How to automatically request Google reviews when you place a candidate in Atlas

This article explains how to ask candidates for a Google review automatically when you place them in Atlas. You choose the Atlas pipeline stage that means someone has been placed (usually Placed or Hired). When a candidate reaches that stage on a project, Refari's TopRec sends them a short feedback email, and anyone who rates you five stars is guided straight to your Google review page. Nobody on your team has to remember to ask.

What TopRec is, and how it works with Atlas

TopRec is the part of Refari that collects feedback from the people you work with. It asks for a rating (a score from 1 to 5 stars) and, from happy candidates, a testimonial (a short written recommendation you can publish). A Google review is the same kind of recommendation posted on your Google Business Profile, where it helps you rank and win trust in Google Search and Maps. If these terms are new to you, Jargon used in TopRec ↗ sets them out side by side.

TopRec works with Atlas because Refari reads each candidate's pipeline stage (the step they are at on an Atlas project) and keeps it up to date. You tell Refari which stage means "placed", and that stage becomes the trigger for the review request. Atlas needs to be connected to Refari first, and Connecting and using the Atlas integration ↗ covers that setup and what syncs.

It works for any candidate on an Atlas project, not only people who applied through your Refari job board. If a candidate you sourced in Atlas reaches your trigger stage, Refari brings that candidate and project across from Atlas so the request can be sent.

In more detail, this is what happens after a placement:

1. You move the candidate to your trigger stage on the Atlas project.
2. Refari checks Atlas for stage changes about every 10 minutes, so it picks up the change within a few minutes of the next check.
3. TopRec queues a feedback email to the candidate. Refari times delivery for when the candidate is most likely to open it, so it can arrive later the same day rather than instantly.
4. The candidate rates their experience from 1 to 5 stars. A rating of 1 to 4 stars comes to you privately, with any comment they leave.
5. A candidate who gives five stars is asked to write a testimonial, then taken to your Google review page to post it.
6. If they give five stars but do not write a testimonial, TopRec sends one gentle follow-up two days later.

Before you start

• Atlas is connected to Refari. Your public Atlas projects should already be showing on your Refari job board.
• TopRec is switched on for your account. If you cannot see Testimonials > TopRec Settings in your Refari dashboard, contact Refari Support and we will turn it on.
• You are a Company Admin. Company Managers can open TopRec Settings but cannot change them.
• Your Atlas records are complete. The project needs an owner with an email address (the owner becomes the recruiter the review is credited to) and a company. The candidate needs an email address in Atlas. In-house teams can simply use their own organisation as the company.

Step 1: Add your Google review link

TopRec needs to know where your Google review page is. In your Refari dashboard, go to Testimonials > TopRec Settings, find the Social sites for reviews card and paste your link into Google review URL. If you do not have the link yet, Setting up your Google review link for TopRec ↗ shows how to get it from your Google Business Profile, and how to send different recruiters to different profiles if you have more than one office.

Step 2: Choose the Atlas stage that triggers the request

This is where you connect an Atlas stage to TopRec. When you connected Atlas, Refari read the stage names from your Atlas projects, so they are already in the list. Atlas lets each project have its own stages, so the list combines the stage names from all your projects (and the status names within them).

1. Go to Testimonials > TopRec Settings.
2. In the Automation triggers card, press TopRec triggers.
3. The dialog lists three TopRec stages: Internal interview, External interview and Placed. Open Placed.
4. Tick the Atlas stage (or stages) your team uses when someone has been placed, for example Placed or Hired. If different projects use different names for this step, tick each of them.
5. Press Save.

Note: Choose a stage that means the placement has genuinely happened, not an offer stage. TopRec asks people about something that has already occurred, and a request that arrives before the candidate has accepted can land badly. The list also contains Rejected, which is how Refari records a candidate you rejected in Atlas. Never tick it.

Idea: The two interview stages are optional. Ticking an Atlas interview stage under Internal interview or External interview asks candidates for a quick star rating after interviews too, which gives you early feedback on the candidate experience. Only the Placed stage leads to testimonials and Google reviews.

If you add or rename a stage in Atlas, you do not need to do anything: Refari refreshes the stage names from Atlas every six hours, so the new name appears in this list later the same day. Tick it once it does.

Step 3: Turn on TopRec automation

Still in TopRec Settings, find the TopRec automation card. Switch on TopRec automation for candidates and apply your changes.

