Using Tasks in SmoothHiring

SmoothHiring's Task Management system helps you coordinate hiring activities across your team. Create, assign, and track tasks to ensure nothing falls through the cracks during your recruitment process.

Plan Requirement: Task Management is available on Starter, Growth, and Scale plans. Entry plan users will need to upgrade to access this feature.

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Accessing Task Manager
3. Creating a Task
4. Assigning Tasks to Team Members
5. Viewing Assigned Tasks
6. Task Notifications & Emails
7. Unread Task Indicators
8. Best Practices for Hiring Tasks
9. Common Task Examples
10. Related Features

Overview

The Task Manager in SmoothHiring provides a centralized workspace where team members can:

• Create tasks for themselves or colleagues
• Assign tasks to one or more team members
• Set due dates to maintain accountability
• Track read/unread status to see who has acknowledged their assignments
• Receive email notifications when new tasks are assigned

Tasks are designed to support common hiring activities such as reviewing applications, scheduling interviews, checking references, preparing offer letters, and completing onboarding checklists.

Accessing Task Manager

The Task Manager is available within the SmoothHiring platform. To access it:

1. Log in to your SmoothHiring account
2. The Task Manager interface contains two tabs:
   • Create Task — for creating and assigning new tasks
   • Assigned Tasks — for viewing all tasks across your team

Note: All users on your account (Owners, Admins, Recruiters, Hiring Managers, and Observers) can be assigned tasks. Task creation is available to users with appropriate access levels.

Creating a Task

To create a new task, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Create Task Tab

Navigate to the Task Manager and ensure you are on the Create Task tab.

Step 2: Enter Task Details

Fill in the following fields:

Step 3: Assign Team Members

1. Click the Assign Task button to open the members dialog
2. Browse or search your team members (pulled from your account's user list)
3. Select one or more assignees by checking their names
4. Selected members appear as chips below the assignment button
5. Close the dialog to confirm

Tip: When you assign a task to multiple people, a separate task instance is created for each assignee. Each person receives their own notification and the task appears individually in their task list.

Step 4: Set the Due Date

1. Click the date picker field
2. Select a date (past dates are disabled)
3. The default due date is today's date

Step 5: Create the Task

1. Review all fields — the Create Task button is only enabled when all required fields are filled
2. Click Create Task
3. The button shows "Creating..." while the task is being saved
4. On success, you'll see a green notification banner confirming "Task created successfully"
5. All fields are automatically cleared so you can create another task immediately

Error Handling

• If any field is empty, an error message reads "Please fill all fields"
• If the server encounters an issue, you'll see "Failed to create task. Please try again"
• Verify all assignees are valid users on your account

Assigning Tasks to Team Members

Who Can Be Assigned?

Tasks can be assigned to any active user on your employer account. The assignee list is drawn from your Access Levels user roster, which includes:

• Owners
• Admins
• Recruiters
• Hiring Managers
• Observers

Multi-Assignment

When you select multiple team members for a single task:

• Each assignee receives their own copy of the task
• Each copy tracks its own read/unread status independently
• Each assignee receives a separate email notification
• The task creator can view all assignments in the Assigned Tasks tab

Viewing Who's Assigned

In the Assigned Tasks view, each task displays:

• The task name
• The assignee's full name ("Task assigned to: [Name]")
• A read/unread status indicator

Viewing Assigned Tasks

Switch to the Assigned Tasks tab to see all tasks created across your team.

Task List Display

Each task in the list shows:

Read Status Indicators

How it works: When an assignee views their tasks (via the notification bell or task list), all their unread tasks are automatically marked as read.

Task Filtering

The Assigned Tasks view shows all tasks for all team members in your organization where the due date has not yet passed. Tasks are sorted by creation date, with the most recently created tasks appearing first.

Task Notifications & Emails

In-App Notifications

SmoothHiring displays an unread task count badge in the notification area. This counter shows how many unread tasks are assigned to the currently logged-in user.

When you view your tasks:

• All previously unread tasks are marked as read
• The badge count resets to zero

Email Notifications

When a task is created and assigned, each assignee automatically receives an email notification with:

• Subject line: "New task awaiting for you"
• Email body includes:
  • Who assigned the task (creator's name)
  • Task name and description
  • Due date
  • A link to view the task in SmoothHiring
• CC: The task creator is copied on the notification email
• Reply-To: Set to the task creator's email for easy communication

Tip: Email notifications ensure team members are informed even when they aren't actively logged into the platform.

