Introduction
Instead of manually generating canvas 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 Canvas Letter Mail-merge Template
- Select Mailing Label Templates
Create a Canvas Letter for One Candidate
- Navigate to Recruiting > Job Postings > Open Job Postings.
- 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.
- 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.
- Use the checkbox in the grid to select the candidates you want to generate a canvas letter for.
- Click Send Notification at the top of the grid. Select the Notification Category "Civil Service." Select the specific canvas 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 Canvas Letter Mail-merge Template and then come back to these instructions. - Select the PDF radio button to output a PDF-formatted canvas letter.
- Complete Form Fields if your Notification Template included any (if not, skip this step). Check the Eligible Applicant checkbox.
- Click the PDF Preview button to see what the finished PDF will look like.
- 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.
- Click the link, "Click here to download," to download the PDF file to your computer.
- Navigate to the area where downloaded files are stored on your computer (e.g. This PC > Downloads) and open the PDF you downloaded.
- Print the PDF file.
Create Canvas Letters for More than One Candidate at a Time
- Navigate to Recruiting > Job Postings > Open Job Postings.
- 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.
- 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.
- Use the checkboxes in the grid to select the candidates you want to generate canvas letters for.
- Click Send Notification at the top of the grid. Select the Notification Category "Civil Service." Select the specific canvas 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 Canvas Letter Mail-merge Template and then come back to these instructions. - Select the PDF radio button to output a PDF-formatted canvas letter.
- Complete Form Fields if your Notification Template included any (if not, skip this step). Check the Eligible Applicant checkbox.
- Click the PDF Preview button to see what the finished PDF will look like.
- 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.
- Click the link, "Click here to download," to download the PDF file to your computer.
- Navigate to the area where downloaded files are stored on your computer (e.g. This PC > Downloads) and open the PDF you downloaded.
- Print the PDF file.
Create Mailing Labels for Postal-Mailing Civil Service Canvas Letters
- Navigate to Recruiting > Job Postings > Open Job Postings.
- 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.
- 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.
- Use the checkboxes in the grid to select the candidates you want to generate canvas letters for.
- Click Send Notification at the top of the grid. Select the Notification Category "Civil Service." Select the specific canvas 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 Canvas Letter Mail-merge Template and then come back to these instructions. - Select the Labels Only radio button.
- 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"). - Click the Create Notification button. The Notification Creation Completed window will resolve.
- Click the link, "Click here to download," to download the file to your computer.
- Navigate to the area where downloaded files are stored on your computer (e.g. This PC > Downloads) and open the file you downloaded.
- Print the file onto blank labels.