Throughout your recruitment process you will capture data from candidates, feedback from hiring managers, upload documents and create correspondence records. Whilst you have the consent module to help you manage candidate personal data, how long should you be storing the rest of the recruitment information?

With Eploy's Auto Delete Records tool you can configure rules to automatically delete different record types after a certain period of time to help ensure that you aren't storing anything you don't need - not to mention help with system speeds and make your database more manageable!

To access the Auto Delete Records configuration, you first need to ensure that you have the correct permission, which can be found within Admin - System / Security.

The specific permissions required are Auto Delete Record Rules.

Once permission is granted, you can access Auto Delete Rules within Admin > Rules & Automation > Auto Delete Records.

This will then display a dashboard, which breaks down the number of records of each type currently on your system, including the date of the earliest record.

This is designed to give you an idea about the current state of your database, including which records may require focus for any data cleanse activity.

Below the dashboard, you will see any currently configured, active or inactive delete rules that are in place. This will include the name of the rule, the filter in place (to dictate which records are due to be deleted) and the current authorisation state, which shows who has approved the rule before making active (if applicable).

To edit an existing rule, you can click into the title or to create a new one, select New from the grey toolbar.

When clicking New, you will see a list of the different Auto Delete Rules available, based on the record types in your system. This will allow you to create rules to remove any of the following:

Select the record type you wish to begin configuring a rule for, which will then allow you to set an appropriate title and description for your rule. We would recommend adding a description to explain which records you are looking to remove and why, which can then be useful for the authorisers. This will also allow you to compare the filter with the description to ensure that it is configured correctly.

Once the title is set, you can configure your filter, which is where you can use the advanced query to outline which records should be used.

Once the filter is configured, you will then see a record summary of those that will be deleted, broken down by year. This will allow you to sense check any records and make sure you understand the implication of deleting this information. If there are any records detailed that you would like to keep, you can then adjust your filter accordingly. Click Save to confirm the filter and create the rule, which will then be ready for authorisation.

When a rule and filter is saved, it will be added to the grid of rules and be available for approval. Any user with permission to access Auto Delete Records will be able to approve a rule, so this permission should only be shared with those authorised to do so.

When the user clicks into the rule, they will see the the original filter and the Authorisation Summary, which breaks down how the rules work. This message needs to be read and understood before proceeding, to ensure that the implications of activating the rule are clear and agreed to.

If the user is happy to apply the First Authorisation, they can tick the box and click Save. This will add a timestamp for the user and date that the authorisation has been applied.

The user that provides the first authorisation cannot apply the second authorisation, to ensure that multiple users are consulted before the rule is activated. This is done to help protect the integrity of the database. Once a second user has followed these same steps to approve, the Activate tick box will become available. The second Authoriser can then chose to activate the rule or it can be activated by any other user with access to Auto Delete Records.

Once active, the rule will begin to run outside of office hours, working through the backlog of records to be deleted overnight. Depending on the number of records, all may not be deleted immediately but over time. You can use the dashboard to monitor the number of records and create new rules accordingly.