Job Alerts for Your Careers Website
Job Alerts let candidates search your jobs and sign up for new matching jobs by email. They confirm their email address first, alerts go out daily by default, and every email has a one-click unsubscribe.
By the Happydance team. Updated November 2026.
Most visitors to a careers website are not ready to apply today. Careers website job alerts give them a way to stay in touch without applying, and give you a way to bring them back when the right role opens.
A feature that lets candidates search your jobs on your careers website and sign up for new matching jobs by email. They confirm their email first, and they can set up more than one alert.
Job Alerts is included in the Plus and Premium plans, and can be added to Essential. See the plans and ask for a quote for your mix.
What Happydance careers website job alerts do
Candidates search your jobs and sign up for new matching jobs by email. They confirm their email address first, and they can set up more than one alert. Alerts go out daily by default, and every email has a one-click unsubscribe. The alert follows the search the candidate cares about, so it is relevant to them, not a general mailing.
Search, then sign up
Candidates search your jobs and ask for new matching jobs by email.
Confirm first
Candidates confirm their email address before any alert is sent.
More than one alert
A candidate can set up several alerts, for example one per location or job family.
The life of an alert
- 1. SearchA candidate searches your jobs and chooses to be told about new matches.
- 2. ConfirmThey confirm their email address. A sign-up that is never confirmed is deleted after two days.
- 3. Daily alertsNew matching jobs arrive by email, daily by default. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe.
- 4. Renew or expireAn alert expires after a year unless the candidate renews it.
That lifecycle keeps your list clean. Nobody gets alerts they did not ask for, nobody stays on a list for years by accident, and leaving is always one click.
What is held, and what is not
Job Alerts holds only the email address, the search and the language. Candidates do not create an account or sign in. Job Alerts is not a talent community, and it does not hold CVs or profiles. If you want a richer relationship with candidates, read our careers website CMS guide for what else your site can do.
The consent wording is yours
You write the consent wording, so it matches your own policies and voice. We do not supply sample wording, because your policies and your voice are what candidates should hear. Agree it with your data protection lead before you switch alerts on.
Why Job Alerts matter
- Candidates who are not ready to apply still have a way to stay connected
- You reach people who have already told you what they want
- Alerts bring candidates back to your careers website, not to a third-party job board
- A quiet jobs list is less of a dead end when candidates can ask to hear about the next role
- You hold very little, so there is little to protect and little to explain
How to set Job Alerts up well
- Make the sign-up easy to find. Put it on the jobs list and on a "no vacancies right now" page.
- Keep the form short. The search the candidate cares about, and an email address.
- Say what happens next. Tell candidates that alerts are daily, that they must confirm, and that they can leave in one click.
- Write your consent wording with care. It is yours, so make it sound like you.
- Write for the inbox. Job titles and locations in plain words beat clever subject lines.
- Check who is looking. Use your own Google Analytics to see which searches and pages bring people to sign up.
Keep exploring
ShowcaseCareers website design showcaseBorrow ideas from designs candidates enjoy using.Browse the showcase
CompareCompare Essential, Plus and PremiumLine the plans up side by side and find the right fit.Compare the plans
Say helloSee Happydance in actionBook a demo and see a careers website built around your story.Book a demo
Job Alerts and your ATS
Jobs reach your careers website from your ATS, roughly hourly, and a job shows the detail your ATS holds. So an alert reflects the jobs that are open now. Read more about partners and ATS integrations, and about the XML job feed that publishes the same jobs to job boards.
Alerts in every language
The language is one of the three things Job Alerts holds, so alerts match what the candidate asked for. Happydance supports hundreds of languages, and each has its own web address. See the multilingual careers website guide.
Stay in touch honestly
An alert is a small promise: tell me when something I want comes up. Keep it. Send what was asked for, say plainly what to expect, and make leaving easy. Trust built in the inbox carries into the interview.
Relevance is the shortest route to belief.
Bryan Adams, Sell The Truth
A quick truth test for this page:
- Does the sign-up say exactly what the candidate will get?
- Is leaving as easy as joining?
- Would you be happy to read your own alert email?
Job alert launch checklist
Job alert launch checklist
Open each step before you switch alerts on.
1. Know what candidates are signing up for
Alerts go out daily by default. Say so on the sign-up, in plain words.
2. Write your consent wording
It is yours to write, so it matches your policies and your voice. Agree it with your data protection lead before launch.
3. Check the confirmation email
Candidates must confirm their email first. Read the confirmation on a phone, and remember that a sign-up never confirmed is deleted after two days.
4. Test the one-click unsubscribe
Every alert email has one. Sign up with a test address and leave, so you know it works.
5. Plan for the one-year expiry
An alert expires after a year unless the candidate renews it. Decide how you will explain that.
6. Test it end to end
Search, sign up, confirm, receive a daily alert on a phone, then unsubscribe.
7. Decide how you will measure it
Sign ups and applications from alert emails, tracked in your own Google Analytics the same way each month.
Created by Happydance as a thinking aid. It carries no data from you.
Keep exploring: four pages to read next
Pick the page that matches where you are in your search. Each one links back to the others, so you can move between guides, your ATS, comparisons and plans.
What a careers website costs
Price drivers, a three-year model and our own plan ranges. Read the guide.
Careers website for SAP SuccessFactors
See how a Happydance careers website works with SAP SuccessFactors. See the SAP SuccessFactors page.
Radancy alternative
A fair, sourced look at Radancy for teams comparing options. Read the comparison.
Enterprise careers website
Premium, from $80k per year, for large employers with complex needs. See the plan.
Free preview: six checks to run in any CMS demo
| Check | Demo test | What good looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Roles | Create an editor who can change one page and nothing else. | Permissions set by role, in a few clicks |
| Approvals | Send a change for approval and publish it as the approver. | A clear step between drafting and live |
| Version history | Show who changed a page, when, and what changed. | A readable history for every page |
| Rollback | Restore the previous version of a live page. | One action, with no developer |
| Languages | Add a language and edit it as a local editor. | Local editors, one structure |
| Phone check | Preview the change on a phone before it goes live. | A real mobile preview |
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The full checklist goes deeper on every check, with demo questions you can reuse. It is free on the download page, with no form to fill in. When you are ready, you can book a demo when you are ready.
Questions to ask any supplier about job alerts
- What does the candidate sign up with, and what do you hold?
- Does the candidate confirm their email first, and what happens to sign-ups that are never confirmed?
- Who writes the consent wording, and can I change it?
- How do candidates unsubscribe, and how long does it take?
- Do alerts expire, and what happens then?
- Can a candidate set up more than one alert?
Add these to the RFP template and compare suppliers on the same footing.
What are Job Alerts on a careers website?
A feature that lets candidates search your jobs and sign up for new matching jobs by email. They confirm their email first and can set up more than one alert.
What data do Job Alerts hold?
Job Alerts holds only the email address, the search and the language.
How often are alerts sent?
Alerts go out daily by default, and every email has a one-click unsubscribe.
Do alerts last for ever?
No. An alert expires after a year unless the candidate renews it, and a sign-up that is never confirmed is deleted after two days.
Who writes the consent wording?
You do. The customer writes the consent wording, so it matches their own policies and voice.
Which Happydance plans include Job Alerts?
Job Alerts is included in Plus and Premium, and can be added to Essential.
Do Job Alerts replace a talent community?
They do different jobs. Job Alerts tell candidates about matching jobs by email. They do not hold profiles, and candidates do not sign in. Choose according to what you want to do with the relationship.
See it on your own jobs
Book a demo and we will show you this feature, and the rest of the platform, on a careers website running on a phone.
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