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Create a candidate task for each new applicant

Every application creates a task in the Candidates List, titled with the applicant and role and set to New Applicant.

When this happens

New submission on your job application form

Do this

Create a task in the "Candidates" List with the applicant's name and role in the title, their uploaded CV on the task, and the status set to New Applicant

One-directional. A submission triggers the action — nothing is written back into your form.

Hiring pipelines fall apart in the gap between the careers page and the first review. This flow closes it: an application becomes a candidate task the moment it is submitted, carrying the role applied for, the available start date and the cover letter with it.

Small teams without an applicant tracking system get the most out of it. A hiring manager moves the task through review stages in ClickUp, and nobody retypes a name, a phone number or an availability date into a second system.

Setting it up

  1. 1

    Build your careers form from the Job Application Form template, and add a File Upload field for the CV so the document itself arrives with the application; the 2 MB per-file limit comfortably covers a normal CV. Add a URL field beside it for a portfolio, a showreel or anything larger than that.

  2. 2

    In ClickUp, build a Candidates List whose statuses are your hiring stages, with New Applicant first in the order.

  3. 3

    Add custom fields to that List for the role, the CV, the portfolio link and the available start date.

  4. 4

    In Zapier, select formformform's New Submission trigger and pick the application form.

  5. 5

    Add the ClickUp Create Task action, choose the Candidates List, and build the task name from Full Name and Position Applied For so the board reads as people and roles.

  6. 6

    Set the status on the action step to New Applicant, and leave the assignee empty until a recruiter picks the task up.

  7. 7

    Map Cover Letter into the task description, with Work Experience and Relevant Skills underneath, so a reviewer reads everything without opening another tab.

  8. 8

    Run one application through the live form, check the task name, status and custom fields, then enable the Zap.

What maps where

Using the Job Application Form as the starting point. These are its real fields — swap in your own and the mapping works the same way.

Form fieldClickUp
Full NameTask name, before the role
Position Applied ForTask name and a role dropdown custom field
Available Start DateStart date custom field on the task
Cover LetterTask description
Email AddressCandidate email custom field
Employment TypeEmployment type dropdown custom field

Variations worth knowing

One List per open role

When several roles are open at once, add Zapier paths keyed on Position Applied For and send each application to that role's own List. Hiring managers watch only their own board, and the stage statuses stay identical everywhere so reporting still lines up.

Assign a first reviewer automatically

Add a ClickUp Automation on the Candidates List: when a task enters New Applicant, assign it to the recruiter who owns that role and set a due date three working days out. The Zap stays simple and ClickUp handles the routing.

If something isn't arriving

Available Start Date arrives as text and will not sort.

ClickUp date fields need a real date value. Put a Formatter step between the trigger and the action, convert the answer to ISO format, then map that formatted output into the custom field rather than the raw answer.

Long cover letters break the task description layout.

Line breaks from a long-text field arrive as plain newlines, not markdown. Map the field onto its own line in the description and add a heading above it in the Zap, rather than dropping it inside an existing paragraph.

Frequently asked questions

Can applicants upload a CV?

Yes. Add a File Upload field and the CV arrives with the application, up to 2 MB per file, which a typical CV sits well inside. In the Zap, map the upload to a custom field on the candidate task, or add a ClickUp attachment action so the document lands on the task itself. A portfolio site, a showreel or a full-resolution design PDF usually runs past that limit, so keep a URL field for those and let the link do the work.

How do I keep applications out of a shared ClickUp Space?

Create the Candidates List inside a private Space only the hiring team can open, then pick that List in the Zapier action. Everyone else sees no tasks, and the submissions themselves stay behind your formformform account.

Does moving a candidate to Rejected notify them?

No. ClickUp status changes never travel back, and the form sends nothing after the submission itself. Send rejection emails with a ClickUp Automation, or from whatever mailbox your team already uses to answer candidates.

Related automations

Build the form first

The automation needs somewhere to fire from. Publish a form, connect it once, and every submission from then on runs this flow.

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