Candidate Experience

Candidate Onboarding Experience: What New Hires See

This article gives you an overview of the onboarding experience from the candidate's perspective. Use it to understand what new hires see after they receive an onboarding link, how they complete assigned forms, and where they may need support from your team.

Overview

How onboarding looks for candidates

After a candidate is hired, they may receive a link to complete onboarding forms online. The candidate experience is designed to guide them through each assigned form step by step, including required fields, document review, acknowledgments, signatures, and final submission.

The exact forms and fields a candidate sees depend on your onboarding setup, including the forms assigned to the role, location, employer, or other distribution rules configured for your account.

What candidates may need

Information candidates may be asked to provide

Depending on the forms you assign, candidates may need to have certain information ready before completing onboarding.

✓ Contact information, such as legal name, address, phone number, and email
✓ Emergency contact details
✓ Tax, employment, or eligibility information, if included in your forms
✓ Banking details, if direct deposit forms are assigned
✓ Time to review documents, policies, acknowledgments, and required fields before submitting

Candidate Flow

Candidate opens the onboarding link

Candidates access onboarding through the link sent by your team or system workflow. The link opens the onboarding experience where the candidate can begin completing assigned forms.

Depending on your setup, the experience may show your employer branding, form names, instructions, and required documents.

Candidate starts the assigned forms

The candidate may see a welcome screen or a Get Started button. Once selected, they can begin moving through the forms assigned to them.

Candidate reviews instructions

Instructions help candidates understand what they need to complete, what documents they should review, and which fields or acknowledgments are required.

Assigned forms — The forms the candidate needs to complete.

Linked documents — Policies, handbooks, or documents the candidate should review.

Required information — Fields the candidate must complete before submission.

Acknowledgments — Signatures, initials, checkboxes, or confirmations required by the form.

Candidate completes required fields

Candidates work through each assigned form section by section. Required fields must be completed before the candidate can submit the form.

✓Personal information
✓Emergency contact information
✓Employment or eligibility details, if requested
✓Direct deposit information, if assigned
✓Policy acknowledgments, signatures, or initials

Candidate reviews documents and acknowledgments

If a form includes linked documents, candidates should open and review them before signing, checking an acknowledgment box, or submitting.

Your team owns the form content, policy language, and requirements. Candidates should contact your team if they have questions about what a document or field means.

Candidate signs or acknowledges forms

Depending on the form setup, candidates may be asked to type their name, add initials, confirm a date, check a box, or provide an electronic signature.

Typed name — May be used as a signature field.

Initials — May be required for certain acknowledgments.

Checkboxes — May confirm that a document was reviewed or a statement was acknowledged.

These fields help confirm that the candidate has completed the required form steps before submission.

Candidate reviews and submits

Before submitting, candidates can review their information for accuracy and complete any missing required fields.

Once submitted, the completed form becomes available for your team to review according to your onboarding process.

Customer-owned content

Your team owns the form content and requirements

Sprockets provides the onboarding technology, but your organization owns the form content, policies, field requirements, and instructions shown to candidates.

If a candidate has a question about what a form means, which information to provide, or whether a policy applies to them, they should be directed to your manager, HR team, or hiring contact.

Candidate support

Common candidate questions

The candidate cannot open the onboarding link.
Ask the candidate to copy and paste the link into their browser. If needed, resend the onboarding link or confirm that the candidate received the correct message.

The candidate does not see the expected form.
Review your form distribution rules to confirm the candidate is assigned the correct forms based on role, location, employer, or other targeting rules.

The candidate cannot submit the form.
Required fields may be incomplete. Ask the candidate to review the form for missing required fields, highlighted areas, or unanswered acknowledgments.

The candidate entered incorrect information.
Your team should confirm whether the form needs to be reopened, corrected, or completed again.

The candidate has a question about a policy or field.
Because your organization owns the form content and policy requirements, candidates should contact your manager, HR team, or hiring contact for guidance.