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Closing a vacancy

Every vacancy eventually comes off the live list, either because you have placed a candidate or because the role is no longer available. Closing a vacancy properly keeps your reporting accurate and stops further applications coming in for a role you cannot fill.

Close vs archive​

For everyday use, you do not need to archive vacancies. Closing a vacancy already removes it from your active workload while keeping the record searchable.

  • Close when the role is finished, either filled or withdrawn. The vacancy stays in your reports and on the candidate's history. This is the normal end of a vacancy's life.
  • Archive is reserved for older closed vacancies that you no longer want appearing in the default filters. Archiving is optional and reversible; admins can enable it from Settings.

Setting the status to Filled​

Use Filled when a candidate has accepted the role:

  1. Open the vacancy and click Close vacancy in the header.
  2. Choose Filled as the close reason.
  3. Pick the placed candidate from the vacancy's shortlist (for example, Sarah Williams).
  4. Confirm or edit the placement details: start date, rate, duration.
  5. Click Save.

RecSphere creates a contract from the placement details, links it to the candidate and moves the vacancy into the Filled status. The contract is where you will manage timesheets, expenses and invoices from here on.

Setting the status to Closed​

Use Closed when the role ends without a placement, for example because the client withdrew it, or because you could not source a suitable candidate in time:

  1. Open the vacancy and click Close vacancy.
  2. Choose Closed as the close reason.
  3. Pick a more specific reason from the list (for example, "Withdrawn by client", "Filled by client direct", "No suitable candidates").
  4. Add an optional note for the audit log.
  5. Click Save.

No contract is created. The vacancy stays in your reports against the reason you chose.

What happens to outstanding applications​

Closing a vacancy gives you a choice about applicants who have not yet been actioned:

  • Auto-reject outstanding applications. All applications still in the active list are rejected with the close reason. This is the default.
  • Keep them on the candidate's record. The application stays attached to the candidate but is marked as belonging to a closed vacancy. Use this when you want to follow up with those candidates about other roles.

You can also choose whether to send rejection emails. Pick a template, or leave the toggle off to close silently.

Auto-rejection

Closing a vacancy can auto-reject any outstanding applicants. You choose whether they are notified, but the rejection itself is recorded against each application regardless.

Reopening a closed vacancy​

If a closed vacancy needs to come back, open it and click Reopen in the header. The vacancy returns to Open status. Any applications that were auto-rejected on close stay rejected; new applications can come in as normal.

Reopening a Filled vacancy unlinks the placed candidate's contract from the vacancy but does not delete the contract. Use this carefully.

Deleting vs closing​

Deleting a vacancy is different from closing it. Deletion removes the record entirely, including its applications and shortlist. Only use delete for vacancies created by mistake or for test data.

In day-to-day work, close the vacancy instead. Closed vacancies are the foundation of your placement and time-to-fill reports; deleted vacancies cannot be reported on at all.