Candidates

This guide covers the candidate record itself — profile, documents, notes, ratings, rejection, and the handoff into employment.

Purpose

Every person who has applied, been referred, or been sourced for a role has a single record here, no matter which job opening they came through. This answers: "Who is this candidate, and what's their story with us so far?"

The Candidate Record

Each candidate record holds:

• Personal & contact details — name, email, mobile number, address, date of birth, gender, and an optional portfolio link.
• The job opening and position they applied for.
• Resume, and optionally a profile photo (required or not, depending on the opening — see Job Requisitions & Open Jobs).
• Source — how they entered the system: the public application form, added directly inside the system, or other. If an employee referred them, that referral is recorded too.
• Their current pipeline stage (see Pipeline & Stages).

Candidates arrive in one of two ways: they fill out the public application form themselves, or a recruiter adds them directly inside the system — for referrals or candidates sourced elsewhere. When adding a candidate directly, a job position must be chosen up front.

Notes, Documents & Ratings

• Notes. Recruiters and stage managers can leave dated notes on a candidate as they move through the process, with files attached if needed. A note can be marked visible to the candidate themselves, so feedback can be shared with them directly when that's appropriate.
• Document requests. HR can ask a candidate for a specific document — a required file type and maximum size can be set on the request. Once uploaded, each document can be approved or rejected, with a reason recorded if it's rejected.
• Ratings. Anyone involved in evaluating a candidate — an interviewer, for example — can leave a 0–5 rating. Each person's rating is kept as their own, so several people's impressions of the same candidate don't overwrite one another.

Turning Down a Candidate

When a candidate doesn't move forward, the decision is recorded on their record with one or more reasons — drawn from a reusable, company-maintained list — plus a free-text note. This keeps the "why" on file rather than losing it, and lets patterns in rejection reasons show up in reporting.

From Candidate to Employee

Once a candidate is hired, turning them into a full employee record is a single action. The system creates the employee, carries over their job position, department, and company, and copies across any documents already collected during recruitment — nothing needs to be re-entered. From there, the offer letter (sent → accepted → joined) and the rest of the process continue in the Onboarding module.

What Each User Sees

Action	Employee	Interviewer	Stage Manager	Recruitment Manager	HR Administrator / Recruiter
Refer a candidate	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
View a candidate's record	—	✅ (candidates they interview)	✅ (their stage)	✅ (their opening)	✅
Add notes / ratings	—	✅	✅	✅	✅
Add or edit candidate details	—	—	✅	✅	✅
Request / review documents	—	—	✅	✅	✅
Reject a candidate	—	—	✅	✅	✅
Convert a hired candidate to an employee	—	—	—	✅	✅

How Visibility Is Decided

1. Permissions. Broad permissions grant the ability to view or manage candidates across every opening.
2. Assignment. Being a stage manager, recruitment manager, or an assigned interviewer for a candidate grants access scoped to that responsibility, without needing the general permission (see User Roles & Access).
3. Company. Candidates belong to the company of the opening they applied to, so users only see candidates for the company currently selected.

Customization Options

• Document requests can require a specific file format and maximum size per request.
• Notes can be shared with the candidate or kept internal, note by note.
• The rejection reasons list is company-maintained and reusable across every opening.

Good to Know

• A candidate's record is one continuous history — notes, ratings, and documents all stay attached as they move through the pipeline, not reset per stage.
• Converting a candidate to an employee only works once per candidate; if it's already been done, the system won't create a duplicate.
• If someone with a matching email already exists as a user or employee, conversion is blocked rather than silently creating a conflicting account.
• Rejecting a candidate doesn't delete them — their record, notes, and history remain, and they can still be added to the Skill Zone talent pool for future openings.

One record, the whole story.