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Full Work Type entry
How-to guide

Create a Work Type for a recurring job

Create a Work Type when your team performs a job often enough that retyping its duration, skills, and parts each time wastes effort. Build it once in Setup, then reference it from work orders and appointments.

By Dipojjal Chakrabarti · Founder & Editor, Salesforce DictionaryLast updated Jun 16, 2026

Create a Work Type when your team performs a job often enough that retyping its duration, skills, and parts each time wastes effort. Build it once in Setup, then reference it from work orders and appointments.

  1. Open the Work Types tab

    From the App Launcher, find and open Work Types, then click New. Work Types live in the Field Service and Salesforce Scheduler data, so make sure the relevant feature is enabled in your org first.

  2. Name the job and set the duration

    Enter a clear Name and Description. Set Estimated Duration to how long the job usually takes, and set Duration Type to Minutes or Hours. This length drives the time slot the scheduler reserves.

  3. Decide on appointment behavior

    Select Auto-Create Service Appointment if you want an appointment generated whenever a work order uses this type. Set Block Time Before and Block Time After to pad travel or setup, and set crew size fields if the job needs more than one resource.

  4. Add required skills and products

    Save the record, then add skill requirements with the levels a worker must hold, and add required products for the parts the job consumes. These lists copy onto every work order created from the Work Type.

Mandatory fields
Namerequired

A short, recognizable label for the job pattern, such as Cable Install or Annual Service.

Estimated Durationrequired

How long the job typically takes, expressed as a number that pairs with Duration Type.

Duration Typerequired

The unit for the estimate, either Minutes or Hours.

Gotchas
  • An inaccurate Estimated Duration distorts every schedule built from the Work Type, so review durations as crews get faster or jobs change.
  • Auto-Create Service Appointment only fires when the work order or line item references the Work Type, so existing records are not retrofitted.
  • Skills and required products are inherited as defaults; a specific job can still need extra requirements added on its own work order.

See the full Work Type entry

Work Type includes the definition, worked example, deep dive, related terms, and a quiz.