# Customize stages and refuse reasons

Adapt the stages of the pipeline, their e-mails, labels and hired stage, then the refuse reasons and their e-mails, and the other lists of the Configuration menu that shape every application.

The stages, the refuse reasons and a few lists are shared by every job position. The stages are changed from the pipeline itself; the other lists sit in the **Configuration** menu of **Recruitment**.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

- Changing a stage needs the **Administrator** access right on **Recruitment**; officers see the stages without changing them. Refuse reasons, tags and degrees need **Officer: Manage all applicants**.
- The **Stages** entry of the **Configuration** menu shows only in developer mode: [Developer mode and the technical menus](/docs/general-settings/developer-mode-and-technical-menus). The pipeline gives the same access without it.

## Edit a stage {#edit-stage}

1. Open **Recruitment/Applications/By Job Positions** and click a position, here **Trainee**.
2. Point at the title of a column: a gear appears next to it. Click it. The menu offers **Fold**, **Edit**, **Automations** and **Delete**.

![The menu of a stage column, opened from the gear that appears when the pointer is over its title.](https://jaah.app/web/image/15388-5e727626/recruitment-customize-stages-and-refuse-reasons-column_menu-en.png)

On a phone, the gear is always shown next to the column title.

3. Choose **Edit**.

![The stage form with its e-mail template, the folded and hired switches, the jobs it is limited to and its labels.](https://jaah.app/web/image/15390-5498de1c/recruitment-customize-stages-and-refuse-reasons-stage_form-en.png)

4. Change what you need, then click **Save**, or **Discard** to leave the stage as it was.

### The e-mail of a stage {#email-template}

**Email Template** is sent to the applicant when an application enters the stage. **New** carries **Recruitment: Application Acknowledgement**, and **Recruitment: Interest** is ready to put on another stage. Clear the field to stop the e-mail.

### Folded, hired and limited stages {#stage-fields}

- **Folded in Kanban**: the column is folded in every pipeline, as **Contract Signed** is.
- **Hired Stage**: entering this stage marks the applicant as hired, with a **Hire Date**, and lowers the **Target** of the position by one. Turning it off on a stage that holds applicants warns that all of them will lose their hired date and status.
- **Job Specific**: limits the stage to the positions you list; left empty, every position uses it.
- **Days to rot**: after that many days in the stage, an applicant shows as rotting; 0 turns it off.
- **Requirements**: a text shown when the pointer rests on the column title.

### The labels of the states {#stage-labels}

Under **Tooltips**, give the four states of an applicant in this stage their own words, in place of **In Progress**, **Blocked**, **Waiting** and **Ready for Next Stage**.

### Fold, add and delete {#columns}

**Fold** in the column menu only folds the column on your screen. The **Add column** button at the end of a pipeline creates a new stage, shared by every position until you fill its **Job Specific**. A stage that still holds applications cannot be deleted.

## Refuse reasons {#refuse-reasons}

Open **Recruitment/Configuration/Applications/Refuse Reasons**. Each reason has a **Description** and the **Email Template** that the refusal proposes; a reason without a template refuses without an e-mail. Click a line to change it in place, or **New** to add one. The order of the list is the order of the refuse dialog, and its first reason is the one chosen by default.

![The refuse reasons, each with the e-mail template the refusal proposes.](https://jaah.app/web/image/15394-cee7e323/recruitment-customize-stages-and-refuse-reasons-refuse_reasons-en.png)

## The other lists {#other-lists}

- **Recruitment/Configuration/Applications/Tags**: the tags put on applications and talents.
- **Recruitment/Configuration/Applications/Degrees**: the degrees offered on an applicant and as the **Expected Degree** of a position.
- **Recruitment/Configuration/Job Positions/Employment Types**: the employment types of the positions, the same list as in **Employees**.
- **Recruitment/Configuration/Job Boards/Emails**: the addresses from which job sites forward applications, for administrators. For each address, a pattern reads the applicant's name from the subject or the text of the e-mail, and the application gets no e-mail address or contact.
- **Recruitment/Configuration/Activities/Activity Types** and **Recruitment/Configuration/Activities/Activity Plans**: the activities of applicants, explained in [Activities](/docs/activities).

## FAQ {#faq}

### How do I stop the acknowledgement e-mail? {#stop-acknowledgement}

Edit the **New** stage and clear its **Email Template**.

### Can one position have its own interview stage? {#job-specific}

Yes. Add the stage with **Add column** in that position's pipeline, then set **Job Specific** to that position.

### Why is Edit missing or the stage read-only? {#read-only}

Your access right is **Officer: Manage all applicants**. Changing stages needs **Administrator**.

### How do I remove a refuse reason I no longer use? {#archive-reason}

Tick it in the list, then choose **Archive** in **Actions**. Applications already refused with it keep their reason.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/recruitment/customize-stages-and-refuse-reasons
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Version: Recruitment 19.0.1.1
- Verified: 2026-10-28