required changes restart approval
A warning dialog before the change is applied
Design updateRedrawn from the design file
Position details
Salary · needs approval
$145,000
Location
Noida
Edit inline. A warning appears, and Undo puts it back
Stated in the design fileThe build shipped the dialog. The next design pass moved the warning inline and added Undo, so a slip doesn’t cost a whole approval round.
Editing a field that needs approval
Missing required fields
SuggestedRedrawn from the design file
Fill intake form
Job title*
Number of openings*
3
Hiring manager*
Next
Next stays active and points at what’s missing
Build directionRedrawn from the design file
Fill intake form
Job title*
Number of openings*
3
Hiring manager*
Next
Next stays disabled until the form is complete
Stated in the design fileBoth are in the file. A reviewer suggested showing pending fields on Next. The build review asked for a disabled button, because intake is a required step.
Missing required fields
Compensation context in the offer form
HandoffRedrawn from the design file
Average annual salary
LowestAverageHighest
Offer acceptance rate
72%
A salary range for the position
Latest conceptRedrawn from the design file
Average annual salary
Current
Average stock options
Acceptance · predicted vs past
Predicted
Past
Average days to join · 24
Where this offer sits, stock, and acceptance risk
Our readingRecruiters and approvers needed to see where this offer sits, not just the range. A comment in the file also asked to flag numbers above the approved range.
Compensation context in the offer form
The positions home
BeforeBuild screenshot
Existing product: positions list with days open and funnel counts
The existing list: positions and their counts
ConceptRedrawn from the design file
PositionHealthNext action
Product managerSend reminder
Data analyst—
DesignerCalibrate position
Sales leadFeedback pending
A health score and one next action per position
Our readingThe milestones are labelled in the file. The aim was to tell a recruiter which position needs them next, and what to do about it.
The positions home
1 / 6

04

Validation

Leadership review · week 30

  • Ban|Offers and job posts before approval · now blocked
  • Eye|Pipeline hidden during approval · now always shown
  • UserRound|“Who is this person?” · names open profile cards

The first one was my miss. I had tested with recruiters, never with approvers.

__t3s_more_review__

Design QC

244

screens I checked against the built product

175

screens in the main handoff to engineering

1 / 5
Shipped: create position with three paths
Shipped: duplicate from role with filters
Shipped: calibration with candidate counts
Shipped: request approval with creator, approvers and watchers
Shipped: approval center, pending since four hours
The shipped build · demo tenant with sample data
1 / 1

05

Handoff

Timeline

  • Calendar|Week 14 · demo for leadership and beta customers
  • Calendar|Week 28 · main handoff, 175 screens
  • Calendar|Week 30 · leadership review, 5 of 6 fixes in
  • CalendarCheck|Week 39 · clauses shipped on the date

__t3s_more_timeline__

Launch results

  • Handshake|Two beta customers under NDA, then more
  • Building|Live for Eightfold’s own recruiting team
  • Users|Four existing customers asked for it
  • Megaphone|Announced at Cultivate as Eightfold’s own ATS

What I would measure

  • Timer|Days from new position to approval
  • PenLine|Positions edited after submission
  • Sheet|Offers sent with no spreadsheet step
  • LayoutTemplate|Templates per customer in month one

06

Reflection

What I learned

  • UserX|Test with people who say no · approvers found the gap
  • Lock|Name a rule by what it protects · “Compensation field”
  • Target|Set success numbers before the demo · we had none
  • Package|Next · ship pay insight and next-action concepts

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