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Hi Airtable Community,

I'm trying to build a smart rejection workflow in my recruitment database and could use some help with automations, AI, and view-specific logic.

✅ What I’m Trying to Achieve

I want Airtable to automatically generate a short rejection reason and send a rejection email only if a candidate’s Rejection Letter Sent field is marked as:

  • Yes: Pre-interview, or

  • Yes: Post-interview

This logic should be confined to a specific view, not the entire table, since not all candidates are up for review at the same time.

🧱 Key Structure of My Base

  • Job: (Single select) – Indicates job category (e.g. "Database Administrator").

  • Candidate Supporting Documents: (Attachment) – Holds resumes, CVs, and supporting docs per candidate.

  • Rejection Letter Sent: (Single select) – Options include “Yes: Pre-interview”, “Yes: Post-interview”, or blank.

  • Email: – Email address of the candidate.

  • Rejection Letter Tip: (Long text or AI field) – This is where I’d like AI to generate a short 1–2 sentence explanation/tip to include in the rejection email.

  • Views are filtered by job type so records are grouped accordingly for review.

🎯 Ideal Outcome

  1. Rejection Review Logic:

    • When a candidate is rejected (via the Rejection Letter Sent field), their supporting documents are compared to others in the same Job: group.

    • Based on that comparison, a brief AI-generated reason is added to the Rejection Letter Tip: field. This reason helps personalise the rejection email.

  2. Email Automation:

    • Once rejection status is selected (either of the “Yes” options), Airtable automatically:

      • Sends an email to the candidate (using the Email field),

      • Inserts the rejection tip from the Rejection Letter Tip field into the body,

      • Triggers only if the record is visible in a specific view (to avoid triggering across the full base).

🧠 What I Need Help With

  1. Can Airtable AI be used to compare candidates within a Job: group and generate a short rejection message in a designated field?
    If not directly possible, are there creative workarounds (e.g., scripts, formula fields, third-party tools)?

  2. Is it possible to limit an automation to trigger only when a record is part of a specific view?
    If not, how can I simulate this with conditions?

  3. Any advice on base design improvements?
    For instance:

    • Should I add a checkbox to manually confirm before sending the rejection email?

    • Would it be better to split “Pre-interview” and “Post-interview” automations?

    • Is it smarter to use a formula to consolidate logic and trigger the automation?

I’d greatly appreciate your expertise and suggestions. Open to reworking fields or views to make this smoother and more reliable.

Warm regards,
Tiaan

Hey ​@Tiaan_Terblanch  , lets put some try and write the post yourself, GPT it nos that reliable. 
 

  1. Can Airtable AI be used to compare candidates within a Job: group and generate a short rejection message in a designated field?
    It would require some logic and I don’t think AT AI is the right tool for this. 

  2. Is it possible to limit an automation to trigger only when a record is part of a specific view?
    If not, how can I simulate this with conditions?

    Yes actualy the trigger is “when a record enters a view”

  3. Any advice on base design improvements?
    For instance:

    • Should I add a checkbox to manually confirm before sending the rejection email?
      YES

    • Would it be better to split “Pre-interview” and “Post-interview” automations?

    • YES

    • Is it smarter to use a formula to consolidate logic and trigger the automation?

    • YES

Hi Felipe,

 

Thanks so much for getting back to me. Your guidance has been really helpful. I’ve taken your advice and reworked our rejection process accordingly:

  • I split the pre‑ and post‑interview stages using a simple formula field and two filtered views, so each step only triggers in the right context.

  • I added a “Ready to Send” checkbox to give us a manual safety net.

  • Built two separate automations that fire when a record enters the relevant view, send the appropriate email and then clear the checkbox afterwards.

 

As you pointed out, Airtable’s AI can’t really compare candidates, so I’m sticking with templated reasons for now. If I go down the personalisation route later, I’ll look at external AI integrations.

 

Thanks again for your insights – they made this much smoother. If you see anything I might refine, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

Kind Regards,
Tiaan

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