Frequently Asked Questions
1. How does the template handle any data entry errors?
The template automatically identifies several possible data entry errors.
Jobs Data
3 possible errors in Jobs sheet are shown at the top.
Also, specific Jobs with errors are highlighted with color coding.
- Number of Hired applications is greater than planned positions for the job.
- Job status is Completed, but not all the positions are hired
- Job status is Open, but all positions are hired.
Errors are color-coded for your convenience. Please make sure that all errors are fixed.
Applications Data
Similarly, errors are highlighted in Applications sheet.
- Job Posted Date > Application Date: As we calculate the time taken to fill a job, it is important that Job Posted Date <= Application Date. If not error is noted.
- Stages should be in chronological order. Stage 3 cannot happen before Stage 2.
- Hired Date is entered but Application status is not 'Hired'.
Errors are color-coded for your convenience. Please make sure that all errors are fixed.
Applications which have errors will not be included in Dashboard and hence if you have any errors, that could be the reason why you don’t see what you expect in the Dashboard.
We put these data validations in place so that the metrics calculated in the Dashboard are always correct.
2. What to do if a candidate skips a stage?
Sometimes a candidate may skip a stage and go to the next stage directly. In such cases, the template will auto populate the prior stage's date as the skipped stage date.
For example, if a candidate skips Phone Screen and directly goes to the Mgr Interview because it is an internal candidate and a Phone Screen may be considered unnecessary. In that case, Application Date itself is considered as the Phone Screen Date.
This will result in the calculations of time taken for Phone screening as 0 days for that application
3. Which data is required vs optional?
In the Jobs sheet, required fields are Job ID, Job Posted Date, Positions and Status.
Each Job has to be in one of the three status values (OPEN, COMPLETED or CANCELLED).
In the Applications sheet, JOB ID and APPLICATION DT are required fields.
Required fields are marked as shown above in the template for your identification.
4. Avg Days to Fill does not seem to be correct. Why?
Please check that the dates are in correct date format. In certain language and region the date formats are different from the U.S. version. This could cause Google Sheet to not recognize the entries as dates and thus result in errors.
To check if the date is a valid date format, please click on the cell with the specific value. Then, press CTRL+SHIFT+1 to convert the date format to number format.
If the format is not changed as highlighted above, then the date entered is in incorrect format. You can then press CTRL+SHIFT+3 to change the number format back to date format.
To know the date format to be used, requesting to type 1 in a cell and goto Format -> Number -> select Date as shown below. This should change number 1 to 31-Dec-1899 in your regional date format.
5. Dashboard is not showing all data. Why?
If you have chosen any filters (slicers) in the Dashboard sheet, that will narrow down the data set used to calculate metrics on Dashboard. If you believe that the Dashboard is not reflecting all the jobs and applications, please check if there are any filters applied. If so, clear the filters.
Also, check if you have entered date range for filters.
6. Only some parts of the Dashboard are showing data. Why?
Some parts of dashboard may not be populated if there are no relevant data yet. Each section of the Dashboard calculates certain metric that needs relevant data to make that metric meaningful. If that relevant data is not present, the section will appear blank.
The following shows the data that is relevant to each section on the dashboard.
- Page 1 will be populated when at least one application is HIRED.
- Page 2 will be populated when at least one application is entered.
- Page 3 will be populated only when any job is open or any application is pending
- Page 4 will only populate if you have entered information for job attributes like Job Location, Department, etc.
7. I renamed one of the Job attributes but the Slicer in the dashboard shows the default name.
Following is the procedure to change the slicer title:
- Click bottom left all sheet's icon and unhide CALC_JOB:
- Change the title in row 5 of the filter column to reflect the same in Dashboard filter.
8. Can I add my own columns?
We have provided two columns for you to use easily in both Jobs and Applications sheets. You can also add more columns as needed. No limits.
One request is that please do not insert any columns between the stage dates in Applications sheet.
9. Can I rename and re-purpose existing columns?
Renaming columns is perfectly fine.
Re-purposing can be done for most columns. The exceptions are those called out as 'Required fields'. For example, JOB Id can be renamed as Job Number. But it should still be the unique identifier of a job.
10. Are there any google scripts or hidden code?
The template does not have any google scripts or code. There are only hidden sheets with formulas which perform all the necessary calculations.