Scheduling an Automation

Scheduling automations in Bullhorn Automation enables you to run workflows at specific times or intervals, ensuring that your automated processes align with your business needs. This feature is ideal for managing recurring tasks, such as sending follow-up emails, updating records, or triggering actions based on predefined schedules.

This article provides step-by-step guidance on how to configure schedules for your automations, including setting start times, recurrence patterns, and time zones. By leveraging scheduled automations, you can streamline your workflows and maintain consistent, timely interactions with your candidates, clients, and teams.

Setting Up a Scheduled Automation

To create a scheduled automation, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Automation page from the Main Menu.
  2. Select or Create an Automation
    • Choose an existing workflow to schedule, or create a new one.
    • If creating a new automation, configure its parameters, including the entity it applies to (e.g., Candidates, Placements).
  3. Click on Automation Settings.
  4. In the Scheduling section complete the following:
    • Define the Days to Send Messages
      • Under What days should messages be allowed to send?, select the days of the week on which messages can be sent. This ensures communications align with your audience's availability and preferences.
    • Specify the Time Range for Sending Messages
      • In the Within what time range should messages be allowed to send? field, select the time range during which messages can be delivered. For example, you might set a range from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM to align with typical business hours.
    • Enable Contact's Time Zone (Optional)
      • Check the box for Send messages in contact's time zone? if you want the specified time range to apply to the recipient’s local time. If this option is not selected, messages will be sent according to the Bullhorn Automation system time zone.
      • See The Send Emails or Text Messages In Your Contacts Time Zone for more details.
    • Configure Staggered StartClosed This feature allows you to stagger the start of your campaigns over several days. Instead of sending all your emails at once, they will be evenly distributed over the selected number of days. (Optional)
      • If you are sending messages to a large group of recipients, enable Staggered Start by checking the box. This option allows you to distribute candidates into evenly divided groups over multiple days.
      • Enter the desired number of groups under Candidates should enter the automation daily in # even groups. For example, if you’re sending messages to 10,000 candidates and set the groups to 10, the messages will be distributed evenly over 10 days.
  5. Click Save.

Using the Send Window in Your Automation Settings

Using a standard automation, you can schedule your communications to be sent on specific days in your Automation Settings. Here you can control the day(s) and the hours that you want your communication to be sent out.

Say you want to send your placed candidates a weekly timesheet reminder every Friday starting at 9:30 AM in the contact’s time zone. Once you create an automation, in your automation settings that is where you will want to select the day and time range you want this email to go out.

We recommend that you have a minimum of a 4 hour send window. Bullhorn Automation will always try and send your email as close to the start time of your Sending Window as possible.

For instance, if your Sending Window is 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Bullhorn Automation will try to send that email as close to 9:00 AM as possible.

The 4 hour window allows for emails to continue to send should there be a slight delay for any reason and inform you if you will have the option to send this message in the contact's time zone.

Using a Sending Window with Staggered Start

If your automation uses a Staggered Start and the send window closes before the email or text message is sent to all groups, the staggered groups will restart and the remaining contacts will be reassigned into new groups to ensure they all receive the message. We recommend increasing your send window time frame to make sure that the messages send out the way you want them to.

Staggered Start groups are created in the following way:

Let’s say the staggered start is set at “20 even groups”. When a new candidate comes into the Start Step, we project the next possible 20 days they should complete based on the date window the client has selected. We then pick a random date from those 20 days. We do this for every candidate that enters the Start Step, so over time the groups will be about equal, but there will be variations depending on the number of candidates entering the automation list.

Creating a Fixed Date Automation

Fixed date automations must be set up at least one day in advance. If you are making this automation the day of, you will want to use a standard based automation. This allows Bullhorn Automation time to register the appropriate date trigger for the following day. For more information, see date based automations.

We do not recommend using A/B Testing in a Fixed date automation.

Monthly Newsletter or a Holiday email.

FAQ

If an automation has a one day sending window on a Wednesday, and I allow re-entry “every 1 day”, when will Contacts re-enter the automation?

Contacts will re-enter the automation the next day, but they will sit in the email step until the next Wednesday. The can re-enter after number of days field does not take into account the sending window you have selected.

Why aren’t emails sending in my chosen sending window?

Below are some possible reasons:

  • Multiple Automations Syncing: When turning on multiple automations, Bullhorn Automation needs time to sync all of the list criteria, then allow the contacts to enter the automation. By the time Bullhorn Automation has finished syncing, it may have missed the outlined sending window.
  • Large ListsClosed A collection of ATS records that meets specified criteria, such as a scheduled end date or a low NPS response. Syncing: Syncing a large list can take some time, especially when Bullhorn Automation is syncing other lists or automations in your instance. By the time Bullhorn Automation has synced the list, it may have missed the outlined sending window.

Bullhorn Automation syncing operates as a queue, so the sync order is based on a first come first serve basis. If you have three automations and try to sync all three, Bullhorn Automation will sync the list and info for the first one you activate.