The most common Workday statuses explained
In Progress / In Process — Your application is active in the hiring pipeline. This is the broadest label Workday uses: it covers everything from "submitted 10 minutes ago and not yet opened" to "sitting in a recruiter's review queue for three weeks." It does not confirm that any human has looked at your resume.
Under Consideration — A human has reviewed your application and you are being actively evaluated. This is the most positive status you can see before hearing from the company directly. Not a guarantee of moving forward, but a genuine signal of interest.
Candidate Screening / Phone Screen Scheduled — You are in active process. At this point you should have received or will soon receive direct outreach.
Not Selected — The company has decided not to move forward with your application. This is a rejection. If it appeared within minutes of submitting, see the knockout question section below.
Inactive — The job requisition itself is closed or frozen, often because the role was filled, paused, or cancelled. Distinct from "Not Selected" — inactive doesn't necessarily mean you were rejected personally.
Process Completed / Closed — The hiring process for this specific role has ended. Either someone was hired or the role was cancelled.
Withdrawn — You withdrew your application, or in some cases the company withdrew it on your behalf (if you applied for the wrong location or role level, for example).
Why did I get "Not Selected" immediately after applying?
This is one of the most frustrating Workday experiences: submitting an application and seeing "Not Selected" appear within minutes or even seconds. This almost always means you triggered an automated knockout filter.
Most Workday applications include mandatory yes/no questions that automatically disqualify candidates who don't meet a minimum requirement — things like "Are you legally authorised to work in the United States without sponsorship?" or "Do you have a bachelor's degree?" If you answer "No" to a knockout question (or if the system infers a disqualifying answer from your data), Workday immediately moves your application to a rejection disposition.
If you believe you mis-clicked or your answer was misinterpreted, contact the company's recruiting team directly and explain the situation. Some recruiters will reset the application; many won't, but it's worth one polite email.
Why does the same status mean different things at different companies?
Workday is a platform that employers customise heavily. Stage names, status labels, and what triggers each status are all configured per company. "Under Consideration" at Company A might mean "recruiter has reviewed"; at Company B it might mean "hiring manager approved for phone screen." This is by design — Workday doesn't standardise candidate-facing labels.
The safest approach: treat Workday statuses as rough signals, not precise information. "In Progress" means you haven't been rejected. "Not Selected" means you have. Everything else requires context from the company directly.