Welcome to the new and improved Candidate Portal
The new Portal allows you to update your Personal Details, provide us with your Availability, upload required Compliance and manage your Timesheets and Expenses.
This article is a step-by-step guide on how the portal functions and how to complete actions that will be required of you.
NOTE 1: The Candidate Portal can only be accessed if a Contract or Temporary Placement has been submitted for you.
NOTE 2: It is possible that only certain sections of this guide are relevant to you, depending on the appropriate level of Portal access that you've been given by your Recruiter/Employer.
Logging into the Portal
1. You will be sent an initial Welcome email that contains your Username and the link to the Portal. Shortly after this, a second email will be sent which contains your temporary password. The screenshot below displays the audit trail that your employer has access to, proving that the emails have been sent.
NOTE: If you do not receive these emails, please speak to your Recruiter and ask for them to be re-sent.
2. When you first log in, you will be asked to create a new password and to confirm it. Enter your details in the fields provided and then click Sign In to continue:
3. Once your password has been set, your login page will look like this:
If you forget your password, simply click on Forgot Password? - this will send you an email where it can be reset.
Account Management: My Details & My Contact Methods
When accessing the Portal, a good first place to access is the Account Management area. By clicking on the User Initial icon, you will be able to view your current details and the current contact methods that your Recruiter/Employer has on their system:
My Details > Candidate Information
1. By clicking on the My Details option, you will be able to see what information has been attached to your record. Changes can be made by first clicking on the Edit button:
2. Once this has been done, the fields will now be enabled allowing custom values to be entered:
3. Any fields that are blank will require an entry before the Save button is enabled. Once all mandatory fields have been completed, the section will display a Thumbs Up sign rather than a Hazard symbol. Any amendments made here will be reflected in the employer’s system:
My Details > Preferences
Just like the Candidate Information tab, here you will be able to make changes so that the employing company will then see in their access. To make any changes, you will first need to click the Edit button - once the fields unlock, changes can be made. If you see a Thumbs Up icon in the tab, then this indicates that all mandatory fields have been successfully completed and the tab can be saved:
My Details > Profile
In this section you will be able to add any relevant notes that the employing company will then see in their system. These fields are not mandatory and can be left blank if you so wish:
My Contact Methods
This section will update the job record that you applied for with your preferences on how you wish to be contacted about it. These options can be toggled to Do not receive or Receive. If any of the options are changed, the employing company will be notified as soon as your Portal edits are saved:
My Current Placement
This will be the first section that you will see and will be populated by the details from the job that you applied for. If any details in this area are incorrect, then you will need to contact your recruitment agency as edits cannot be made via your own access:
Compliance
This section will show you what Compliance information is required per job posting. You will be able to select which job requires your attention via the drop-down menu - step 1 in the example below:
Documents that require your attention will have a status of Outstanding. By clicking into the record, a new window will open where you will be able to provide your compliance evidence:
In this section you will need to upload a valid document which can either be dragged or uploaded - step 2 in the example above. It is also important to know that the maximum file size is 5MB - files larger than this will fail to load.
Allowed file types & maximum sizes that can be uploaded
Compliance: Any one of these file types under 5MB: .doc, .docx, .txt, .rtf, .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg, .png
Timesheets: Any one of these file types under 5MB: .xls, .xlsx, .doc, .docx, .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg, .png
Expenses: Any one of these file types under 5MB: .xls, .xlsx, .doc, .docx, .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg, .png
Once a document has been uploaded and the Valid from and Valid to fields have valid dates in them, the Submit button will enable, allowing you to submit the compliance file. Once the file has been saved the status will update to Submitted. Alongside this within the Document tab, the document will be fully displayed, which the employing company will then be able to view from their access.
NOTE: If any Compliance provided is invalid, it will change back to a status of Outstanding. If there are specific instructions, your contact will get in touch separately to advise what these are. If the validity expires, it will also appear as Invalid.
Once the document has been checked and is successful, the status will update to Checked and the Compliance section is now complete!
NOTE: The colour coding and status will dictate if there is anything to be actioned. If you have already provided some of the documents, they will already be marked as Submitted (orange) or as Checked (green) - there is nothing to be actioned. Only those that have a red RAG status of Outstanding or Invalid need to be actioned.
My Timesheets
This is where you can submit any standard or extra hours that you have worked which will then be synced to the employer:
Dependent on the Timesheet structure the employing company sets, you will be able to cycle through available sheets. If you are paid on a weekly basis then you will be able to select a specific week. If you are paid monthly then you can select a specific month. Step 1 in example below shows how to cycle through Weeks and step 2 shows how to cycle through Months. If an incorrect value is entered, a dialog box will appear letting you know why the value you entered is not valid.
Any relevant notes can be left in the Comments field which can then be viewed by the employing company. Timesheets also allow Attachments to be added to them in case additional evidence is required. Once the Timesheet has been completed, you can either Save the sheet and Submit it later, or Save and Submit within the session.
Once the sheet has been submitted, a new pop-up window will open showing an Approver list. This list will contain the name of the contact who will approve your Timesheet(s):
Upon clicking OK, the Timesheet status will change from Draft to Submitted. The approver will then be notified of your submission and will decide if the sheet is valid:
My Expenses
The Expenses section has been built to work in similar way as Timesheets. The main differences are the fields that need to be completed and uploading receipts. See the example below for the stages:
Click into the Expense line and enter the date the expense was made. Select the Expense Type from the drop-down list and then type a description - e.g. for a train travel receipt, enter something like: Worthing to London Victoria Return. Enter the number of units - e.g. to claim for two lunches, enter 2 and then select the currency.
To enable the Upload button you must first save the expense, as seen in the screenshot below. Once this has been completed, the Upload button will enable allowing you to upload your receipt:
Once you're ready to submit it all, click on Submit. To add further rows, use the plus button found in the top right corner of the expense window.
NOTE: Expenses can only be entered for the period you are working in. If they are for the previous week or month, they cannot be entered. Please speak to your contact at the recruitment agency.
Authored by Arden Shaw - Digital Adoption Consultant @ Mercury