Unread Task Indicators

The platform tracks task acknowledgment through a read/unread system:

For Assignees:

• New tasks assigned to you appear as unread
• A count of unread tasks is displayed as a notification badge
• Opening the task list marks all your tasks as read

For Task Creators:

• In the Assigned Tasks view, you can see at a glance which team members have viewed their tasks
• Green checkmark = read (acknowledged)
• Red X = unread (not yet seen)

This read-receipt system helps managers ensure that important tasks have been noticed and acknowledged by the responsible team members.

Best Practices for Hiring Tasks

Naming Conventions

Use clear, action-oriented task names that tell the assignee exactly what to do:

Description Best Practices

Write descriptions that provide all necessary context:

• What needs to be done (specific action)
• Why it's important or time-sensitive
• Where to find relevant information (link to applicant profile, job posting, etc.)
• Any special instructions or considerations

Due Date Guidelines

• Set realistic deadlines that account for team workload
• Use same-day due dates for urgent tasks (e.g., "Respond to candidate who has competing offer")
• Allow 2-3 business days for standard review tasks
• Allow 1 week for tasks requiring coordination with external parties (reference checks, background verifications)

Team Coordination

• Assign tasks immediately after meetings or decisions so action items aren't forgotten
• Use tasks to delegate specific steps when multiple people are involved in a hire
• Check the Assigned Tasks tab regularly to monitor progress
• Follow up with team members whose tasks show as unread after 24+ hours

Common Task Examples

Here are typical tasks you might create throughout the hiring lifecycle:

Application Review Stage

• "Review 5 new applications for Front-End Developer position"
• "Score applicant questionnaire responses for Customer Service role"
• "Flag any applicants with 5+ years experience in the Marketing pool"

Interview Stage

• "Prepare interview questions for Senior PM candidates this Thursday"
• "Schedule panel interview for 3 finalists — coordinate with engineering team"
• "Complete scorecard for Maria Johnson's interview from today"
• "Send interview confirmation to all Wednesday candidates"

Decision Stage

• "Consolidate interview feedback for Product Designer shortlist"
• "Complete reference check: contact 2 references for David Kim"
• "Prepare compensation analysis for offer to selected candidate"
• "Draft offer letter for Software Engineer position"

Post-Decision Stage

• "Send personalized rejection emails to 8 second-round candidates"
• "Coordinate start date with HR for newly hired Project Manager"
• "Collect onboarding documents from new hire before Monday"
• "Update job posting status — close the Data Analyst requisition"

Troubleshooting

"Create Task" Button is Disabled

Ensure all four required fields are completed:

• Task Name is not empty
• Description is not empty
• At least one team member is selected
• A due date is chosen

Task Not Appearing in Assigned Tasks

• Tasks only appear if the due date is today or in the future (past-due tasks are filtered out)
• Ensure you're viewing the Assigned Tasks tab (not the Create Task tab)
• If a task was just created, allow a moment for the list to refresh

Didn't Receive Email Notification

• Check your spam/junk folder
• Verify the assignee's email address is correct in Access Levels
• Confirm that the email service is operational (try creating a test task for yourself)

Cannot See "Add Members" Dialog Options

• Only users listed in your account's Access Levels appear in the assignee list
• If someone is missing, an Admin or Owner needs to add them via Settings → Access Levels first

Related Features

Task Management works best when combined with these SmoothHiring features:

• Team Collaboration — Assign applicants to reviewers and coordinate hiring decisions
• Interview Management — Schedule and track interviews that tasks often reference
• Calendar Management — View deadlines alongside scheduled events
• Notifications — Configure how you receive alerts for new tasks
• Access Levels — Manage the team members who can be assigned tasks
• Analytics and Reporting — Track team productivity and hiring velocity
• Getting Started — Return to the comprehensive platform overview
• Contact Support — Get help from our team if you have questions

Summary

Remember: Tasks keep your hiring process on track by creating clear accountability. When everyone knows what they're responsible for and when it's due, candidates move through your pipeline faster and more consistently.

Last updated: May 2026