Greenhouse is the hiring system behind the careers pages of thousands of companies, many of them in technology. You can usually tell you are on one from the address, which contains greenhouse.io, or from a note at the bottom of the form saying it is powered by Greenhouse.
Unlike Workday, Greenhouse does not make you create an account. The whole application is one page, and you submit it once.
Before you start
- Your CV as a file. Greenhouse forms typically accept PDF, Word (DOC or DOCX), TXT and RTF, and list the types under the upload button.
- A cover letter, if you have one. It takes the same file types, or you can type it in.
- Your LinkedIn address, and a portfolio or GitHub link if your work lives there.
- Answers to the eligibility questions: where you are based, whether you need visa sponsorship, your notice period.
- Ten to fifteen minutes, a little more if there are written questions.
The basics
First name, last name, email and phone. The phone number usually comes with a country picker: choose your country first, then type the number. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required. The rest are optional, but a recruiter reads what you leave out too.
Your CV and cover letter
Each upload offers Attach, which takes a file, and Enter manually, which opens a box to paste text into. Attach the file: it keeps your layout, and it is what the recruiter will open.
When the upload has finished, the file’s name appears under the field. Check that it is there before you go further. If no name is showing, the file is not attached, whatever you clicked.
“Autofill with Greenhouse”. Some employers add this button. It uses MyGreenhouse, a free Greenhouse profile that you sign in to with a code sent to your email rather than a password, and fills the form from what you saved there. It only appears where the employer has turned it on, and, like any autofill, it is worth checking what it filled.
The employer’s questions
Below the basics come the employer’s own questions, usually as dropdowns that say Select…. Many of them work like a search box: click, type a few letters, then pick an option from the list. Text you typed but did not pick does not count, and the form will tell you the field is required when you try to submit.
Questions you will often see:
- Where are you based, or which country do you live in?
- Will you now or in the future need visa sponsorship?
- Have you worked for this company before?
- Are you bound by any employment agreement or post-employment restriction, such as a non-compete? If you are not sure, check your current contract before answering, and say so in a text box if there is one.
- Written questions such as “Why do you want to work here?”. We have a guide to that one.
Voluntary self-identification
Applications for jobs in the United States usually end with optional questions about gender, whether you are Hispanic or Latino, race, veteran status and sometimes disability. The form says that answering is voluntary and will not be considered in the decision, and every question has an option to decline. Our guide to self-identification explains why they are asked and who sees the answers.
The security code
Greenhouse checks applications for spam. Depending on how strict the employer’s setting is, it may ask you to type in a code sent to your email before the application goes through. Check your spam or junk folder if it does not arrive within a few minutes, and enter it on the same page.
After you submit
You will see a confirmation, and usually an email. There is no candidate portal for most Greenhouse applications, so keep your own record of where you applied. If you use MyGreenhouse, it can show the applications you made through it.
You can usually apply for more than one role at the same company. Each one is a separate application, so tailor the written answers to each role.
When the form won’t go through
- “This field is required” on a dropdown you filled. You typed but did not pick. Open it again and choose an option.
- The CV will not attach. Check the file type and size, and try a PDF with a plain file name.
- The security code never came. Look in spam, wait a few minutes, then ask for a new one.
- Submit does nothing. Scroll up for red error text. Ad blockers and privacy extensions can stop the spam check from loading, so try allowing them on that page.
More causes and fixes are in our guide to applications that won’t submit.
How Draftloop helps on Greenhouse
- It is ready when the page loads. It fills your name, email, phone, links, location and education, including Greenhouse’s separate school, degree and discipline fields.
- It answers the dropdowns by choosing from the form’s own options, never by typing in something the form did not offer.
- It writes the open questions from your CV and the job posting, marked purple so you read them first.
- It is honest about your CV. Draftloop attaches your CV and then checks that Greenhouse shows the file name. Some Greenhouse forms do not accept a file added this way. When the name does not appear, Draftloop tells you, and you attach it yourself with one click, rather than finding out after you have applied without it.
- It leaves the rest to you. Self-identification questions are filled only if you chose to answer them in your profile. Consent boxes, the security code and the Submit button are always yours.
- It notices a refused submission. If Greenhouse turns the application away after you press Submit, Draftloop tells you it was not sent and does not count it as applied.