WhatsApp: Setup
You can configure WhatsApp to contact candidates, send direct booking links and send interview reminders. This guide covers how to set up WhatsApp candidate texting and how candidate consent works for the WhatsApp channel.
Prerequisites:
- To configure WhatsApp messaging, you must have Organization Admin access and 'Has Candidate Texting' permissions enabled.
- To set up WhatsApp messaging with Ashby, you need a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) set up beforehand. The WABA lives under your Meta Business Portfolio. If you already have a WABA, you can use it, but you won't be able to use the phone number you already have the WABA set up with.
- If you don't have a WABA, you can create one when connecting with Ashby.
- You will need to have access to your company’s Meta Business Portfolio. This is what will house your WABA account. If your company runs ads on any Meta platform, you most likely have a Meta Business Portfolio. You will need to have access to this in order to get started and to connect a WhatsApp Business Account to Ashby. More about recommendations and requirements in Step one: create and verify Meta Business Portfolio.
Permissions & access
You need Organization Access to configure WhatsApp candidate texting. WhatsApp candidate texting is available on all plans:
Foundations | Legacy Plus | Plus | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Step one: create and verify Meta Business Portfolio
Before you connect your WhatsApp Business Account to Ashby, we recommend having an established and verified Meta Business Portfolio in place for the best experience. If you are the one setting up WhatsApp in Ashby, you must have full access to manage assets, specifically WhatsApp assets, in the Meta Business Portfolio.
If you configure and set up your Meta Business Portfolio within the setup process below, and your Meta Business Account has no real activity, Meta may flag it. Meta can then restrict your business and subject you to additional proof of business steps. For more on configuring a Meta Business Portfolio, check out Meta's guide Create a business portfolio in Meta Business Suite.
We highly recommend that you get verified or use an existing Meta Business Portfolio that is already verified. If your business already runs ads on Meta platforms, you most likely have a verified portfolio.
If you plan to use WhatsApp with multiple brands, you must verify your portfolio. An unverified Meta Business Portfolio limits you to only two phone numbers, and each of your brands requires its own phone number within the same WhatsApp Business Account. Once you verify your Meta Business Portfolio, you can have up to 20 phone numbers. Verification also means Meta rate limits your WhatsApp Business Account phone numbers less.
Your ability to send WhatsApp messages through Ashby depends on your WhatsApp business account being in good standing and passing any additional review or requirements Meta may assign you. This is outside of Ashby’s control.
Once you verify your Meta Business Portfolio, candidates see your account's display name in the chat rather than only the phone number. This improves the likelihood of hearing back from the candidate.
An unverified account shows the phone number unless the candidate has saved the contact. We currently only support messaging using +1 phone numbers, so the display name is especially helpful for candidates who might not expect a message from a US or Canada number.
For further information on how unverified and verified accounts show up in WhatsApp, check out Twilio's guide on Using WhatsApp Business Accounts.
For more information on verification, check out these Meta guides:
Step two: enable 'Has Candidate Texting Access' permissions for relevant users
To configure candidate texting and WhatsApp messaging or to send messages, users must have the 'Has Candidate Texting' permission enabled. To enable these permissions:
- Navigate to Admin > Organization Setup > Employees.
- Click on the employee in question and navigate to the Permissions tab on their profile.
- Toggle Has Candidate Texting Access to Yes.
Only Organization Admins can update user permissions. Organization Admins cannot update their own permissions and will need another Organization Admin to adjust their access for them.
Step three: enable WhatsApp candidate texting
To enable WhatsApp candidate texting:
- Navigate to Admin > Organization Setup > Candidate Texting.
- Toggle on Enable WhatsApp.
- A WhatsApp Registration page opens where you can connect your WhatsApp Business Account to Ashby. This step is critical to be able to send and receive WhatsApp messages.
You will then need to add your privacy policy URL to the Company Privacy Policy field and your terms and conditions URL to the Company Terms and Conditions field.
These are used in the WhatsApp consent message that we add to applications that request the candidate’s phone number. The consent message only starts appearing when you flip on WhatsApp for your organization.
You will also have the option to add an email address in the Notification Email field, this email will receive updates about candidate texting.
Step four: select a phone number
The next step is to go to the Phone Numbers tab and select a phone number. If you are using WhatsApp messaging with multiple brands support, you can assign each of your brands a phone number.
- You can currently only choose a US or Canada phone number and you will need to use a phone number configured from Ashby. For more on selecting a phone number, check out Candidate Texting. You can receive WhatsApp messages from and send to international candidates (with the exception of those who have Brazil or Indonesia phone numbers), see the FAQs below for information on other restrictions.
