A course is often not the goal in itself. The goal is what the person can do once they have passed it: reserve a shift they were not allowed to reserve before, or see an Opportunity that was hidden from them. Vome handles this through course automations, which assign profile tags on completion, and through the access rules elsewhere in the platform that read those tags.

This article walks through the whole chain, from the automation to the shift and the Opportunity.

Plan required: Courses are available on the Enterprise and Ultimate plans. Awarding through the Recognition module also requires Enterprise or Ultimate.

1. What are course automations?

Course automations are rules attached to a single course that run on their own as people move through it. You find them in the course builder under Automations, described in the app as automated actions and notifications that run as users move through this course.

Each automation has a name, one trigger, and one or more actions. You can have as many automations on a course as you need.

2. What can trigger an automation?

There are eight triggers:

• When the user starts the course. Fires once, when they first begin.
• When the user submits a section. Fires when they submit a chosen quiz section.
• When the user completes a section. You pick which section.
• When the user completes a chapter. You pick which chapter.
• When the user completes the course. Fires when they pass and complete it.
• When the user fails the course. Fires when they finish but do not pass.
• When the user's course expires.
• A set time after starting, if not finished. This one has a delay and an optional repeat, so it works as a nudge.

For unlocking access, the trigger you almost always want is When the user completes the course, because it only fires on a pass.

3. What actions can an automation run?

Four:

• Send a notification to the user. An email or push message you write, or a saved email template. Variables include $first_name, $course_title, $score and $expiry_date.
• Notify an admin. A summary notification to the admins you choose.
• Award an achievement. Grants one award from your Recognition module.
• Assign tags. Adds one or more profile tags to the person.

Assign tags is the one that does the unlocking. The tag itself does nothing, but the access rules described below read it.

4. How do I unlock shifts once someone passes?

Use a tag on the course, then an advanced reservation restriction on the shifts.

1. Create the profile tag first, for example "Food safety certified".
2. On the course, add an automation with the trigger When the user completes the course and the action Assign tags, then select that tag.
3. On the shifts you want to protect, set the reservation restriction. The rule reads: users can view and reserve shifts if they have at least 1, all, or none of the profile tags you select.

Pick the match type deliberately. At least 1 is the usual choice when any one of several qualifications will do. All is for shifts that genuinely need every listed credential. None is the inverse, useful for keeping a group out of a shift rather than letting them in.

You can set the restriction on an individual shift, and you can apply it across many shifts at once through the bulk shift editing tools and when importing a schedule, where the option is called Manage advanced reservation restriction.

Two different settings, easy to confuse. The tag-based rule above is set per shift. There is also an Opportunity-level setting called "Limit user access to view or reserve shifts", which decides whether approved users can see and book shifts at all, or whether only admins can assign them. That one is not tag-based. Use the Opportunity setting for admin-assigned scheduling, and the tag restriction for credential-based access.

5. How do I reveal an Opportunity someone was not eligible for?

Set the Opportunity to Semi-private and add a profile tag condition.

An Opportunity has three visibility modes. Public is visible to everyone, Private is hidden, and Semi-private is described in the app as visible only to eligible users based on specific conditions they have to meet. Under Semi-private you customize the conditions, which can include being active in your database, having completed specific sequences, holding a specific Opportunity assignment, age, site association, and profile tags with an any, all or none match.

Point the tag condition at the same tag your course assigns. The result is that finishing the course makes the Opportunity appear for that person. They can then register for it and go through your normal recruitment workflow, screening included. The course does not skip the workflow, it gets them to the front door.

This is the practical answer when you cannot assign the Opportunity outright but you do want qualified people to find it themselves.

6. Can a course assign the Opportunity directly?

No. Course automations have four actions, and assigning an Opportunity is not one of them.

If direct assignment is what you need, put the course inside a sequence. A sequence step automation does have an Assign opportunities action, alongside assigning tags and sites. So the pattern is: course as a sequence step, and the step's automation assigns the Opportunity when the person clears it.

If the course has to stay standalone, the semi-private route in question 5 is the closest equivalent. It puts the Opportunity in front of them and lets them register.

7. Can I recognize the completion at the same time?

Yes. Add a second action, Award an achievement, to the same automation. One automation can assign the tag and grant the award together, so the person gets both the access and the credit in one step. See Can I grant an award when someone completes a course?

8. What order should I build this in?

Build backwards from the access, and test before you publish widely.

1. Create the profile tag.
2. Set the shift restriction or the semi-private Opportunity condition, using that tag.
3. Add the course automation that assigns the tag on completion.
4. Enroll one test profile, pass the course, and confirm the tag lands and the shift or Opportunity appears.

Doing it in this order means the gate is already in place when the first real person finishes, rather than a day later.

A course automation can add a tag, but it cannot remove one. The action list is add-only. So if a credential expires and you need the access to close again, plan for that: remove the tag from the profile yourself, or use a sequence, which does have an unassign tags action. Setting an expiry on the course does not by itself take the tag away.

Summary

• Course automations run on their own, from a course builder tab called Automations, with eight triggers and four actions.
• Assign tags is the action that unlocks things. The tag is the key that other parts of Vome read.
• For shifts, use the advanced reservation restriction: view and reserve if the person has at least 1, all, or none of the selected profile tags.
• For Opportunities, use Semi-private visibility with a profile tag condition, so passing the course makes the Opportunity appear and the person can register through your recruitment workflow.
• Courses cannot assign an Opportunity directly. A sequence step can, so use a sequence if direct assignment matters.
• Tags are added, never removed, by a course automation. Handle expiry of access yourself.