What Does My Workday Application Status Mean? Every Label Explained

Short answer: on Workday, "Submitted" or "Application Received" means a person may not have opened your file yet, "In Review" or "Under Consideration" usually means a recruiter or the screening rules have moved you past the first cut, and "Not Selected" or "No Longer Under Consideration" is a rejection. "Inactive" is the confusing one: it normally means the job posting has closed, been filled, or been cancelled, not that you personally were turned down. Every employer configures its own labels, so treat the wording as a hint, not a verdict.

We wrote this guide because "what does my Workday status mean" is one of the questions we see most often from readers, and the answers online tend to be either one line long or guesswork dressed up as certainty. Below we go through each label, what usually sits behind it, how long people tend to wait, and what you can actually do while you wait.

Why Workday statuses are so hard to read

Workday is not one website. It is software that thousands of employers rent and then set up for themselves. Each company decides which hiring stages it uses, what those stages are called on the candidate side, and whether candidates see every internal step or only a few broad ones. That is why one friend's application says "Screen" while yours at another company says "In Review" for the same point in the process.

There is a second layer of confusion. The status you see on your candidate home page is a simplified view of what the recruiter sees. Internally there may be ten steps: auto-screen, recruiter review, hiring manager review, assessment, phone screen, first interview, panel, reference check, offer, background check. Many employers collapse several of those into one public label. So "In Review" can mean the recruiter glanced at your CV yesterday, or that the hiring manager has had it on a shortlist for three weeks.

Keep that in mind as you read the list below. We describe what each label usually means across the employers we and our readers have dealt with. Your employer may use it differently.

Common Workday statuses and what they usually mean

Submitted / Application Received

Your application went through and is sitting in the queue. Nothing more should be read into it. Large employers receive hundreds of applications for popular roles, and many recruiters only start reviewing once the posting closes or once they have a batch. It is normal to stay on this status for one to three weeks.

In Review / Under Consideration / Screen

Someone, or something, has looked at your application and it has not been rejected. At some employers this moves automatically when knockout questions are passed (for example, "Do you have the right to work in this country?" or "Do you hold the required licence?"). At others it only changes when a recruiter actively moves you forward. It is a better sign than "Submitted", but it is not an interview invitation. Plenty of applications sit "In Review" until the role is filled and then switch straight to "Not Selected".

Assessment

You have been sent, or are about to be sent, an online test, questionnaire or video interview. Check your email, including the spam folder, because the link often comes from a third-party testing provider rather than from the employer's own domain. These links frequently expire within a few days.

Interview

You have been invited to, or are in the middle of, the interview stage. Some employers keep this label on for the whole interview loop, so it may not change between your first call and your final round.

Offer / Background Check / Ready for Hire

These appear once the employer has decided to hire you. "Background Check" means they are verifying references, employment history or criminal records, depending on the role and country. "Ready for Hire" is an internal hand-off to onboarding. If you see these but have not received a written offer, contact the recruiter; it is usually a timing gap, not a mistake.

Not Selected / No Longer Under Consideration / Declined by Employer

This is a rejection for that particular requisition. Some employers send an email at the same moment; others change the status silently weeks later. It does not stop you applying to other roles at the same company, and it rarely means you are blocked from the employer as a whole.

Inactive

This is the label people panic about most. In most set-ups, an application moves to the "Inactive" tab of your candidate home when the job requisition itself is closed: the role was filled, cancelled, put on hold, or reposted under a new requisition number. Your application can go inactive without anyone ever reading it, which is frustrating but not a judgement about you. If the role is reposted, apply again to the new posting.

Withdrawn

You withdrew, or, occasionally, the recruiter withdrew you because you told them you were no longer interested or because you applied to a duplicate posting. If you did not withdraw and see this, email the recruiter to check.

How long does each Workday stage take?

There is no published standard, and anyone who gives you an exact number for every company is guessing. What we can say from reader reports and from talking to recruiters:

• Submitted to In Review: anywhere from same day (automated screening) to three or four weeks (manual review after the closing date).
• In Review to Interview: often one to three weeks if you are going to be interviewed at all.
• Interview to Offer: one to four weeks for most private-sector roles; longer in government, universities and hospitals, where approval chains are slower.
• Silence after a stage: if nothing changes for four to six weeks after the posting closed, assume you are not moving forward and keep applying elsewhere, while leaving the door open.

