Working with Applies to

When you create a custom field, you select the type of data it applies to. You can choose from the following:

• People in jobs – Relates to a person's performance in their job (for example, performance rating or satisfaction level).
• Open jobs - Relates to open jobs (for example, recruiting metrics).
• Jobs -  Relates to the job itself, and not the person in it (for example, a job's department).
• People - Relates to the person only (for example, a t-shirt size or a Myers-Briggs rating).

What you select determines how you can use a custom field. For example, if you select Open Jobs for a field, you will not be able to use that field to store a current hire’s satisfaction level. The reason is that fields applying to open jobs cannot be used for people in jobs.  

In addition, depending on what you select, the data in a field clears when people enter or leave jobs. 

• If you select Open jobs for a field (for example, a field about the recruiting firm that was used), that field will clear when a person is hired. 
• If you select People in jobs for a field (for example, a field about a person's career level), that field will clear when the person leaves the job.