Automated Task

An automated task is an action the system automatically performs to delete and archive information contained in the database.

The Automated Tasks feature allows the deletion of the following data from the database:

candidates
submissions
requisitions
requisition templates
questions

The Automated Task feature provides three types of deletion:

Permanently delete: This type of deletion removes data from the database without the possibility of restoring it. This action can be performed on candidate files, submissions, requisition files, requisition templates, and questions. System administrators, when creating a task, can limit the task's scope to files that meet specific criteria. They can also specify when the task is to start and indicate whether the task is to be run on a recurring basis.
Delete (all data can later be restored): This action is available for candidate files only. When using this type of deletion, candidate files deleted no longer appear in the Recruiting Center, but the files are not actually purged from the database. This type of deletion provides system administrators the ability to restore them should the need arise. System administrators can restore a particular candidate file, several candidate files, or even all candidate files deleted by an iteration of the task if necessary. System administrators, when creating a task, can limit the task's scope to files that meet specific criteria. They can also specify when the task is to start and indicate whether the task is to be run on a recurring basis. Reports can include candidate files deleted in this manner. If the candidates referred other candidates, such references are deleted and cannot be restored afterward even if the candidate files are later restored.
Delete (non identifying data can later be used for reporting purposes): This action is available for candidate files only. This type of deletion removes identifying data from the database with the possibility of retaining non identifying information for reporting purposes. Candidate files deleted in this manner cannot be restored afterward. If the candidates referred other candidates, such references are deleted and cannot be restored afterward.

Several criteria are available to define which elements to delete. Criteria using UDFs are also available. Only UDFs of type Selection and Date are available. When system administrators use a UDF of type Selection, the available operator is "Is set to". When system administrators use a UDF of type Date, the available operator is "Is older than". It is possible to select several UDFs for one criterion and to select multiple values for one UDF. In each case, the AND condition is used. In the following example, the criterion "Include only submissions based on the value of the following UDFs" contains 4 UDFs, and the UDF "Afternoons Available" is selected 3 times with different values.

Candidate file permanent deletions are performed in two phases.

All candidate files matching the criteria are tagged as "to be deleted". They are still in the database, but not displayed to users.
All candidate files tagged as "to be deleted" are permanently deleted. Note that the first and second phases cannot occur the same night. Therefore, hard-deleting a single candidate will take as long as hard-deleting 1000 files.

When a candidate is deleted, it is as if the candidate never existed from a user's point of view. Therefore, if a candidate applies for a second time, the candidate would need to create a whole new candidate file. The old file would not be available (unless the system administrator would have reactivated it).

Candidate deletions are done in batches of 1000 candidates per hour. This means that a maximum of 12,000 candidates are processed per evening.

Submission permanent deletions are performed in two phases:

All candidate submissions matching the criteria are tagged as "to be deleted". They are still in the database, but not displayed to users.
All candidate submissions tagged as "to be deleted" are permanently deleted. Phase 2 typically happens 24 hours after the execution of Phase 1. During Phase 2, the system checks for special conditions that would prevent a candidate submission from being deleted, such as the existence of an Onboarding (Transitions) process. If such a condition exists, the submission is not permanently deleted and remains tagged as "to be deleted".

The candidate submissions deletion process deletes any elements related to the submission being deleted, for example: tasks, attachments, partner's processes, interview questionnaires and answers.

Onboarding

Note:

When a candidate submission is deleted by an automated task, the last modified date for that candidate is not modified. In this way, the execution of date-sensitive deletion tasks is unaffected by candidate submission deletion tasks.

Requisition deletions are done in batches of 100 requistions per hour. This means that a maximum of 1200 requisitions are processed per evening.

Questions used in requisitions cannot be deleted manually nor through the Automated Task feature. Users can delete obsolete and unreferenced questions only after cleaning up the question library, that is:

Delete candidates (which will delete the answers associated to questions).
Delete requisitions and templates.

System administrators can schedule automated tasks to be run automatically, once or on a recurring basis, or they can run them manually. Automated tasks run from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM (Eastern Time) during the week, and full-time (24 hours a day) during the weekend.

History events of an automated task are kept 24 months in the system (Recruiting Administration > Automated Tasks > click an automated task > View History).

Important Information

When creating an automated task, it is possible to limit the task's scope to elements that meet specific criteria. It is also possible to specify when the task is to start and whether the task is to be run on a recurring basis.
If selecting the Permanently delete candidate files action while creating an automated task option, the candidate files will be deleted permanently from the Taleo system when the task is run but users will be able to "pick up" the candidate information to be deleted permanently in the Taleo databases at a Taleo FTP location for a predetermined period of time. The candidate information will be in the form of XML files.
As the number of candidate files, requisitions, templates, and questions has increased, the size of Taleo customers' databases has grown proportionally. The Permanently delete candidate files action provides a highly configurable tool that can result in significantly improved system performance: faster candidate searches, quicker report generation, pages and lists that are displayed more rapidly. All of these performance improvements will result in greater productivity with respect to users.
Better compliance with regulations around the world. Some countries have strict laws governing the length of time that personal information can be held in databases. Taleo customers who do business in such countries will be able to delete candidate information in a manner that complies with such legislation. Taleo customers can create tasks that use the Permanently delete candidate files action in particular to ensure that the personal information they have stored in Taleo's databases conforms to the legislation in the countries in which they do business.
When a candidate is deleted, his/her user name becomes available to other users.
For Onboarding, there are 2 additional settings to be aware of. They are:
- Automatically Delete Old Onboarding (Transitions) Processes: This is used to delete older processes and is enabled by default.
- Consider Onboarding processes before deleting candidates: Determines whether or not candidates are permanently deleted based on the existence of related onboarding processes. Ultimately, the configuration value determines if, based on the existence of onboarding processes, a candidate and their relevant processes are to be soft-deleted or permanently deleted in both Recruiting and Onboarding.
  There are 2 values available to select for configuring this setting. They are:
  - Permanently delete candidates if no related Onboarding processes exist. Soft delete candidates otherwise.
    Permanently deletes candidates only if they were never involved in an Onboarding process. Otherwise, regardless if the Onboarding process is still in process or has become canceled or completed.
    This is the default at upgrade.
    - In Recruiting candidate is soft-deleted.
    - In Onboarding, the process name (in the process list) is appended with (Deactivated Candidate) and tasks are marked as To be Deleted and are no longer functional and no longer displayed using the Opened Tasks filters.
  - Delete candidates even if Onboarding processes are not yet Completed or Canceled.
    Permanently deletes candidates in Recruiting and, if applicable, in Onboarding, regardless if they were involved in Onboarding processes or not.
    For those candidates that are or were involved in Onboarding, those processes and their tasks are also deleted and no longer displayed in the Onboarding Center.
  Note: Contrary to Recruiting, soft-deleted candidate processes and tasks continue to be displayed in the Onboarding product.

Configuration

To access this feature, users must be granted the Access Automated Tasks permission.

User Type Permission	Location
Access Automated Tasks	Configuration > [SmartOrg] Administration > [Users] User Types > Recruiting > Administration

To determine whether Onboarding processes are considered prior to deletion, the following setting must be configured:

Setting	Location
Consider Onboarding processes before deleting candidates	Configuration > [Recruiting] > Settings > [Taleo Recruiting Settings]