Create Canvass Letters (and Mailing Labels) for Civil Service List Candidates

Introduction

Instead of manually generating canvass letters for Civil Service candidates, you can use SchoolFront to generate the letters using a template and mail-merge functionality. 

Prerequisite Steps

• Create a Job Posting
• Create a Tracker for the Job Posting
• Upload a Civil Service List
• Associate the Civil Service List with the Job Posting
• Design a Canvass Letter Mail-merge Template
• Select Mailing Label Templates

Create a Canvass Letter for One Candidate

1. Navigate to Recruiting > Job Postings > Open Job Postings. 
2. Select the Job Title of the posting from the list in the grid to open its Details -- Use the column filters to find the posting if you are having difficulty locating it in the list by scrolling.
3. Click the Eligible Civil Service tab. The candidates from the Civil Service list you uploaded and associated with the job posting will all appear on the tab. 
4. Use the checkbox in the grid to select the candidates you want to generate a canvas letter for. 
5. Click Send Notification at the top of the grid. Select the Notification Category "Civil Service." Select the specific canvass letter template you want to use from the Notification Template drop-down menu.
   Note: If you cannot find and appropriate template, follow the instructions to Design a Canvass Letter Mail-merge Template and then come back to these instructions. 
6. Select the PDF radio button to output a PDF-formatted canvas letter. 
7. Complete Form Fields if your Notification Template included any (if not, skip this step). Check the Eligible Applicant checkbox. 
8. Click the PDF Preview button to see what the finished PDF will look like.
9. If you see anything you do not like in the preview, you can edit the content you just entered into the Send Notifications fields, or go fix/replace the Notification Template you used.  Once you are satisfied with the preview, click the Create Notification button. The Notification Creation Completed window will resolve.
10. Click the link, "Click here to download," to download the PDF file to your computer. 
11. Navigate to the area where downloaded files are stored on your computer (e.g. This PC > Downloads) and open the PDF you downloaded.
12. Print the PDF file. 

Create Canvass Letters for More than One Candidate at a Time

1. Navigate to Recruiting > Job Postings > Open Job Postings. 
2. Select the Job Title of the posting from the list in the grid to open its Details -- Use the column filters to find the posting if you are having difficulty locating it in the list by scrolling.
3. Click the Eligible Civil Service tab. The candidates from the Civil Service list you uploaded and associated with the job posting will all appear on the tab. 
4. Use the checkboxes in the grid to select the candidates you want to generate canvas letters for. 
5. Click Send Notification at the top of the grid. Select the Notification Category "Civil Service." Select the specific canvass letter template you want to use from the Notification Template drop-down menu.
   Note: If you cannot find and appropriate template, follow the instructions to Design a Canvass Letter Mail-merge Template and then come back to these instructions. 
6. Select the PDF radio button to output a PDF-formatted canvas letter. 
7. Complete Form Fields if your Notification Template included any (if not, skip this step). Check the Eligible Applicant checkbox. 
8. Click the PDF Preview button to see what the finished PDF will look like.
9. If you see anything you do not like in the preview, you can edit the content you just entered into the Send Notifications fields, or go fix/replace the Notification Template you used.  Once you are satisfied with the preview, click the Create Notification button. The Notification Creation Completed window will resolve.
10. Click the link, "Click here to download," to download the PDF file to your computer. 
11. Navigate to the area where downloaded files are stored on your computer (e.g. This PC > Downloads) and open the PDF you downloaded.
12. Print the PDF file. 

Create Mailing Labels for Postal-Mailing Civil Service Canvass Letters

1. Navigate to Recruiting > Job Postings > Open Job Postings. 
2. Select the Job Title of the posting from the list in the grid to open its Details -- Use the column filters to find the posting if you are having difficulty locating it in the list by scrolling.
3. Click the Eligible Civil Service tab. The candidates from the Civil Service list you uploaded and associated with the job posting will all appear on the tab. 
4. Use the checkboxes in the grid to select the candidates you want to generate canvass letters for. 
5. Click Send Notification at the top of the grid. Select the Notification Category "Civil Service." Select the specific canvass letter template you want to use from the Notification Template drop-down menu.
   Note: If you cannot find and appropriate template, follow the instructions to Design a Canvass Letter Mail-merge Template and then come back to these instructions. 
6. Select the Labels Only radio button. 
7. Select the Label Template from the drop-down menu. 
   Note: If you do not see an appropriate label template in the menu, follow the instructions to configure label templates (see the section called "Select Templates"). 
8. Click the Create Notification button. The Notification Creation Completed window will resolve.
9. Click the link, "Click here to download," to download the file to your computer. 
10. Navigate to the area where downloaded files are stored on your computer (e.g. This PC > Downloads) and open the file you downloaded.
11. Print the file onto blank labels.