Every job opening in Wonderlic Select has a status — Active, Archived, or Closed — that you can view and, in most cases, change right from the job opening's detail page.
View a job opening's detail page by searching for the job opening or picking its name from the Dashboard:
What each status means
A job opening's status tells you whether it's accepting candidates and whether it counts toward your plan's limit on active job openings.
Status | What it means |
Active | The job opening is live. It can accept candidates and it counts toward your plan's active job opening limit. |
Archived | You've archived the job opening. It's hidden from your active view, but its candidates stay exactly as they were and nothing is deleted. |
Closed | Closed means the job opening was updated — the original job opening was closed and a newer one was created in its place using the latest profile and scoring versions. Because the newer job opening has replaced it, a closed job opening can't be reactivated. |
Next to the status, the page also shows the matching date — for example, Archived 8/4/2026 or Closed via update 9/16/2025.
Who can change a job opening's status
Whether you can change a job opening's status depends on your role:
Owners and Admins can archive and unarchive (reactivate) any job opening
Users can change the status of a job opening only when they've been given Admin access to that specific job opening
If you don't have that access — including if you're a User with Edit or View access to the job opening — you'll see its status but not the option to change it.
If you think you should be able to change a status and can't, ask your account Owner or Admin to check your access.
Change a job opening's status
You change a job opening's status from the status dropdown on the job opening's detail page. The dropdown shows the status you can switch to.
The dropdown is the status label (e.g., Active) just below the job opening's name, to the left of its created date.
Archive an active job opening
Archive a job opening when you're done hiring for it — for example, after you've made your hire(s) and given every candidate a fair chance to finish testing.
View the job opening you want to archive
Open the status dropdown by clicking the Active status label, then pick Archived
Pick Archive Job Opening when prompted in the Confirm Archive window
The opening status updates to Archived right away and you'll see a message confirming the change. Your candidates aren't affected — they stay in whatever status they were in when you archived the job opening and nothing is deleted. You can still update a candidate's status (like marking someone Hired) afterward.
While a job opening is archived, you can't send new assessment invitations from it and its Quick Apply Link is unavailable.
If you're ready to hire for the role again, we recommend creating a new job opening — it's built with Wonderlic's latest job profiles and scoring so you're always evaluating candidates with the best available science.
Unarchive (reactivate) an archived job opening
Unarchiving (reactivating) a job opening moves it from Archived back to Active.
Starting a fresh hiring round? Create a new job opening instead of reactivating an old one — a new job opening uses Wonderlic's latest scoring and keeps each round's candidates cleanly separated.
Wonderlic recommends reactivating (unarchiving an existing job opening) when you're picking up the same hiring round where you left off.
Here are the steps to unarchive (reactivate) an existing job opening:
Find the archived job opening by searching or by clicking its name on the Dashboard
Open the status dropdown and select Active
Archived job openings are filtered out of the Dashboard view by default — if you don't see archived job openings on the Dashboard, remove the Active status filter or add the Archived status filter to see them:
If your plan has room for another active job opening, the status changes to Active immediately and you'll see a confirmation message. There's no extra confirmation step when reactivating.
When you've reached your plan's limit
Your subscription plan sets how many job openings you can have active at once. If you're already at that limit and try to unarchive (reactivate) an archived job opening, Wonderlic lets you know instead of making the change.
The job opening stays archived, and you have two ways to make room:
Upgrade your plan. If you have billing access, select View Plans to see your options. (If you don't have billing access, reach out to an account Owner or Admin who has it.)
Archive another active job opening to free up a slot, then unarchive the one you want.
Why some job openings show "Closed"
When a job opening has been updated, the original job opening has been replaced with a newer one using the latest job profile and scoring.
The original job opening is labeled Closed rather than Archived and it shows the date it was closed (for example, Closed via update 9/16/2025).
A Closed job opening can't be reactivated because the newer job opening has already replaced it — reopening the original would mean scoring candidates with outdated information.
If you want to keep hiring for that role, use the newer job opening that the update created or add a new job opening.
What to expect
Status changes take effect immediately — there's no need to refresh the page
Archiving tidies up your active view and frees the job opening's slot against your plan limit, while unarchiving (reactivating) brings it back into your active list (as long as you're under your limit)
Closed job openings stay as a record of past hiring but can't be changed
FAQ
What's the difference between archiving and closing a job opening?
You archive a job opening yourself and you can unarchive it anytime as long as you're under your plan's limit. A job opening is closed when you update it: Wonderlic closes the original and creates a newer one in its place using the latest scoring, so the closed one can't be reactivated.
What happens to my candidates when I archive a job opening?
Archiving hides the job opening from your active view, but your candidates stay in whatever status they were in, and no data is deleted. You can still update candidate statuses, and you can reactivate the job opening later to bring everything back into your active view.
How do I unarchive a job opening?
View the archived job opening, open the status dropdown, and select Active. Unarchiving and reactivating are the same thing. If it won't switch to Active, you've likely reached your plan's limit on active job openings.
Why can't I unarchive or reactivate a job opening?
If the status shows Closed, you updated it and Wonderlic created a newer job opening in its place — use that newer one instead; the closed original can't be reactivated. If you're trying to reactivate an Archived job opening and it won't switch to Active, you've likely reached your plan's limit on active job openings.
Why don't I see the option to change a status?
Changing a job opening's status requires the right access. Owners and Admins can change any job opening's status; Users need Admin access to the specific job opening — Edit or View access isn't enough. Ask your account Owner or Admin if you need access.
Should I unarchive (reactivate) an old job opening for a new hiring round?
For a fresh hiring cycle, creating a new job opening is almost always the better choice. It keeps each round's candidates cleanly separated, so you don't end up contacting applicants from a previous round and you have a clear historical record of who applied to which round. A new job opening also picks up the latest job profile data and the most job-specific profile available, so you're using the latest profile data rather than reusing an older setup.