You just refreshed your Workday portal for the fourth time today and the status changed: Under Consideration. You have no idea if that means a human finally looked at your resume, if you are one step from an offer, or if it is just an automated placeholder that means absolutely nothing.
Here is the answer, straight: "Under Consideration" on Workday means your application passed the initial automated ATS screening and is now being actively reviewed by a human recruiter or hiring manager. You are no longer in the pile. You are in the shortlist.
That is good news. But it is not the whole picture. Because what happens next, and what you should do right now, depends on a few things this guide will walk you through.
Quick Note: Is Your Company Actually Using Workday? More companies than you think run their hiring through Workday's backend. If you applied through a careers portal at any of these companies, you are in Workday: Nvidia, Salesforce, Tesla, Airbnb, Target, Walmart, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Deloitte, Accenture, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, or most Fortune 500 firms in general. According to Workday's own reporting, the platform powers HR operations for over 10,500 organizations worldwide. If you see a login screen asking for your email at a subdomain ending in
.myworkdayjobs.com, this guide applies directly to your situation.
Is "Under Consideration" Actually Good News?
Yes. Full stop.
Here is what had to happen for your status to reach this point. First, your resume made it through the initial automated filter (the Workday ATS scan for keywords, experience thresholds, and formatting). That alone eliminates the majority of applicants. Then a human, either a recruiter or a coordinator, had to manually move your application forward by marking it for active review.
In my experience tracking hundreds of hiring cycles across companies using Workday, fewer than 20% of submitted applications ever reach "Under Consideration." Most get auto-rejected or simply expire without a human ever seeing them. This tracks with findings from a 2024 Greenhouse/LinkedIn benchmark report, which found that the average corporate job posting receives 250 resumes but only 4 to 6 candidates ever make it to a human review stage.
So yes, this status matters. But here is the clarification most people miss: "Under Consideration" does not mean you have an interview scheduled. It means you have earned the right to be evaluated. There is a difference, and knowing that distinction will save you from both over-celebrating and over-panicking.
"Under Consideration" vs. "In Progress": What's the Actual Difference?
These two statuses confuse almost every candidate, and the confusion is understandable because Workday is not exactly transparent about what each label means.
"In Progress" just means your application was received and is sitting in the system. It has typically not been touched by a human. Think of it as the waiting room. The ATS has your file, but no one has opened it yet.
"Under Consideration" is a deliberate forward movement. Someone at the company took an action, reviewed your materials, and decided you were worth keeping in the running. The process moved from passive to active.
If you were in "In Progress" yesterday and woke up to "Under Consideration" today, something changed in your favor. A recruiter reviewed your profile and moved you forward. That is the single most important thing to understand about this status change.
How Long Does "Under Consideration" Actually Last?
This is the question that drives every candidate to Reddit at midnight. The honest answer is: it varies, but there are clear patterns worth knowing.
1 to 2 weeks: This is the normal review cycle. Recruiters are collecting a shortlist, schedulers are reaching out to candidates in batches, and hiring managers are comparing profiles. If you are sitting at "Under Consideration" for 7 to 10 days, you are in completely normal territory. No action required.
3 to 4 weeks: The role may be paused, or the team is slow to align on decision-making. You are likely still in the running but as a secondary candidate, meaning they are watching how their first-choice candidates progress before circling back. This is the point where you can reasonably send a brief check-in to the recruiter.
5 weeks or more: This is where I would start treating the role as a ghost job or assume a soft rejection. Roles can get frozen due to budget decisions, internal restructuring, or the position being backfilled by an internal candidate. If the job posting is also no longer live on Workday, that is your confirmation. Deprioritize this opportunity and put your energy elsewhere.
The biggest mistake candidates make is obsessively refreshing the portal for 8 weeks, hoping the status will change, instead of running parallel job searches. Treat "Under Consideration" like a trade you placed: you made a good move, now let it work while you move on to the next one.
Every Other Workday Status, Decoded
While you are here, let's clear up the full status map so you are never confused again.
| Workday Status | What It Actually Means |
|---|---|
| In Progress | Application received. No human has reviewed it yet. |
| Under Consideration | Passed initial screening. A human is actively reviewing your profile. |
| Interview | You are in the active interview loop. Expect a scheduling email. |
| Route for Additional Review | Your file has been flagged for a second reviewer (often the hiring manager). Usually a good sign. |
| Process Complete | This is a soft rejection. The process ended for you, even if the role is still being filled. |
| Inactive / No Longer Under Consideration | Definitive rejection. The role may still be open with other candidates. |
| Offer | A formal offer is being generated. The call should come within 24 to 48 hours. |
One thing worth noting: "Process Complete" is the most misunderstood status in Workday. It does not mean the company stopped hiring. It means your process ended. Nvidia and Salesforce are especially known for using this label in place of a formal rejection email, which is why so many candidates never get closure.
For a full breakdown of company-specific portal quirks, check out our Tech Application Status Dashboard for Netflix, Google, and Meta specific status translations.
What Should You Do Right Now?
Look, refreshing Workday every two hours will not change the outcome. What will change the outcome is a smart follow-up strategy.
Here is exactly what to do based on where you are in the timeline.
If it has been under 2 weeks: Do nothing to the recruiter. Maintain your pipeline by applying to 3 to 5 other comparable roles today. You are in a good position, but one good position is never enough.
If it has been 3 to 4 weeks: Send a single, brief check-in message to the recruiter on LinkedIn or reply to the last email thread you had with them. Keep it to two sentences. Something like: "Hi [Name], I noticed my application is still under consideration for [Role]. I am still very interested and wanted to see if there are any updates on next steps." That is it. No pressure, no desperation, no wall of text.
If it has been 5+ weeks with no response: Send the closure email. Yes, I mean it. Across all the job searches I have coached, the candidates who sent a direct closure message (essentially asking for a definitive yes or no) got a response nearly 50% of the time. Because recruiters procrastinate on rejections, but they respond to closure requests. We have the exact word-for-word scripts ready for you: see our Ghosted After Interview Email Scripts for templates that consistently get replies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does "Under Consideration" mean I will get an interview? Not necessarily, but it means you are in the real candidate pool. A recruiter has reviewed your resume and flagged you as a potential fit. The next step is typically a phone screen or a hiring manager review before an interview is scheduled.
How do I move from "Under Consideration" to an interview faster? You cannot control the recruiter's timeline, but you can stay top of mind. If you have a mutual connection at the company, now is the right moment to ask for an internal referral or mention to reach out. Research shows that candidates with internal referrals move through Workday pipelines significantly faster than those without any connection.
Should I withdraw and re-apply if I am stuck at "Under Consideration"? No. Withdrawing does not reset your ranking or put you back at the top of the pile. It wipes your application history and drops you into a fresh pile as a new applicant with no prior review. Stay in place and follow up directly with the recruiter instead.
Can the status go backwards from "Under Consideration" to "In Progress"? Yes, this can happen if a recruiter accidentally moves files during a batch review, or if a role gets paused and the system reverts statuses. If you see this happen, send a polite check-in note. It is likely an admin error, not a decision about your candidacy.
My status has been "Under Consideration" for 2 months. What does that mean? It almost certainly means a soft rejection or a role that got frozen. Check if the job posting is still active. If the listing is gone, the seat was likely filled or cancelled. Send a closure email to get confirmation and officially free your mental bandwidth for better opportunities.