If you already have SMS configured in Ashby and have a phone number configured, you will use that same phone number for WhatsApp messaging.
Step five: WhatsApp registration
Navigate to the WhatsApp Registration tab and click Connect to Facebook .
This will take you directly into Meta’s site and will ask you to grant Ashby permission. Once you select your Meta Business Portfolio, you will next be prompted to choose your WhatsApp Business Account. If you don’t have one set up already, this is the point where you can create one. Once you select your WhatsApp Business Account, you should be ready to connect.
Meta will give you an indication when you have successfully connected.
If you plan to use WhatsApp with multiple brand support, it is very important that you connect each of your brands to the same WhatsApp Business Account. Otherwise, you cannot send messages for that brand.
Step six: confirm your display name
For each phone number in Ashby that you connect to your WABA, you will be able to configure a display name during the time of linking your account. Once you confirm this name, you will not be able to change this again on your end.
When selecting or confirming a display name, follow the guidelines in the documentation below. If your display name does not follow Meta’s guidelines, your WhatsApp sender will never show as Online, and you won't be able to send WhatsApp messages on Ashby.
On initially setting your display name, you will temporarily see the status as Creating due to the WhatsApp sender still being created. This process usually takes up to 3 minutes. After this window has passed, refresh the page and you will see this switch to Online.
Once your WhatsApp sender turns into a status of Online, you are now ready to message candidates. Check out the following guides for more information on candidate consent and messaging:
If your account never turns to a status of Online and instead shows a status of Offline, then you likely have a problem with your account. Hovering over the "Offline" status will give you an error message on what's wrong. You will need to reach out to Ashby support to get this addressed.
If, at any point, you disconnect your WhatsApp business account from Ashby and you need to reconnect to the same or even a different one, you will need to reach out to Ashby support to get this done. This is due to restrictions from Twilio. If you absolutely need to change the display name for your phone number, then you will need to reach out to Ashby support. This is a limitation from Twilio.
FAQs
How does this work with SMS candidate texting?
WhatsApp is a second candidate texting channel alongside SMS. Recruiters send and receive WhatsApp messages directly from the candidate profile, using templates managed inside Ashby and following WhatsApp's own approval and consent rules.
Unlike SMS texting, where you can send free-form messages to your candidates at any time (once they give consent), WhatsApp only allows you to send candidates pre-approved templated messages. WhatsApp approves or rejects these templates, and approval status is outside of Ashby's control. You can send free-form messages to your candidate only once they respond. An inbound WhatsApp message from a candidate opens a 24-hour free-form messaging window.
SMS texting is only available for candidates with US and Canada +1 numbers. WhatsApp texting is available internationally, with the exception of countries WhatsApp does not support.
Does this replace SMS?
No. SMS and WhatsApp are separate tabs on the candidate profile that you can enable, and both can be active for the same candidate. Whether you use one or both is up to you.
My status hasn't switched to Online after the waiting period. Why?
This is likely due to a problem with your account. Hovering over the "Offline" status will give you an error message on what's wrong. You will need to reach out to Ashby support to get this addressed. Often, it is a restriction on your account coming from Meta and is likely outside of Ashby's control.
I don't see the option to get verified in Meta - what do I do?
If you don’t immediately see the option to verify your business, wait a few days after creating your WABA and connecting with Ashby. During this waiting period, you can still message candidates. You should eventually see the option to verify your business in the following places:
- Within your Meta Business Portfolio’s Security Center.
- Within your WhatsApp business account under Accounts.
Are any countries or regions not supported?
Ashby does not support the ability for customers to adopt a local phone number for non-US countries, and Meta enforces strict anti-spam and regional regulatory filters on international long-code senders (such as a US +1 number).
Hard Local Sender Restrictions & Local In-Country Presence:
Markets such as Brazil and Indonesia enforce strong local presence rules. When attempting to message users in these regions using an international long code (such as a US +1 number), messages are blocked by Meta. To ensure consistent delivery into these countries, Meta requires registering and sending from a local country number (e.g., a local +55 number for Brazil) associated with your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA). Local country numbers are currently not supported by Ashby.
Cross-Border Authorization via Business Verification:
For countries that allow cross-border messaging without a hard local sender requirement, Meta still limits unverified accounts from initiating international conversations. Completing Meta Business Verification and maintaining a high quality score on your WhatsApp sender allows your WABA to scale past the initial tier limits, granting broader cross-border access.
Depending on the status of your Meta Business account, there might be Meta-imposed restrictions on sending messages to candidates with phone numbers from other countries as well.