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Moving Candidates Through the Pipeline

From first application to hired — one guide for your whole team.

What's Changed

Hireology's new Candidate Pipeline replaces the old Applicants/Candidates layout with a cleaner, stage-based flow that better reflects how hiring actually works. Here's a quick reference before you dive in.

What's in this guide

• Reviewing candidates in Applied
• Using Stars, filters & sub-statuses
• Sending prescreens
• Messaging
• Moving to In Progress
• Scheduling interviews
• Pre-Hire: offers, BGC & reference checks
• Marking someone Hired
• Declining & transferring

Part 1: The Applied Stage

Click into any open job to land on the Applied tab. This is everyone who has applied — your top-of-funnel. Recruiters will typically do first-pass review here before involving the hiring manager.

The Applied stage — showing stage tabs, sub-status filters, candidate cards with document indicators, and the Add New/Existing Candidate button

Reading the Candidate Cards

Each card shows everything you need to make a quick decision without opening the drawer:

• Name + 'New' badge — unreviewed since last visit
• Document status — green checkmark = available, red X = missing (Resume, Application,
• Survey)
• Applied date and source (e.g., Internal, Indeed, LinkedIn)
• Briefcase icon — candidate has applied to other roles at your company
• Message shortcut — send an email or SMS right from the card

Opening a Candidate's Profile

Click any card to open the side drawer. Use the arrow buttons at the top to flip through the list without closing it.

The candidate drawer — contact info, tags, and the Candidate Info / Hiring Pipeline sections. Use the arrows at the top to navigate between candidates.

The drawer has two sections:

• Candidate Info — Messages, Documents, Applications, AI Interviews, Activity &
• Comments
• Hiring Pipeline — stage-by-stage steps and actions for this job

Using the Filter Tabs

Below the stage tabs, the Applied sub-filters help you triage efficiently:

• All Candidates — everyone in Applied
• New — not yet reviewed
• Awaiting Decision — reviewed but not yet moved or declined
• Failed Survey — knocked out by a prescreen question; bulk-decline these in one click
• Starred — your shortlist (see below)

Starring Candidates (Recruiter → Hiring Manager Handoff)

Stars are no longer a 1–5 rating — they're a simple shortlist flag. Use them to build the group of candidates you want to present to the hiring manager before committing to interviews.

The Starred tab — a focused shortlist built by clicking the star icon on any card. Candidates stay in Applied until you move them.

• Click the ☆ on any card to star them
• Click 'Starred' to see your shortlist
• Share this tab with your hiring manager so they can review without seeing the full pile
• Stars don't move or notify candidates — they're purely internal

Sending & Viewing the Prescreen Survey

Sending a prescreen survey from the candidate drawer — click the Prescreen Survey row in the Hiring Pipeline section to send if it wasn't sent automatically

The Failed Survey tab — candidates who failed a knockout question. Select all and bulk-decline to clean up Applied in seconds.

Messaging a Candidate

The Messages panel in the candidate drawer — full thread history. Click 'New Message' to choose a template, add an attachment, and send.

• Click Messages in the Candidate Info section to see the full thread
• Click New Message → pick a template (e.g., Availability Inquiry) → send
• Check the SMS opt-in status next to their phone number before texting
• To request SMS opt-in: Options menu → Request SMS opt-in

Adding Comments

Use Activity & Comments to leave notes for your hiring team — or to @mention someone. Comments are visible to all hiring team members on this job.

Part 2: Moving to In Progress

When you're ready to start interviewing someone, move them from Applied to In Progress. This puts them into the column view where you can track them step-by-step through your interview process.

Moving a candidate — the 'Move to In Progress' button in the candidate drawer. Use the dropdown arrow to jump to a specific stage if needed.

Declining a Candidate

Declining a candidate — click Decline on the card or in the drawer, choose a disposition code, and optionally send a rejection email.

Awaiting Decision tip Not sure yet? Don't decline — just close the drawer. They stay in Awaiting Decision so you can come back. Your whole team can see this bucket too.

Part 3: The In Progress Stage

In Progress is the interviewing stage. It replaces the old flat Candidates list with a column view — one column per hiring step — so you can see exactly where everyone is at a glance.

The In Progress column view — candidates are organized by hiring step (e.g., Impressions Interview, Testing, Elements Interview). Sub-status shows on each card.

• Each column = one hiring step configured for this job
• Sub-statuses on cards: Needs Scheduling / Pending Completion / Awaiting Decision
• Drag and drop a card to move someone to the next step
• Click any card to open their drawer and take action

Scheduling an Interview

The Schedule Interview panel — select duration, interview type (Phone / In Person / Video), then choose to send a self-scheduling link or a confirmed time.

Automated scheduling If the lightning bolt ⚡ appears in the job header, Automated Interview Scheduling is on. Candidates who pass the prescreen may self-schedule automatically — you just review and confirm.

Advancing After a Step Completes

• Drag the candidate's card to the next column once their step is done
• Or open the drawer and click 'Next Step'
• Once all In Progress steps are done, use 'Move to Pre-Hire' in the drawer

Part 4: The Pre-Hire Stage

Pre-Hire is the paperwork stage. It's where candidates go after a conditional offer — while you're completing reference checks, background checks, and the offer letter. It only appears if your Admin has configured it for this job.

The Pre-Hire stage — candidates show their paperwork step statuses (Reference Checks, Background Checks, Offer Letter) right on the card.

Sending an Offer Letter

The Offer step in the Pre-Hire drawer — view and revise the offer letter inline, change the template or start date, and resend.

Initiating Background or Reference Checks

• Open the candidate drawer → click the Background Check or Reference Check step
• Click the action button to kick off the process
• Step status updates as results come in — visible on the card and in the drawer

Pre-Hire not showing? Pre-Hire is turned on per job, not globally. Ask your Admin to enable it in Edit Hiring Steps (via Job Details) and drag the relevant steps into the Pre-Hire section.

Part 5: Marking Someone Hired

The Hired stage — sync new hires to ADP or other integrations directly from the candidate drawer once they're marked Hired.

Need to undo a hire? From the Hired tab, open the candidate and click 'Move Back to In Progress' from the kebab menu (⋮). They return to the pipeline and are removed from the Hired list.

Part 6: Bulk Actions & Transfers

Available in every stage — select one or more candidates using the checkboxes, then choose an action from the toolbar.

Bulk actions — select multiple candidates using the checkboxes, then choose to message, tag, advance, decline, or transfer in one operation.

• Messaging — email or SMS multiple candidates at once
• Tagging — apply tags to a group
• Movement — advance or decline selected candidates
• Transfer — move candidates to a different job
• Bulk decline (Applied) — especially fast for failed survey candidates

Transferring a Candidate

If a candidate is a better fit for another role:

• Click the kebab menu (⋮) on the card or in the drawer → select Transfer
• Use the transfer modal to select the destination job
• All candidate history and documents transfer with them

Adding Candidates Manually

Next steps Live training webinars every Wednesday starting May 20 — bring questions about your specific process. In-app support links are also available if anything looks unexpected.