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Mass Actions (Bulk Operations) Guide

Work Faster With Bulk Updates, Communication, and Record Management

Updated over a week ago

Recruiters, Hiring Managers, and Super Users can perform actions on multiple records at once, saving time and increasing efficiency across all BrightMove modules.

Mass Actions replace repetitive one-by-one updates with fast, bulk processing tools that allow you to communicate, organize, and update many records in a single operation.

Important: The Mass Actions available to you depend on your user type and role permissions.
Hiring Managers only have Mass Actions for Applicants, Submittals, and Contacts.
Mass Actions for Jobs (Requirements) and Clients are limited to Recruiters and Super Users.

What Are Mass Actions?

Mass Actions (also known as Bulk Operations) allow you to perform actions on multiple records simultaneously.

Common actions include:

  • Sending communications (Email/SMS)

  • Adding records to folders

  • Updating candidate submittal stages

  • Tagging records

  • Scheduling follow-up activities

  • Deleting records

  • Bulk job actions (Recruiters only)

  • Bulk client actions (Recruiters only)

Hiring Manager Reminder:
Hiring Managers cannot bulk update Jobs or Clients. Mass Actions they can perform apply only to Applicants, Submittals, and Contacts.

Critical Limitations

Maximum Selection Limit: 500 Records

You can perform mass actions on up to 500 records per batch because:

  • Selections apply only to records visible on your page

  • Selections do not persist when you change pages

  • Bulk actions over 500 items may impact performance

How Pagination Affects Mass Actions

What Does NOT Work

You cannot select across multiple pages.

Example:

  • Show 100 records

  • Select all 100 on page 1

  • Go to page 2 and select another 100

  • Perform mass action

Result: Only the 100 from page 2 are affected.

What Does Work

  1. Set page size to 500

  2. Select all 500

  3. Perform mass action

  4. Move to next page if needed

Page Size Options

Page size options include:

10, 25, 50, 100, 250, or 500 records per page

Find this under the “Show [X] entries” dropdown at the top of the search results.

Performance Notice: Large Batch Processing

Processing large batches (especially 100-500 records) may take several minutes and can slow down or stall during peak business hours due to server load.

If You Experience Delays:

  • Reduce your batch size

  • Avoid peak business hours for very large batches

  • Wait for each action to complete before starting another

  • Contact Support if stuck for more than 10 minutes

Tip: Start with smaller batches to test processing time before scaling up.

Working With More Than 500 Records

Strategy 1: Multiple Batches

  • Set page size to 500

  • Select → act → move to next page
    Best for email, delete, tagging.

Strategy 2: Use Folders

  • Add groups of 500 to a folder

  • Run all mass actions from inside that folder
    Best for multi-step workflows.

Strategy 3: Refine Your Search

Filter down to fewer than 500 results.

Strategy 4: Use Tags First

Tag in batches → search by tag → process all later.

Where to Find Mass Actions

Power Search

After running a search:

  • Select records

  • Open the Actions dropdown

  • Choose a mass action

Available for:

  • Applicants

  • Requirements (Recruiters only)

  • Clients (Recruiters only)

  • Contacts

Folders

Folders support mass actions depending on your user type.

Hiring Managers can:

  • Mass action Applicants

  • Mass action Contacts

  • Mass action Submittals

Recruiters/Super Users can:

  • Mass action Jobs and Clients

  • Mass action all record types

Individual Record Tabs

The Submittals tab on a Job record offers additional Hiring Manager mass actions.

Available Mass Actions by Module

Applicant / Candidate Mass Actions

Available to Recruiters, Hiring Managers, and Super Users

Hiring Managers can perform:

  • Mass Email

  • Mass SMS

  • Mass Add Activity

  • Mass Add Tags (existing tags only)

  • Mass Delete (records they own)

  • Send to Cart

  • Add to Folder

  • Remove from Folder

Use Case:
Send a bulk “Thank you for applying” email to 50 candidates.

Requirement (Job) Mass Actions

Available to Recruiters & Super Users Only

Hiring Managers cannot perform any mass actions on jobs.

Recruiters/Super Users can:

  • Mass Copy

  • Mass Update Status

  • Mass Add Tags

  • Mass Delete

  • Add to Folder

  • Remove from Folder

Submittal Mass Actions

Available to Recruiters, Hiring Managers & Super Users

Hiring Managers can perform:

  • Mass Submittal Activity

  • Mass Add Activity

  • Mass Add Tags

  • Mass SMS

  • Mass Delete (for their own submittals)

Use Case:
Move 10 candidates to “Second Interview.”

Client Mass Actions

Available to Recruiters & Super Users Only

Hiring Managers cannot perform client-level mass actions.

Recruiter/Super User actions include:

  • Mass Add Tags

  • Mass Delete

  • Add to Folder

  • Remove from Folder

Contact Mass Actions

Available to Recruiters, Hiring Managers & Super Users

Hiring Managers can perform:

  • Mass Email

  • Mass Add Activity

  • Mass Add Tags

  • Mass Delete (their own contacts)

  • Add to Folder

  • Remove from Folder

How to Perform Mass Actions: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Optimize Your Page View

  • Check total results

  • Increase page size (100–500)

  • Note that selections only apply to visible records

Step 2: Select Records

  • Use checkboxes

  • Use “Select All” for current page

Step 3: Choose an Action

  • Open the Actions dropdown

  • Select your mass action

Step 4: Configure & Execute

  • Complete the action modal

  • Review your selections

  • Confirm

Step 5: Confirmation

  • BrightMove processes the batch

  • Repeat for additional pages if needed

Mass Email Features

Available to Hiring Managers and Recruiters:

  • Use templates

  • Personalize with merge fields

  • Send up to 500 recipients

  • Accessible through Power Search or Folders

Mass Folder Operations

Hiring Managers Can:

  • Add Applicants, Contacts, and Submittals

  • Remove those same record types

Hiring Managers Cannot:

  • Add/remove Jobs

  • Add/remove Clients

Recruiters/Super Users Can:

  • Perform folder actions on all record types

Best Practices

  • Always check your total record count first

  • Maximize page size

  • Test with a small batch first

  • Use folders for multi-step workflows

  • Use tags for multi-batch segmentation

  • Double-check all selected records

  • Be patient with large batches

Common Scenarios

Email 800 Qualified Applicants

Hiring Managers ✔ allowed

Close 12 Seasonal Positions

Hiring Managers ✘ not allowed
Recruiters ✔ allowed

Tag 1,500 Healthcare Professionals

Hiring Managers ✔ allowed

Move 2,000 Inactive Candidates to Archive

Hiring Managers ✔ allowed (via folder method)

Understanding “Select All”

“Select All” DOES:

✔ Select all records on the current page
✔ Select up to 500 records

“Select All” DOES NOT:

✘ Select records across pages
✘ Persist after page navigation
✘ Select all search results

Troubleshooting

“My selections disappeared!”
Selections reset when changing pages.

“I can’t select more than 500.”
You must work in batches or use folders.

"Mass action is slow."

Large batches take time to process. Wait for confirmation before proceeding. If processing stalls, reduce your batch size and try again.

Permissions and Access

Hiring Managers Can:

  • Mass action Applicants

  • Mass action Contacts

  • Mass action Submittals

Hiring Managers Cannot:

  • Mass action Jobs

  • Mass action Clients

  • Modify workflow settings

  • Perform system-level bulk updates

Recruiters and Super Users have full access.

Safety Features

  • Confirmation prompts

  • Permission restrictions

  • Selections cleared on page changes

  • Audit logging

  • 500-record limit

  • Folder removal does not delete records

Need Help?

Contact Support or use the in-app chat assistant.

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