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Nextal Help

Job reasons

Where to find it
Configuration → ATS settings → Job → Reasons tab
Who can use it
Administrators with settings access
Direct URL
https://app.nextal.com/conf/admin/settings/ats/jobSettings

Job reasons are short codes or labels that explain why a job was opened or closed. When a recruiter opens a new requisition, they can tag it with an open reason — “Backfill”, “New headcount”, “Replacement”. When they close it, they pick a close reason — “Filled”, “Cancelled”, “Budget freeze”. Those reasons flow into reporting, where hiring managers can see at a glance how many positions were eliminated versus filled externally versus filled internally.

The Reasons tab. Open reasons and Close reasons are managed in separate sections but on the same page.

Open reasons

Open reasons describe why a position is being recruited for. They are selected when a job is created or re-opened. Common open reasons include:

  • New headcount — a net-new position approved in the budget
  • Backfill — replacing an employee who left or was promoted
  • Maternity or parental leave replacement — a temporary backfill
  • Restructuring — a role created as part of an organizational change

Close reasons

Close reasons explain what happened when a job was closed. They are selected during the job closure flow. Common close reasons include:

  • Position filled — the role was successfully hired
  • Position eliminated — the headcount was cut
  • Budget freeze — hiring was paused or cancelled
  • Internal transfer — filled by an existing employee without an ATS application
  • Duplicate posting — a second posting was merged into a primary one

Adding a reason

  1. Go to Configuration → ATS settings → Job and open the Reasons tab.
  2. Under Open reasons or Close reasons, click Add reason.
  3. Enter a label.
  4. Click Save.

Editing and deactivating

Click the edit action on any reason to rename it or toggle it Active/Inactive. Deactivate reasons that are no longer applicable — they will no longer appear as options in the job form, but historical jobs that used them retain the value for reporting.

There is no delete action for reasons — a reason can only be deactivated or reordered.

Tips

  • Keep reasons mutually exclusive. If “Filled internally” and “Internal transfer” mean the same thing, consolidate to one label — duplicates skew reporting counts.
  • Match your workforce-planning taxonomy. If your finance team tracks headcount under specific categories, align reason codes to those categories so ATS data and workforce-planning data stay in sync.
  • Add reasons before they are needed. A recruiter mid-closure who cannot find the right reason will pick the closest approximation — which pollutes analytics. Audit the list before each planning cycle.
  • Deactivate, do not delete. Deactivated reasons keep history intact while preventing future misuse.