Step 4: Send five-star candidates to Google

In the Social sites for reviews card, make Google your Primary site. With Primary set, a candidate who writes a testimonial is taken to your Google review page with their testimonial already copied, so all they have to do is paste it and post.

You can also tick Direct drive. That skips the testimonial step and sends five-star candidates straight to Google after they choose their stars. It is quicker for the candidate, but you do not collect a TopRec testimonial for your own website first. TopRec Primary and Direct Drive settings ↗ walks through both journeys screen by screen.

You're set up: the next time you move a candidate to your trigger stage in Atlas, TopRec will send them a feedback request. Their response appears under Testimonials in your Refari dashboard.

Safeguards that stop the wrong people being emailed

Automating review requests only works if candidates are asked at the right moment, and only once. TopRec has several safeguards built in:

• Past placements are left alone. When you first connect Atlas, Refari only reads stage changes made from that moment on. Candidates you placed before connecting are never imported, so they are not emailed.
• One request per placement. A candidate is asked once for each placement, even if the stage is changed back and forth.
• No repeat asks. A candidate who has left you a verified testimonial recently (within the last six months) is not asked again.
• Links expire. The link in each request stops working after 30 days.

Note: The trigger acts on stage changes, so moving a past candidate into your Placed stage today will send them a request today. If you tidy up old projects in Atlas, use a different stage for those candidates, or do the tidy-up before you tick the stage in Step 2.

Where the reviews end up

• Ratings and testimonials appear under Testimonials in your Refari dashboard, credited to the recruiter who owns the Atlas project.
• Testimonials you approve can be shown on your website with the Refari testimonials widget, and shared to your social channels.
• Google reviews are posted by the candidate on your Google Business Profile, where anyone searching for you will see them.

You can also put your best Google reviews on your own site. Which Google reviews appear on your website ↗ explains how Refari chooses and publishes them.

Why didn't a candidate get a review request?

If a placed candidate was not emailed, check these in order:

1. The Atlas stage you moved them to is not ticked under Placed in TopRec triggers.
2. TopRec automation for candidates is switched off.
3. The Atlas project has no owner, the owner has no email address, or the project has no company.
4. The candidate has no email address in Atlas.
5. The candidate left you a verified testimonial in the last six months.
6. The recruiter on the project is inactive in Refari, or the candidate is linked to more than one recruiter in Refari.
7. You ticked the stage only a short while ago. For candidates you sourced in Atlas (rather than applicants from your job board), allow a couple of hours for a newly ticked stage to take effect.
8. The email simply has not arrived yet: delivery is timed for the candidate, so allow until later in the day.

If none of these explain it, contact Refari Support with the candidate's name and the Atlas project, and we will trace it. If a project is not reaching your job board at all, Why an Atlas job isn’t showing on your job board ↗ lists every check.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get Google reviews automatically from Atlas?

Yes. Connect Atlas to Refari, tick your Atlas placement stage in TopRec triggers and add your Google review link. Every candidate who reaches that stage is then asked for feedback, and five-star candidates are sent to your Google review page.

Does the candidate have to apply through Refari?

No. Any candidate on an Atlas project who reaches your trigger stage can be asked, including people you sourced yourself in Atlas, as long as they have an email address.

How soon after the placement is the request sent?

Refari checks Atlas about every 10 minutes, so it usually sees the stage change within that time. The email is then delivered at the time the candidate is most likely to open it, which is usually the same day.

Are hiring managers asked for a review too?

Not automatically from Atlas. TopRec asks a hiring manager when the job carries a contact person, and Atlas projects do not pass a contact to Refari, so with Atlas the placement trigger asks the candidate.

Will this email candidates I placed before connecting Atlas?

No. Refari only reads stage changes made after you connected Atlas, and ticking a stage does not send requests to everyone already sitting in it. A past candidate is only asked if someone moves them into your trigger stage now.

Final Notes

Asking every placed candidate for a review, every time, is the single biggest lever for a strong Google rating, and it is the step busy teams most often forget. The same set-up works for Loxo, and How to automatically request Google reviews when you place a candidate in Loxo ↗ covers it if part of your business uses Loxo.

Refari is a recruitment marketing platform for recruitment agencies and in-house talent teams: job boards and widgets for your website, job alerts, candidate referrals, TopRec reviews and job distribution, all connected to your ATS. New to Refari? Book a demo at refari.co. Already a customer? Contact Refari Support and we will help you switch TopRec on.

Other articles you might be interested in:  Connecting and using the Atlas integration  |  TopRec setup checklist  |  What TopRec communications are sent and when?