Public employers and large banks are the slowest in our experience. Start-ups that happen to use Workday tend to move faster, and some never update the status at all once they have hired someone.

What you can do while your application says "In Review"

Refreshing the candidate home page will not move it. Here is what actually helps.

1. Note the requisition number. Every Workday posting has one (often starting with R, JR or REQ). If you contact anyone at the company, quoting it saves them time and makes it more likely you get an answer.
2. Find the recruiter, politely. The posting sometimes names the recruiter. If not, a search on LinkedIn for "[company] recruiter [your field]" usually turns up the right team. One short message is fine. Three in a week is not.
3. Send a short follow-up after a sensible gap. About a week after the posting closes, or two weeks after applying if there is no closing date. We have a separate guide with wording: how to follow up on a job application with no response.
4. Keep applying elsewhere. A status is not an offer. People who pause their search because something says "In Review" often lose a month.
5. Check that your profile is complete. Some Workday sites let you edit your candidate profile after applying. If you skipped optional fields such as work history dates, filling them in will not hurt and may help a recruiter searching the database later.

Does applying to several roles at the same company hurt you?

Generally no, as long as the roles make sense together. A recruiter who sees you applied to "Data Analyst", "Senior Data Analyst" and "Business Intelligence Analyst" will understand. A recruiter who sees thirty applications across marketing, nursing and warehouse roles may wonder what you actually want. Pick the roles you are a real fit for. Many Workday sites also cap the number of active applications per candidate, and some withdraw older ones automatically when you apply for a new role, so read any prompt carefully before you click submit.

Why does Workday make me create a new account for every company?

Because each employer runs its own Workday tenant, your login for one company does not work at another. This is a common complaint and there is no way around it. Two habits make it bearable: use the same email address for every Workday account so you can find the confirmation emails, and keep a simple spreadsheet with company, role, requisition number, date applied and current status. When a recruiter calls three weeks later, you will know which job they are talking about.

Red flags: when a "Workday" message is not from Workday

Scammers copy the look of applicant tracking systems. Real Workday sites live on a company sub-domain such as companyname.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com or companyname.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com, or on the company's own careers domain. Be suspicious if:

• you receive an offer for a job you never interviewed for;
• the "recruiter" moves the conversation to WhatsApp or Telegram and asks for bank details early;
• you are asked to pay for equipment, training or a background check;
• the link you are sent does not match the company's real careers site.

If in doubt, log in to the employer's Workday site directly from their official careers page and check whether the application and status really exist there. We cover the wider problem in our guide to why so many job postings never seem to hire.

A quick reference table

One more thing before you resign anywhere

Even "Offer" in Workday is not a contract. Wait until you have a signed written offer and, where relevant, a completed background check before you hand in notice at your current job. Offers do get withdrawn, and the people hurt most are those who resigned on the strength of a status change. If that has already happened to you, read what to do if a job offer is rescinded. And if your new employer asks how quickly you can start, our guide to answering the notice period question covers the wording.

Frequently asked questions

Does "In Review" on Workday mean I got past the ATS?

Often, but not always. At some employers "In Review" is the default status for every new application, so it tells you only that the application was received. At others it changes only after automated knockout questions or a recruiter's first pass. It is a neutral-to-good sign, not a guarantee of an interview.

Why did my Workday application go inactive without a rejection email?

Usually because the employer closed the job requisition: the role was filled, cancelled or reposted. Many companies do not send an email when that happens. It is not the same as being individually rejected, and you can apply again if a similar role is posted.

How long does Workday stay on "Submitted"?

Commonly one to three weeks, sometimes longer for roles with a fixed closing date or at public-sector employers. If it has been more than a month after the closing date with no change, assume the employer has moved on and keep your search going.

Can a recruiter see how many times I log in to check my status?

Recruiters work from their own dashboard of applications. Checking your status is not something they review when deciding whom to interview, so there is no need to worry about logging in often.

Can I edit my application after submitting it on Workday?

Usually not the submitted application itself. Some employers let you update your candidate profile, and some let you withdraw and resubmit while the posting is still open. If you made a serious error, such as attaching the wrong CV, a short email to the recruiter with the correct file and the requisition number is the cleanest fix.