Fountain records each applicant's consent for texts and calls in four separate categories:
texts about the current application
calls about the current application
texts about future opportunities
calls about future opportunities.
This article explains what applicants see on the application form, how consent is recorded on other ways applicants are created, how applicants opt out, and how applicants can withdraw an application.
Understand What Applicants See on the Application Form
The application form records consent for texts and calls about the application through disclosure rather than checkboxes. Disclosure copy under the Phone Number field explains that, by providing their phone number, the applicant consents to receiving calls or texts about their application from your company.
The disclosure also covers message and data rates, message frequency, replying HELP for help or STOP to opt out, and a link to privacy.fountain.com.
Submitting the form records consent for texts and calls about the application. One disclosure covers both, and the wording differs for US and non-US Openings.
Future Opportunities
Consent to marketing is separate and optional. Under the Future opportunities (optional) heading, a line confirms that consent to marketing communications is not required to be considered for an opportunity at your company. Two checkboxes follow, both unchecked by default:
Text me about future opportunities. Checking this records consent to marketing texts about future job opportunities from your company. Its disclosure covers message and data rates, message frequency, HELP and STOP, and privacy.fountain.com.
Call me about future opportunities. Checking this records consent to marketing calls about future job opportunities from your company.
Applicants can submit the form without checking either box.
Choose Whether to Ask for Marketing Consent
The Collect marketing consent on application forms and direct sourcing channels setting controls whether applicants are asked for marketing consent.
When it's on, application forms and direct sourcing channels, such as Indeed Apply, ask applicants to opt in to marketing texts and calls about future opportunities. The setting is on by default.
Follow the steps below to change the setting.
Click your initials in the top right of any Fountain page, then click Company Settings.
Click Company.
In the Applicants section, select or clear Collect marketing consent on application forms and direct sourcing channels.
Click Update Applicants Setting.
When you clear the setting, a warning on the page explains that applicants won't see the option to opt in to marketing calls or texts, will be marked as not consented, and won't be eligible for Pool outreach.
When the setting is off:
The Future opportunities section is hidden on application forms and direct apply channels.
Applicants are recorded as not consented to marketing, so they are not eligible for Pool outreach.
Consent already recorded for existing applicants does not change.
Here's how the application will appear when marketing consent is turned off:
Turning Off Marketing Consent Affects Pool
Applicants created while the setting is off are not eligible for Pool outreach. Leave the setting on if you re-engage past applicants through Pool.
Understand Consent on Other Ways Applicants Are Created
The application form is not the only way applicants are created. Consent is recorded on each path as described below.
Indeed Apply and ZipRecruiter
Applicants who apply through Indeed Apply or ZipRecruiter see the same disclosure as the application form, with US or non-US wording based on the Opening's country.
Transactional consent is recorded with a source that shows which channel it came from. Marketing checkboxes appear only when the marketing consent setting is on; otherwise marketing consent is recorded as not given. Consent is never inferred.
CSV Import and the API
When you create applicants by CSV import or through the API, the applicant never sees a Fountain form, so the consent you send is your own. Both paths use four consent values:
Transactional SMS consent
Transactional call consent
Marketing SMS consent
Marketing call consent
CSV imports require all four consent columns, each with an explicit true or false value. Rows with a missing, blank or malformed value are blocked with an error that names the field. The downloadable sample CSV includes the four columns. The Create Applicant API accepts the four consent fields.
If you disclose how the phone number will be used wherever you collect it, you can set the transactional values to true. Marketing consent needs a separate, explicit opt-in.
Files Exported From Other Systems Need Consent Columns
CSV imports stay blocked until every row has the four consent values, including files exported from a job board. Keep a reusable template with the four columns.
Let Applicants Opt Out of Texts
How an applicant stops texts depends on the type of sender.
Two-way numbers: the applicant replies STOP to stop receiving texts and START to resume.
One-way senders: messages sent from a sender name rather than a phone number include a short opt-out link instead of STOP instructions. The applicant taps the link and confirms, and Fountain records the same opt-out as a STOP reply.
An opt-out stops texts from your company to that phone number for every application the applicant has with you.
Check for an Opt-Out First
There is no resubscribe page for a one-way opt-out. If an applicant stops receiving texts, check whether they opted out before troubleshooting anything else.
Let Applicants Withdraw Their Application
Applicants can end an application themselves from the applicant portal. Withdrawing doesn't change the applicant's consent for texts or calls.
Follow the steps below to turn it on.
Click your initials in the top right of any Fountain page, then click Company Settings.
Click Company.
In the Applicants section, select Allow applicants to withdraw their application.
Click Update Applicants Setting.
When the setting is on, applicants see a Withdraw my application link at the bottom of the applicant portal for any application that has not already ended. Withdrawing works as follows:
The applicant clicks Withdraw my application.
The Withdraw your application? window names the Opening and your company and explains that withdrawing can't be undone. The applicant clicks Withdraw application, or Cancel to keep the application.
A confirmation tells the applicant that your company has been notified they're no longer interested in the Opening. The applicant clicks Done.
From then on, the application shows Application withdrawn in the applicant portal, with a note to contact your company directly if the applicant withdrew by mistake.
Find Withdrawn Applicants
A withdrawn application moves to the Rejected stage with the rejection reason Withdrawn by applicant. The applicant's History shows the automatic transition to Rejected with that reason.
Withdrawn by applicant is a standard rejection reason that can't be edited and is used only for applicant withdrawals, so you can filter and report on it separately from rejections made by your team.
Use Consent in Workflows
Consent values are available in workflow rules, so you can route applicants based on their choices. For example, you can keep applicants who declined marketing out of re-engagement stages. A blank consent value is treated as not consented.
FAQs
Can the application form require SMS consent?
Can the application form require SMS consent?
There is no transactional checkbox on the application form. Consent for texts and calls about the application is recorded through disclosure when the applicant submits the form, and marketing consent remains an optional checkbox.
Does this apply to applicants outside the US?
Does this apply to applicants outside the US?
Yes. Non-US Openings show non-US disclosure wording. Privacy laws such as GDPR require consent to be specific, freely given and separated by purpose, which is why marketing consent stays a separate, optional choice.
What happens if an applicant does not consent to marketing?
What happens if an applicant does not consent to marketing?
They do not receive texts or calls about future opportunities, and they are not eligible for Pool outreach. They may still be reachable about their current application, and through other methods such as email, depending on your workflow.
Does this affect WhatsApp?
Does this affect WhatsApp?
No. WhatsApp messaging is governed separately, with its own limits on marketing and utility message templates.
Where is consent stored?
Where is consent stored?
Each applicant's consent is saved as four independent values on the applicant's record: texts about this application, calls about this application, texts about future opportunities, and calls about future opportunities. The values update wherever consent is captured. They govern how an applicant can be contacted and do not change anything else about how applicants move through your hiring process.