Setting up Users

Overview

Each person who works in Kraken Careers should have their own WordPress account. Their assigned role determines which recruitment tools they can use, while reviewer settings can further restrict access to individual candidate records.

Kraken Careers includes four dedicated roles:

  • Careers Team
  • Careers Editor
  • Careers Manager
  • Careers Admin

The standard WordPress Administrator role also includes Kraken Careers permissions.

Choose the role that best matches the person’s responsibilities and only provides the access they need.

Note: These descriptions reflect the default Kraken Careers roles. Additional plugins or custom permissions can change an account’s access.

Choose a Role

  • Careers Team: Reviews candidates, manages communications, and coordinates interviews.
  • Careers Editor: Creates and maintains jobs and related information.
  • Careers Manager: Manages jobs, candidate workflows, Reporting, and permitted user accounts.
  • Careers Admin: Adds Careers Settings, candidate exports, and permitted user deletion to the Careers Manager’s permissions.
  • WordPress Administrator: Manages Kraken Careers and the wider WordPress website, including plugins, imports, and the Careers Email Queue.

Careers Team

Use Careers Team for recruiters, reviewers, interview coordinators, and other staff responsible for handling applications and candidates.

Within their candidate access permissions, Careers Team users can:

  • View and manage Candidates and Talent Pool records
  • Review application details and uploaded documents
  • Assign reviewers
  • Update Candidate Stages
  • Highlight candidates
  • Use the Candidate Pipeline
  • Add internal notes
  • Request and review references
  • Create, edit, and send candidate communications
  • Save and reopen communication drafts
  • Schedule interviews
  • Manage meeting details
  • Use the Recruitment Calendar
  • Move candidates into or out of the Talent Pool

Careers Team users can view job information required for candidate-related work, but they cannot:

  • Create jobs
  • Edit jobs
  • Publish jobs
  • Delete jobs
  • Manage Company Profiles
  • Manage Job Locations
  • Manage Benefits
  • Manage Screening Question sets
  • Access Reporting
  • Access Careers Settings
  • Manage users
  • Export candidate data
  • Access the Careers Email Queue

Use Careers Team when someone needs to work directly with candidates without managing job postings or Kraken Careers configuration.

Careers Editor

Use Careers Editor for people responsible for creating and maintaining job content.

Careers Editors can:

  • Create jobs
  • Edit jobs
  • Publish jobs
  • Delete jobs
  • Manage Company Profiles
  • Manage Job Locations
  • Manage Benefits
  • Create and maintain Screening Question sets
  • Upload job-related media
  • Use the Job Quality Grader
  • Preview public job postings

Careers Editors do not have access to:

  • Candidate records
  • Résumés and other candidate documents
  • Reference responses
  • Candidate communications
  • Candidate Pipeline
  • Recruitment Calendar
  • Reporting
  • Careers Settings
  • User management
  • Candidate exports
  • Careers Email Queue

Important: Careers Editor and the standard WordPress Editor are different roles. Select Careers Editor when assigning the Kraken Careers permissions described in this guide.

Careers Manager

Use Careers Manager for someone who oversees jobs and the hiring workflow.

Careers Managers combine job-management and candidate-management permissions.

They can manage:

  • Jobs
  • Company Profiles
  • Job Locations
  • Benefits
  • Screening Questions
  • Candidates
  • Talent Pool records
  • Reviewer assignments
  • Candidate Stages
  • Candidate Pipeline
  • Recruitment Calendar
  • Internal notes
  • References
  • Candidate communications
  • Interviews
  • Reporting
  • Reviewer workload information
  • Permitted user accounts

Careers Managers can create and edit permitted user accounts.

Careers Managers do not receive access to Careers Settings by default.

They also cannot:

  • Delete users
  • Export candidate data
  • Run WordPress imports
  • Access the Careers Email Queue
  • Assign the protected WordPress Administrator role
  • Assign the standard WordPress Editor role
  • Assign the standard WordPress Author role
  • Edit Administrator accounts

Use Careers Manager when someone needs to oversee the recruitment workflow but does not require Kraken Careers system configuration or unrestricted WordPress administration.

Careers Admin

Use Careers Admin for the person responsible for Kraken Careers configuration and recruitment administration.

Careers Admins have the job, candidate, Reporting, and user-management permissions available to Careers Managers.

They can also:

  • Change Careers Settings
  • Configure default reviewers
  • Manage email settings
  • Manage email Templates
  • Export candidate data
  • Export Talent Pool data
  • Delete permitted user accounts

Careers Admin does not provide unrestricted WordPress administration.

Careers Admins cannot:

  • Manage WordPress plugins
  • Manage WordPress themes
  • Use protected WordPress import tools
  • Access the Careers Email Queue
  • Assign the protected WordPress Administrator role
  • Assign the standard WordPress Editor role
  • Assign the standard WordPress Author role
  • Edit Administrator accounts

Use Careers Admin when someone is responsible for administering Kraken Careers but does not need unrestricted control over the WordPress website.

