# Plan Your First Recruitment Workflow: practice workbook
Talent Engineering Academy | An education initiative by Vitae
Edition 2026.09 | Updated 2026-09-24
Course: https://talentengineering.org/courses/first-recruitment-workflow

Specify a reliable recruitment workflow from trigger to verified outcome, with human review and recovery.

## Your deliverable
A workflow specification and fictional test log.

Use fictional information. Keep your completed work in your own secure notes. Exercises and capstone work are self-directed, not independently assessed.

## 1. Outcome and scope

Your notes:



## 2. Trigger and stable record identity

Your notes:



## 3. Required inputs and validation

Your notes:



## 4. Steps, permissions and human approval

Your notes:



## 5. Exceptions, retries and duplicate prevention

Your notes:



## 6. Completion evidence and monitoring

Your notes:



## Lesson exercises

### 1. Make repeatable work reliable

Write a workflow plan with a trigger, required inputs, three steps, approval owner, completion record and a response to missing information.

Your response:



### 2. Choose a repeatable, bounded task

Map the manual steps and choose which can be automated for a fictional interview pack.

Your response:


Worked example: A coordinator repeatedly gathers approved role information and interview details into a pack. The workflow can assemble the draft while leaving factual review and sending authority with the recruiter.

Self-review guidance: Name the inputs, output and accountable reviewer. Leave ambiguous or consequential decisions explicit. Explain why this task is sufficiently repeatable for a first pilot.

### 3. Specify triggers, state and permissions

Write trigger and pre-send checks for your workflow.

Your response:


Worked example: An interview booking triggers pack preparation. Before sending, the workflow checks that the interview is still scheduled, the candidate has not withdrawn and the reviewer approved the current pack version.

Self-review guidance: Include stable identifiers, required fields and current-state validation. Approval should identify what was approved and become invalid if material content changes.

### 4. Design exceptions and safe retries

Create five test cases, including a duplicate trigger and an uncertain send result.

Your response:


Worked example: The email service times out after accepting a pack. The workflow records the provider message identifier and reconciles delivery state instead of sending a second copy immediately.

Self-review guidance: Specify expected state and visible operator action for each. The duplicate should not create another send. An uncertain result should remain visible until reconciled, not be marked successful by guesswork.

### 5. Pilot and hand over the workflow

Produce a one-page runbook and a pilot decision using your test results.

Your response:


Worked example: A field rename breaks pack generation during the pilot. The test catches the missing role location, and the handover adds a contract check before the workflow can send any pack.

Self-review guidance: Include permitted scope, owner, checks, recovery and rollback. State unresolved limitations and a bounded next step. Do not declare readiness if exception cases remain untested.

## Portfolio review
Check that your work is internally consistent, distinguishes facts from assumptions, names decision owners and explains its limitations. Revise gaps before using the method in real work.

## Further reading
- [GOV.UK: Responsible AI in recruitment](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/responsible-ai-in-recruitment-guide/responsible-ai-in-recruitment): UK guidance on procuring and deploying recruitment AI.
- [NIST: AI Risk Management Framework](https://www.nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-management-framework): Voluntary framework for organising AI risks and controls.

Original educational scenarios. References provide further reading and do not imply endorsement. Check current official rules and appropriate professional advice for real legal, financial or regulated decisions.