Email filters & marking candidates as spam

Whenever your job openings are shared publicly, it can open your account up to the potential of spam or bot applications - just like your email! We'll show you how to identify spam candidates, and how to prevent them from applying to future openings.

Identifying spam or bot candidates

Each of these items aren't necessarily a problem individually. But when there's multiples of these "red flags" in one candidate profile, there's a good chance you have a spam candidate.

• Email doesn't match candidate nameOne indication of a spam candidate is that the email address has a totally different name than what the candidate entered. For example, the email address says "Michael Scott", but the candidate entered their name as "Elena Gilbert".

  

• Answers to application form questions don't address the questionsIf your application form has open-ended questions, their answers may be confusing or perhaps they don't directly answer the question. In addition to answers that don't make sense, you may see repeat answers, or that they have answered every question with the same response.

  

• Using the same email address to submit multiple applicationsAnother common tactic is to "application blast". A spam or bot candidate will use the same email address, but use different names, to apply multiple times to your openings.

  
  

  At first glance, these may appear to be different candidates who happen to have duplicate profiles. The red Duplicate Flag is intended to use for real candidates who may have multiple profiles, but it also comes in handy when looking for potential spammers!

  

  If you click into one of those profiles, and then click the red duplicate marker, you can open a view to see which other profiles share that email address. In this case, you can see that the same email address submitted multiple applications under completely different names:

  

Preventing future spam applications

If a spammer does make their way into your candidate pool, you can prevent being notified of future applicants from this email address by setting up an email filter.

1. Navigate to Settings > Filters for Incoming Emails.

   

2. Here you can enter the spammer's email in the From box, and then check the Mark as Spam option. You can even apply a label for your team to easily identify, such as "Do Not Contact" or "Spam"This will auto-filter all future applicants from this email address as spam - which keeps them out of your candidate pool, and stops you from being notified of them.

   

3. Note: this is not retroactive - so you will need to go into the candidate profiles and mark the ones that have come in already as spam to get them out of your active list.Once marked as spam, candidates can still reply to emails, but you won’t be notified of the reply.

   

4. Avoid sharing the opening email address publicly. On your job opening under the Candidate Sources tab, you'll notice an Application Email address. This application email is intended for your team to use internally for forwarding resumes in. Sharing this email publicly can increase the risk that the email address is picked up by a scammer. 

   

Filtering real (not spam) candidates

Sometimes you may have a candidate who is a real person, but they are persistent in emailing or continue to apply after being rejected. We suggest labels!

In Settings > Filters for incoming emails, you can add a label and title it "Do Not Hire" or "Do Not Contact". Should the candidate apply again, the system will remove them from your candidate pool and apply that label to their profile.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you aren’t finding your question or answer here, feel free to reach out to us at hire@trakstar.com, and we’d be happy to help!

Can I block certain candidates from applying?

Since Trakstar Hire doesn't require a login for candidates to apply to a role, there is no way to block candidates. Applying the email filter mentioned in this article will keep the candidates out of your view. They can continue to apply to your openings, but if you have the "Mark candidate as Spam" box checked, they will not come into your active candidate pool.

What if the candidate is real (not spam) but they won't leave us alone?

This happens! The email filter function is not just intended for spam applications. You can also apply the filter if a candidate continues to email your team and you wish to no longer receive communication from them. They can still email you, but if you include a label on the email filter of "Do Not Hire" or "Do Not Contact", your team will see that label.

What if I'm not sure if the candidate is spam?

If you're viewing your candidates and you can't decide whether or not a candidate is authentic, or fraudulent, feel free to reach out to us at hire@trakstar.com! We'd be more than happy to take a look for you and advise.

The candidate is being threatening, or the amount of applications is overwhelming - what do I do?

While rare, it occasionally happens where a bot will apply in large quantities, or a scammer will become threatening and intimidating. If you find yourself in this situation, please reach out to us in support right away at hire@trakstar.com. We will act quickly to get it resolved for you.

Do spam candidates show up in any reports?

Yes, spam candidates will show in your reports. However, if you wish to not see spam candidates in your reports, you can delete them. Please note that deleting a candidate is a PERMANENT action, and cannot be undone. We advise doing this with extreme caution.

Can I remove the email filters once they're created?

Absolutely! If you made a filter in error, or later realized that the candidate was not spam, you can navigate back to Settings > Filters For Incoming Emails and delete the filter