Workday "In Progress" vs "Under Consideration": What's the Difference?

On Workday, "In Progress" means your application is moving through the company's hiring workflow, while "Under Consideration" means a human is actively reviewing it. In Progress is the broad, default state; Under Consideration is a more specific signal that someone has your file in front of them. Neither guarantees an interview, and the exact wording varies by employer.

If you're refreshing your candidate home and trying to decode these labels, here's what they actually mean and what to do next.

What "In Progress" means

"In Progress" is Workday's catch-all status for "this application exists and hasn't reached a final outcome yet." It can cover a lot of ground:

• Your application was submitted and is sitting in the queue
• A recruiter has opened it but hasn't made a decision
• It's been passed to a hiring manager
• You're between interview stages

Because it's so broad, "In Progress" tells you very little on its own. It mostly confirms you're still in the running and haven't been rejected. The downside: it can stay frozen for weeks, because Workday only updates when someone on the employer's side manually moves you to a new step.

One thing to double-check: if you started an application but never finished it, Workday may save it as a draft that also reads as "In Progress." Open it from your candidate home to confirm you actually clicked submit. (Our guide to applying on Workday walks through where to find this.)

What "Under Consideration" means

"Under Consideration" is narrower and generally more encouraging. It typically means a recruiter or hiring manager is actively evaluating your application, rather than it just sitting in a pile. Some Workday configurations show this status once you've been moved into a review stage; others use it as a general "we're looking at you" label.

It's a good sign, but read it carefully. "Under Consideration" is not the same as "selected for interview." It means you've cleared the initial filter enough to get human eyes on your file. From here you might advance, or you might be passed over. It's a step, not a finish line.

In Progress vs Under Consideration at a glance

The big caveat: Workday is configured by each employer, so the exact labels and what triggers them differ. One company's "Under Consideration" might be another's "In Review." Don't over-read a single word. For the full list of what you might see, check the Workday application status glossary.

Why your status isn't changing

The most common frustration with Workday is a status that never moves. This is normal, and here's why:

• Workday doesn't auto-update. A real person has to advance you to the next step. If the recruiter is busy or the role is on hold, your status sits still.
• Hiring runs in batches. Many teams review all applicants at once after the posting closes, so nothing changes for weeks, then everything moves at once.
• Employers control visibility. Some companies surface every step; others only ever show two or three statuses to candidates.

So a stale "In Progress" usually means "no decision yet," not "rejected." Workday often goes quiet rather than telling you bad news directly. For more on how rejections show up (or don't), see does Workday tell you if you've been rejected.

What you should actually do

Status-watching is a low-yield use of your energy. Here's a saner approach:

• Give it 1-2 weeks before reading anything into a frozen status.
• Follow up once, politely, if you have a recruiter contact and it's been a couple of weeks past any stated timeline.
• Don't withdraw or re-apply just because the status looks stuck. Re-applying rarely resets your position and can look disorganized.
• Keep applying elsewhere. The best response to status anxiety is more applications in the pipeline, not more refreshing.

Spend your time applying, not decoding labels

The honest truth is that "In Progress" and "Under Consideration" are weak signals. The thing that actually moves your odds is getting more strong applications out the door, each tailored to the role. That's the slow, tedious part: re-typing the same answers into Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, and Ashby forms over and over.

This is where JobRizzer helps. It autofills those job applications and tailors your resume to each posting, so you can apply to more roles without burning out on data entry. You still review every field and submit yourself, but the grunt work shrinks. If you're spending more time watching statuses than sending applications, that's the balance to flip.

In short: "In Progress" means you're in the system, "Under Consideration" means someone's reading you, and neither is worth losing sleep over. Keep your pipeline full and let the statuses sort themselves out.