October 11, 2026
What Is Preboarding? Checklist and Timeline for New Hires
What preboarding is, what to send new hires before day one, a checklist for hiring managers, and what to save until they start.
Preboarding is the stretch between a new hire accepting your offer and their first day. They have no work email or Slack account yet, so everything you send reaches them at their personal email, and the goal is narrow: they arrive knowing where to be, who they will meet, and what their first week looks like.
Onboarding starts on day one, once they can log in. Preboarding covers the weeks before that, when the only people who can act are the hiring manager, the team, and whoever sets up accounts and equipment.
Preboarding vs onboarding
| Preboarding | Onboarding | |
|---|---|---|
| When | Offer accepted to the day before they start | Day one through the first few months |
| How you reach them | Personal email | Work accounts, including Slack |
| Who does the work | Mostly the hiring manager, team, and IT | The new hire, with their manager, buddy, and team |
| Goal | Arrive on day one knowing the plan | Get productive in the role and know the team |
The handoff between the two is where things get dropped. A welcome email goes out, then nothing happens until someone remembers to add the new hire to the right Slack channels on day one.
What to send before day one
Keep each message short and specific. Plan the sequence backward from the start date, so it fits however long the gap is between offer and day one.
When the offer is accepted. A welcome from the hiring manager, in their own words, saying who they are and that the team is expecting them. Add anything the new hire needs to sign or return, and who to ask if something is unclear.
Two weeks before. What the first week looks like: start time, location or the video link, who they will meet, and what they will work on first. Tell them what equipment is coming and when.
The week before. Practical details: what to bring, how they will log in on day one, and who will meet them. If the team has a short read that helps (a product overview, the team's working norms), send one link here, not ten.
The day before. A brief note from the manager confirming the plan for tomorrow.
Preboarding checklist
For the hiring manager
- Send a personal welcome when the offer is accepted
- Plan the first week, including who the new hire meets and their first piece of work
- Choose an onboarding buddy, so the introduction can happen on day one
- Block time on their own calendar for a day-one check-in
For the team
- Know the start date and the new hire's role
- Agree who covers first-week questions
- Prepare the channels, docs, and meetings the new hire will join
For IT and accounts
- Order equipment early enough to arrive before day one
- Create the work email and accounts, ready for day one
- Confirm how the new hire will sign in on their first morning
For the new hire to receive
- Day-one time, place, and contact person
- A first-week schedule
- Anything to sign or return, with a deadline
What to leave until day one
Hold back training, quizzes, and surveys until the new hire has started and can use your tools. Before day one they may still be working out notice at their previous job, so anything that feels like work belongs after the start date. Paperwork belongs in your HR system, which is built to collect it.
Introductions to the wider team also land better once the new hire can reply. A buddy chosen in advance can still introduce themselves on day one.
How preboarding works in Doozy
Doozy runs preboarding and Slack onboarding as one program, so the handoff on day one happens on its own.
- Starts from your HR system. Connect one of 50+ supported HR systems, and new hires with a future start date come into Doozy as preboarders automatically. There is no second list to keep up to date.
- Reaches new hires at their personal email. Before their first day, Doozy emails the new hire at the personal address in your HR system.
- Keeps managers and the team on schedule. Before day one, Doozy can send Slack messages to the hiring manager, a channel, or specific people, and give the manager tasks to complete.
- Hands off to Slack on day one. When your HR system has their work email on their first day, the new hire becomes a regular Doozy member and continues the same onboarding in Slack, where introductions, buddy assignment, quizzes, surveys, and polls begin.
- Flags missing details. If a new hire has no personal email on file, their manager (or the program's admins, if there is no manager) gets a Slack to-do to add it, and Doozy sends the email once the address is in.
New hires who start together can be part of a cohort: they get their pre-start emails individually, then join the cohort's Slack channel on day one.
Preboarding is available on the Enterprise plan, and Doozy turns it on for your account. It needs a connected HR system and email delivery.
For the rest of the first month, see how to onboard new hires in Slack and how to automate onboarding in Slack.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between preboarding and onboarding?
Preboarding happens before the first day, when the new hire has no work accounts and you reach them by personal email. Onboarding runs inside the tools they will use every day and continues over their first few months.
What is the point of preboarding?
A new hire who hears nothing between signing and starting spends that time guessing. Preboarding replaces the guessing with a plan, and it gives the manager and IT a deadline for getting equipment, accounts, and the first week ready, so day one starts with people and work, with the logistics already handled.
How long does preboarding last?
As long as the gap between offer acceptance and the start date, which is often a few weeks. If the gap is only a few days, combine the welcome and the first-week plan into one message.
Who owns preboarding?
The hiring manager owns what the new hire experiences before day one. HR or People typically owns contracts and paperwork, and IT owns equipment and accounts. See how People teams run onboarding with Doozy.
Should new hires do training before day one?
Keep training for after they start. Before day one, send logistics, a welcome, and a clear picture of the first week. Doozy only schedules quizzes and surveys from day one, once the new hire is in Slack.
What does preboarding software do?
It reaches new hires before they have work accounts and reminds the people preparing for their start date. When comparing tools, check whether it reads start dates from your HR system and whether the same program carries on after day one. Doozy does both, and continues the program in Slack.