WordPress Administrator

WordPress Administrators have Kraken Careers permissions alongside full WordPress website administration.

Administrators can:

  • Manage Careers Settings
  • Manage jobs and related records
  • Manage Candidates and Talent Pool records
  • Manage Reporting
  • Export records
  • Run job and candidate imports
  • Access Tools → Careers Email Queue
  • Manage WordPress users
  • Manage plugins
  • Manage themes
  • Manage website settings

Important: WordPress Administrator status does not automatically bypass candidate reviewer restrictions. If Only Viewable by Assigned Reviewers is enabled for a candidate, an Administrator who is not assigned to that candidate cannot access the candidate’s restricted information.

Use WordPress Administrator only when the person also requires unrestricted website administration.

Create a New User

An account with user-creation permission can create an account for a new team member.

  1. Go to Users → Add New.
  2. Enter a unique username.
  3. Enter the person’s email address.
  4. Enter their first and last name.
  5. Generate or enter a secure password.
  6. Choose whether WordPress should send the new-user notification.
  7. Select the appropriate Role.
  8. Select Add New User.

The person can then sign in through the website’s standard WordPress login page.

Note: If the person already has a WordPress account, update the existing account instead of creating a duplicate.

Change an Existing User’s Role

To change an existing user’s role:

  1. Go to Users → All Users.
  2. Open the user’s account.
  3. Find Role.
  4. Select the new role.
  5. Select Update User.

Changing a role can remove permissions the person previously used elsewhere in WordPress.

Review the person’s other website responsibilities before replacing their existing role.

If the available menus do not update immediately after a role change, ask the user to sign out and sign back in.

Change Multiple Users

To change several accounts at once:

  1. Go to Users → All Users.
  2. Select the accounts you want to update.
  3. Open Change role to.
  4. Select the appropriate role.
  5. Select Change.

The roles available in this menu depend on your own account permissions.

Important: Review the selected accounts carefully before applying a bulk role change.

Assign Candidate Reviewers

A user role determines which Kraken Careers features someone can access.

A reviewer assignment identifies who is responsible for reviewing a particular candidate.

These are separate controls.

The following roles can be assigned as candidate reviewers:

  • WordPress Administrator
  • Careers Admin
  • Careers Manager
  • Careers Team

Careers Editor cannot be assigned as a candidate reviewer.

To assign reviewers:

  1. Open the candidate under Careers → Candidates or Careers → Talent Pool.
  2. Open Reviewer Tools.
  3. Find Assign Reviewer(s).
  4. Select the people responsible for reviewing the candidate.
  5. Select Save Changes.

Reviewer notifications depend on the configured email settings.

Important: Assigning someone as a reviewer does not automatically make the candidate private to that reviewer. Use Only Viewable by Assigned Reviewers when access to the candidate should be restricted.

Restrict a Candidate to Assigned Reviewers

Enable Only Viewable by Assigned Reviewers when a candidate’s private information should only be accessible to the selected reviewers.

When at least one reviewer is assigned, this setting restricts access to:

  • Candidate contact information
  • Résumés
  • Other uploaded documents
  • Reviewer Tools
  • Candidate workflow actions

Users who otherwise have candidate access but are not assigned as reviewers can see only:

  • Application Summary
  • Candidate’s first name
  • Candidate’s middle name
  • Candidate’s last name

They cannot edit or delete the restricted candidate record.

The restriction applies to unassigned:

  • Careers Team users
  • Careers Managers
  • Careers Admins
  • WordPress Administrators

To restrict a candidate:

  1. Select the required reviewers.
  2. Include yourself if you need continued access.
  3. Enable Only Viewable by Assigned Reviewers.
  4. Save the candidate.

Important: The restriction requires at least one assigned reviewer. Saving a candidate without reviewers clears the reviewer-only restriction.

An assigned reviewer can update the reviewer assignments when another team member requires access.

Set Default Reviewers

Careers Admins and WordPress Administrators can automatically assign reviewers to new applications.

Go to:

Careers → Settings → Candidates

Then:

  1. Find Default Reviewer(s).
  2. Select the reviewers.
  3. Save the settings.

Every selected default reviewer is assigned to each new application.

Assignments are not distributed between the selected reviewers.

For example, if three people are selected as default reviewers, all three are assigned to each new application.

Changing the default reviewer list:

  • Affects future applications
  • Does not reassign existing candidates
  • Does not automatically enable Only Viewable by Assigned Reviewers

See Candidate Settings for the complete settings guide.

Reviewer Assignments and Email Recipients

Reviewer assignments and email notification recipients serve different purposes.

Candidate Notification

The job’s Candidate Notification selection controls who receives the new-application notification.

Reviewer Assignment

Reviewer assignments identify who is responsible for reviewing the candidate.

Reviewer assignments also determine access when Only Viewable by Assigned Reviewers is enabled.

Important: Receiving a notification does not create a WordPress account and does not assign the recipient as a reviewer.

When adding someone to the hiring team:

  1. Make sure they have an appropriate WordPress account and Careers role.
  2. Add them to the relevant reviewer assignments.
  3. Configure the appropriate notification record if they also need new-application emails.

See Email Settings for notification configuration.

Dashboard, Pipeline, and Calendar Access

Dashboard content follows the user’s permissions.

Careers Editor

Careers Editors see job-related information, including:

  • Published jobs
  • Jobs approaching expiry

Careers Team

Careers Team users see candidate-related information and available candidate actions.

Careers Manager and Careers Admin

Careers Managers and Careers Admins also receive reporting-related Dashboard information according to their permissions.

Candidate Pipeline

The Candidate Pipeline requires candidate access.

It does not provide additional access to restricted candidate information.

Recruitment Calendar

The Recruitment Calendar also requires candidate access.

It does not bypass reviewer-only candidate restrictions.

See Candidate Pipeline and Recruitment Calendar for their respective controls.

Remove or Reduce Access

Before changing a reviewer’s role or deleting their account:

  1. Review their assigned Candidates.
  2. Review their assigned Talent Pool records.
  3. Assign replacement reviewers.
  4. Check restricted candidates while an assigned reviewer still has access.
  5. Remove the person from Default Reviewer(s).
  6. Update notification recipients where necessary.
  7. Review pending interviews.
  8. Review reference requests.
  9. Review communication drafts.
  10. Reassign WordPress content where appropriate.
  11. Change the user’s role or remove the account.

Important: Changing or deleting a user does not automatically transfer their candidate workload.

If the person still requires a WordPress account but no longer needs Kraken Careers access, assign an appropriate role without Careers permissions.

Resetting the person’s password alone does not remove the account’s permissions.

Account Practices

Use one WordPress account per person so actions recorded by Kraken Careers can be attributed to the correct user.

Recommended account practices include:

  • Keep passwords private.
  • Do not share accounts.
  • Use strong, unique passwords.
  • Enable two-factor authentication when the website provides it.
  • Assign the least-privileged role appropriate for the person’s responsibilities.
  • Review user roles when responsibilities change.
  • Limit candidate access to staff who require it.
  • Limit candidate exports to authorized staff.
  • Remove or reduce access when it is no longer required.
  • Reassign candidate workloads before removing a reviewer.

Important Behaviour

Important: User roles and candidate reviewer assignments are separate. A user can have candidate-access permissions without being assigned to a specific candidate.

Important: Only Viewable by Assigned Reviewers restricts private candidate information even for unassigned WordPress Administrators.

Important: Changing the default reviewer list affects future applications only. Existing candidates are not automatically reassigned.

Important: Changing or deleting a user does not automatically transfer their candidate workload.

Important: Receiving an email notification does not grant candidate access or assign the recipient as a reviewer.

Note: Additional plugins, custom WordPress roles, or modified capabilities can change the permissions described in this guide.

Troubleshooting

The Careers Menu Is Missing

Confirm that:

  • Kraken Careers is active.
  • The account has the intended Careers role.
  • The user has signed out and back in after a role change.

If access is still missing, check whether another plugin or custom role configuration has changed the account’s permissions.

A User Cannot Open Candidates

Careers Editor does not include candidate access.

Use:

  • Careers Team for candidate-focused work
  • Careers Manager when broader recruitment-management access is required
  • Careers Admin when recruitment administration and Careers Settings are also required

A Candidate Shows Only a Summary and Name

The candidate may have Only Viewable by Assigned Reviewers enabled.

An existing assigned reviewer must add the user before they can access the candidate’s private information.

This restriction also applies to WordPress Administrators.

A User Cannot Edit Jobs

Careers Team can view job information required for candidate workflows but cannot modify jobs.

Job editing requires:

  • Careers Editor
  • Careers Manager
  • Careers Admin
  • WordPress Administrator

A User Is Missing From the Reviewer List

Confirm that the user’s account has an eligible reviewer role.

Eligible reviewer roles are:

  • WordPress Administrator
  • Careers Admin
  • Careers Manager
  • Careers Team

Careers Editor and standard WordPress roles such as Subscriber are not eligible.

A Careers Manager Cannot Open Settings

This matches the default Kraken Careers role configuration.

Careers Settings are available by default to:

  • Careers Admin
  • WordPress Administrator

A User Cannot Open Reporting

Reporting is available by default to:

  • Careers Manager
  • Careers Admin
  • WordPress Administrator

A Careers Manager Cannot Delete a User or Export Candidates

These permissions are not included in the Careers Manager role.

Careers Admin adds:

  • Candidate export permissions
  • Talent Pool export permissions
  • Permitted user deletion

A Careers Admin Cannot Open the Email Queue or Import Tools

These tools require WordPress permissions that Careers Admin does not receive by default.

Use a WordPress Administrator account.

The Careers Email Queue is located at:

Tools → Careers Email Queue

An Email Recipient Cannot Open a Candidate

Check the person’s:

  1. WordPress account
  2. Careers role
  3. Reviewer assignment
  4. Candidate visibility restrictions

Being listed as an email recipient does not grant candidate access.