A Primary Opening helps establish the foundation for the workflows you create in Fountain. Think of it as a baseline template: a workflow that captures the core hiring process applicants need to complete.
From there, you can create related workflows for different positions, locations, brands, markets, or requirements. These workflows may share the same foundation while allowing for differences such as location-specific compliance steps, role-specific qualifications, or unique onboarding needs.
To keep your setup scalable, start with one foundational workflow before creating too many additional openings. This helps you define a clear process first, then expand intentionally as workflow variations are needed.
Once your baseline workflow is created, you can link openings to reuse the same stages and settings, or clone the opening and adjust it for other locations, positions, or hiring scenarios.
Your goal is to build a primary workflow that is:
Flexible enough to support different positions, locations, or requirements.
Structured to serve as the foundation for related workflow variations.
Optimized for automation.
Cost-effective and easy to maintain.
Streamline the Hiring Process
Planning your hiring process is the first step in building a scalable workflow structure. Start with one position in one location to define the core process, then identify where variations may be needed.
List each step applicants need to complete, including required information, action items, screening criteria, and approval steps.
Identify which parts of the process are consistent across positions and locations. These shared steps should form the foundation of your primary workflow.
Identify where the process may differ by position, location, brand, country, or business unit. Common examples include contracts, background checks, job requirements, scheduling, document signing, or compliance steps.
Group similar hiring processes together where possible. Many organizations can use a smaller set of template workflows instead of creating a unique workflow for every opening.
Once the core process and key variations are defined, begin designing your primary workflow and any related workflow templates.
Tips for Better Conversion Rate:
Keep your hiring process short. A lengthy process can deter applicants and affect conversion rates. Remove any questions, stages, or action items that are not absolutely necessary.
Develop the Primary Workflow
Stages
After the Primary Opening is created, organize the stages before adding content and refining individual stages.
Stages are the building blocks of a workflow. Each Stage has its own functionality, ranging from general data collection to actions like video recording, background checks, document signing, or scheduling.
As you design your workflow, consider which stages belong in the shared baseline and which may need to vary by opening. For example, most workflows may include the same initial application and qualification steps, while later stages may differ by location, role, or compliance requirement.
You can design your workflow in the way that best fits your organization, but we recommend the following guidelines.
Optimize Your Workflow
Start with Qualifying Questions
The Data Collection stage should contain close-ended questions that automatically qualify or disqualify applicants. Add rules to the next stage to filter out applicants with absolute disqualifiers.
Where possible, keep common qualifying questions in the baseline workflow. Unique role or location questions can be handled through rules, separate stages, or related workflow variations.Confine Different Hiring Requirements to Minimal Stages
Keep differences between positions and locations contained in as few stages as possible. This makes workflows easier to maintain, especially if your organization uses multiple related templates.
If a specialized requirement is not needed for every position or location, avoid adding it to every workflow by default. Include it only in the workflow variation where it applies.Minimize the Team's Workload
On average, about 10–15% of applicants finish the hiring process and get approved or hired. Minimize your team’s workload by placing review and scheduling stages later in the workflow, after applicants complete key qualifying steps.
Insert Cost Inquiring Stages at the End of the Workflow
Some stage types incur a cost based on usage. Be familiar with which stage types have associated costs and avoid placing them at the beginning of the workflow.
For organizations with multiple workflow variations, keeping cost-incurring stages later helps reduce unnecessary spend across openings.
Build the Primary Workflow
Follow the steps in the Create an Opening Help Center article.
Follow your workflow design and add its stages via the Workflow Editor.
Once the baseline workflow is complete, decide whether additional variations are needed.
Link openings that should follow the exact same process.
Clone the primary opening when another workflow needs similar but modified stages, rules, or settings.
The goal is not to force every opening into a single workflow. Instead, use the primary workflow as the foundation for a scalable workflow structure that can support one or many related hiring processes.
Watch the video below for an overview on the Workflow Editor: