How to Include Additional Shift Dates in Email Notifications

When a shift job has more than one date, each date becomes its own job in Enginehire. This happens when you add additional dates while creating a shift job, and when a request with several sessions comes in from an integration such as Bright Horizons. Enginehire has two tags that can show those related dates in an email, [[jobdatestimes]] and [[associated_shift_jobs]]. They work differently, and the right one depends on how many of those jobs the email covers. This article explains what each tag shows, when to use it, and how to add it to your template.

Which tag should I use for multi-day shift job notifications?

Use [[jobdatestimes]] when the broadcast covers all the jobs in the request at once, such as an auto broadcast for a Bright Horizons request with several sessions. It lists the date and time of every job in the broadcast, so candidates receive one email with the full schedule.

Use [[associated_shift_jobs]] when you broadcast a single job that belongs to a multi-day request and want that email to mention the other dates. Because this tag lists only the other dates, pair it with [[date]], [[starttime]] and [[endtime]] so the email also shows the shift it is about.

How the [[jobdatestimes]] tag works

[[jobdatestimes]] displays the date and time of each job included in the broadcast. When several related jobs go out together, it pulls them into a single list and Enginehire sends one consolidated email instead of one email per job. This works no matter how the jobs were created.

The tag only knows about the jobs in that broadcast. If you broadcast one job on its own, [[jobdatestimes]] shows just that job's date and time, even when the job is part of a multi-day request.

This is the email a candidate received when a single job from a multi-day shift job was broadcast with [[jobdatestimes]] in the template. Only that job's date and time appears.

How the [[associated_shift_jobs]] tag works

[[associated_shift_jobs]] displays the other shift jobs linked to the job the email is about. These links are created when you add additional dates while creating a shift job, because each additional date becomes its own job linked back to the others. The tag shows the dates of those other jobs, without times, and leaves out the date of the job the email is about.

In the example below, a shift job has three dates: October 21, October 23 and October 30. The October 21 job is broadcast with [[associated_shift_jobs]] in the template.

When you broadcast a job, the Broadcast Message box shows the email with the tags already filled in, so you can check the dates before you send. Here the tag has filled in October 23 and October 30.

In the email the candidate receives, the subject shows October 21 because it uses [[date]], [[starttime]] and [[endtime]]. The body lists the other two dates from [[associated_shift_jobs]].

To show both the current shift and the other dates in the body, you can use wording like this:

This shift: [[date]], [[starttime]] - [[endtime]]
Other dates for this job: [[associated_shift_jobs]]

Why not to use [[associated_shift_jobs]] in a broadcast that covers several jobs

This tag is evaluated separately for each job, so every date produces a different result. The October 23 job, for example, would list October 21 and October 30. In a broadcast that covers several jobs at once, Enginehire renders the template once per job. A template that uses [[associated_shift_jobs]] would send candidates one email for each date, each with a different list. For those broadcasts, use [[jobdatestimes]].

Example: Bright Horizons jobs with multiple sessions

A Bright Horizons request can include several sessions, and each session becomes its own job in Enginehire. A Bright Horizons request with three sessions is three Enginehire jobs.

If your auto broadcast template uses [[associated_shift_jobs]], candidates receive three emails, one per session, each listing the other two. If your template uses [[jobdatestimes]], candidates receive one email listing all three sessions. For Bright Horizons jobs, use [[jobdatestimes]].

How to add the tag to your email template

To edit the template your auto broadcast notifications use, go to More → Email Templates.

Find the template whose Trigger is Automatically Broadcast new Shift Job and click the pencil icon to edit it.

In the content step, place the tag where you want the dates to appear in the body, then save the template. You can find every date tag in the Insert Tags panel, under Dates and time.

When you broadcast a job yourself, you can change the template that broadcast uses by clicking Edit the Email Broadcast Template below the Broadcast Message box.

Troubleshooting multi-day shift job emails

If candidates receive several emails for what is one multi-day request, check your auto broadcast template for [[associated_shift_jobs]] or other single-job tags and replace them with [[jobdatestimes]].

If an email shows only one date, the broadcast most likely included a single job, so [[jobdatestimes]] had only one job to list. Broadcast all the jobs in the request together, or use [[associated_shift_jobs]] together with [[date]] to list the other dates.

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