## Why It Matters

Kit's onboarding checklist walks you through seven steps to get your hiring pipeline operational. This guide covers the critical path — the four steps that get you from sign-up to accepting real applications. You can come back and complete the rest later.

## Step 1: Create Your Account

Sign up at the Kit homepage with your name, email, and a password. Kit creates your team account automatically — you're the owner with full admin access.

After signing in, you'll land on the dashboard with the onboarding checklist showing your progress. Each step links directly to the right page.

### Complete Your Profile

Click **Complete your profile** to add your first name and time zone. Your time zone is used for interview scheduling and notification timestamps.

## Step 2: Create and Publish a Job Posting

Navigate to [Hiring > Job Postings](/hiring/job_postings) and click [New Job Posting](/hiring/job_postings/new).

### Fill in the Basics

The only required field is **Title** — everything else is optional but recommended. Add a description, location, department, and salary range to help candidates self-select before applying.

### Choose a Process Template

Kit includes three starter templates to get you going:

| Template | Best For | Stages |
|----------|----------|--------|
| Software Engineer - Standard | Technical roles | Application, Code Assignment, Code Review, Technical Interview, Culture Interview, References, Offer |
| Customer Support Representative | Support/service roles | Application, Scenario Responses, Application Review, Video Interview, Offer |
| Product Designer | Design roles | Application, Portfolio Upload, Portfolio Evaluation, Presentation, Culture Interview, References, Offer |

Select a template from the dropdown to pre-populate your stages. You can also select **No template** and add stages manually, or create your own reusable templates later. See [Process Template Configuration](/docs/process-template-configuration) for the full reference.

### Publish

New jobs start in **draft** status. Click **Publish** when you're ready to accept applications. Your job will appear on your career portal immediately. Copy the public URL from the job posting header to share it directly.

See [Creating a Job Posting](/docs/creating-a-job-posting) for the full lifecycle.

## Step 3: Set Up Your Career Portal

Your career portal is the public page where candidates browse and apply to your jobs. Navigate to [Hiring > Settings > Career Portal](/hiring/settings/career_portal) to customize it.

### Brand It

Upload your company logo and set a primary color to match your brand. Choose between light and dark themes, and optionally select a custom Google Font. The settings page shows a live preview of your changes.

### Share It

Your career portal is live at:

```
https://startupkit.app/careers/your-subdomain
```

Link this from your company website, social media, and job boards. You can also [embed it as an iframe](/docs/embedding-your-career-portal) for a seamless experience on your own site.

See [Setting Up Your Career Portal](/docs/setting-up-your-career-portal) for more branding options.

## Step 4: Invite Your Team

Hiring works best with collaboration. Navigate to your **Account** page and click **Invite**.

Enter the person's name, email, and choose a role:

| Role | Best For |
|------|----------|
| Admin | Hiring managers who need to create jobs, manage settings, and configure templates |
| Member | Interviewers and reviewers who participate in the hiring process |

The invitee receives an email with a link to join. If they're new to Kit, they'll create an account. If they already have one, they sign in and join your team automatically.

After inviting your team, assign them as **reviewers** on specific stages so they get notified when candidates reach their review step. See [Inviting Your Team](/docs/inviting-your-team) for details.

## What Happens Next

Once your job is published, candidates can find it on your career portal and apply. Here's the flow:

1. A candidate submits their application
2. You see it in **Hiring > Job Postings > (your job)** under the applications list
3. If screening is enabled, review the application and advance or reject
4. The candidate receives a magic link email to track their progress in the candidate portal
5. As they move through stages, your team reviews submissions, conducts interviews, and submits feedback
6. Advance strong candidates to the next stage, reject those who don't fit

See [Managing Your Pipeline](/docs/managing-your-pipeline) and [Reviewing Applications](/docs/reviewing-applications) for the full workflow.

## Optional: Connect Integrations

These aren't required to get started, but they'll make your workflow smoother. Navigate to [Integrations](/integrations) from the sidebar.

| Integration | What It Does |
|-------------|-------------|
| Slack | Real-time notifications, screening via team channel reactions, candidate channels with emoji reactions, and AI-powered KitBot |
| Google Calendar | Check team availability and avoid conflicts when scheduling interviews |
| GitHub | Auto-create private repos from templates for code assignment stages |
| MCP (AI Assistants) | Let Claude or other AI assistants manage hiring workflows via [MCP](/docs/connecting-ai-assistants) |

## Optional: Outreach Addon

Kit's Outreach module adds AI-powered cold email campaigns to your account. The AI researches each prospect individually and writes personalized emails for your approval. Add the addon ($5/mo) from [Account > Billing](/account_settings/billing) and configure your SMTP credentials to get started.

See [Outreach Overview](/docs/outreach-overview) for the full guide.

## Onboarding Checklist Reference

Kit tracks eight onboarding steps. Here's the full list with completion criteria:

- [ ] **Complete your profile** — Add your first name and time zone
- [ ] **Create a job posting** — Create at least one job (any status)
- [ ] **Set up career portal** — Upload your company logo
- [ ] **Configure a hiring process** — Create at least one process template
- [ ] **Connect an integration** — Connect Slack, Google Calendar, or GitHub
- [ ] **Invite a team member** — Add at least one other person to your account
- [ ] **Set your availability** — Define your interview schedule
- [ ] **Connect an AI assistant** — Set up Claude or another AI via [MCP](/docs/connecting-ai-assistants)

The checklist appears on your dashboard until you complete or dismiss it. You can restore it anytime if you dismissed it early.