How to set up and use your candidate pipeline

The Pipeline tab is where recruitment happens day to day. Each pipeline is one way of hiring, laid out as a board: every column is a stage, and every candidate is a card sitting in the stage they have reached. At a glance, you can see who is waiting for an interview, who is waiting on checks and who is ready to start.

Everything you do to a candidate happens from here or from their record: adding them, moving them on, sending them an application form, keeping notes and, finally, turning them into a worker. Every one of those actions is logged, so you always have a full history of how someone came to work for you.

Before you begin

You need Agency Accelerator Pro. ATS Management is part of the Pro plan.
To send someone an application form, the form must already exist. See Creating and publishing recruitment forms.
Know what a worker record needs. You can only convert a candidate once their application has a first name, last name, email address, date of birth, National Insurance number and DBS number.

Opening your pipeline

Select ATS in the left-hand menu.
Select the Pipeline tab.
Use the drop-down at the top left to choose which pipeline to view. The number beside its name is how many candidates are on that pipeline.

Use Search candidates beside it to find someone on the board by name.

Reading the board

Stages run left to right in the order candidates move through them. Each column shows the stage name, the number of candidates on it and the stage's colour along the top edge. The stage set as your final stage carries a Final flag.

Each card shows:

Name and initials of the candidate.
Role, where the candidate has one on their record.
Contact, their email address.
Applied, the date they applied or were added, with the number of days since then in the bottom corner (for example, 12d).
An activity tag, such as no activity yet.
A paperclip and a number when documents are attached to the record.
A red alert icon when something on the record needs your attention. Open the card to see what it is.

Cards on the final stage also show a Review & convert to Worker button. Once a candidate has been converted, their card shows a green tick and their new CW number instead.

Customising your pipeline

Each pipeline has its own stages, so changing one pipeline never affects another.

On the Pipeline tab, choose the pipeline, then select Customise pipeline.
Under Pipeline name, rename the pipeline if you need to.
Under Stages, each row is one column on your board, numbered left to right. For each stage you can:
- Rename it by typing over the name.
- Change its colour by selecting the colour square.
- See how many candidates are on it, beside the person icon.
- Delete it with the bin icon, once nobody is on it.

Select + Add stage to add another stage.
Under Final stage, choose the stage that means a candidate is ready to be taken on, usually Hired.
Select Save.

Please note: A stage can only be deleted once nobody is on it, and a pipeline can only be deleted once it has no candidates. The Delete pipeline section at the bottom of the panel tells you how many candidates are still on the pipeline. Move them to another pipeline, or remove them, first.

Adding a candidate

Candidates who apply through one of your recruitment forms are added for you, on the stage chosen for that form. To add someone yourself, for example when a CV reaches you by email, use + Add candidate. A name and an email address are all you need.

On the Pipeline tab, select + Add candidate.
Enter their First name, Last name and Email address. These are required.
Add their Phone number and Date of birth if you have them. Candidates must be 18 or over.
To attach their CV, select Choose a PDF. The CV must be a PDF of up to 5MB.
Under Pipeline, choose the pipeline they belong on.
Decide whether they should hear from you yet. With Don't send a notification to the candidate ticked, they are added to the first stage of the pipeline with these details only, and nothing is emailed to them. The message underneath confirms which stage they will land on.
Select + Add candidate.

Tip: Keep Don't send a notification to the candidate ticked when you are storing details for someone you have not spoken to yet. You can send them an application form later from their record, once you have made contact.

Moving candidates between stages

There are two ways to move a candidate, and both are recorded in their audit log.

Drag the card. On the board, drag the candidate's card into another column. A dotted outline shows where it will land.
Use the stage tracker on their record. Open the candidate's card and select a stage on the tracker at the top of their record. Hovering over a stage shows Move to followed by the stage name. A message confirms the move.

You can move a candidate back to an earlier stage as well as forward, for example if a reference falls through.

Working with a candidate's record

Select a candidate's card to open their record. The top of the record shows when they applied, how many days ago that was and the stage they are on. Below that are the pipeline they are on and a tracker showing every stage, with the stages they have passed through filled in.

The record has four tabs.

Application

The details on the candidate's record. If they were added without an application form, you see the basic details entered when they were added. If they completed a form, you see their answers, grouped in the same sections as the form.

If you have sent a form that has not come back yet, the record shows which form was sent, to which address and when, followed by waiting for their reply. If answers a worker record needs are still missing, an amber message at the top lists them.

To change the details, select Edit. For a candidate added without a form, the Edit details panel lets you update their name, email address, phone number, date of birth, role, National Insurance number and DBS number. Select Save changes when you are done.

Documents

Every file on the record, such as their CV, with the date it was uploaded. Select Open to view a document, or Download all (.zip) to download every document at once.

Notes

Notes your team keeps about the candidate, such as availability, references or how an interview went. Type your note under Add a note, then select + Save note. Each note shows when it was added and by whom, and is also recorded in the audit log.

Audit log

Two sections. Focus lists anything outstanding for the candidate, and shows Nothing outstanding for this candidate when everything is in hand. History lists every action taken on the record, newest first, with the date, time and the name of the person who did it: when the record was created, each stage move and the conversion to a worker. It also notes whether anything was sent to the candidate.

Downloading a profile

Select Download profile at the top of the record to download the candidate's profile as a PDF. The button shows Preparing... while the file is built.

Sending an application form

Use this when you added a candidate yourself and now need their full details, or when you want them to complete a further form.

Open the candidate's record and select Send form.
Check the message at the top, which confirms the stage and pipeline the candidate is on.
Under SHARE AN APPLICATION FORM, choose the form to send. The list shows forms for the candidate's pipeline.
Check the email address. It is filled in from their record, but you can change it here to send the form somewhere else.
Select Send form. To go back without sending anything, select Back to the record.

When the candidate completes the form, their answers and documents come back to the same record, next to what is already on it.

Converting a candidate to a worker

When you decide to take a candidate on, converting them creates their full worker record from their application. Until the candidate reaches the final stage, the bottom of their record reads Review & convert to Worker unlocks when this candidate reaches the final stage.

Move the candidate to your final stage.
Select Review & convert to Worker, either on their card or at the bottom of their record.
Review the window that opens. Under Basic Info, it shows exactly what will move from their application to their new worker profile.
If the window shows an amber message beginning A worker record also needs, select Edit application, add the missing details and save them.
Select Create Worker record.

The record is created as soon as you confirm. A Worker record created message appears, and the bottom of the candidate's record shows Converted to worker with their new CW number and the date. Select View worker profile to carry on onboarding them as you would any other worker. Anything that needs changing can be updated on their worker profile afterwards.

Please note: Create Worker record stays unavailable until the application includes a first name, last name, email address, date of birth, National Insurance number and DBS number. Each candidate can only be converted once, so check the details in the window before you confirm.

Once converted, the candidate's card shows a green tick and their CW number, and the Candidates tab shows their worker record against their name. See Finding and managing candidates.

Good habits worth adopting

Move candidates on the day things change. A board that is a week behind sends colleagues chasing people who have already moved on.
Write interview notes straight away. Notes added the same day are far more useful to the colleague who makes the offer than a summary from memory.
Fill in missing details before the final stage. Adding a National Insurance or DBS number as soon as you have it means conversion takes one click when the time comes.
Check your final stage before your first hire. If the wrong stage is set as final, the convert button appears too early or not at all.

If something looks wrong

The bin icon next to a stage is greyed out. Candidates are still on that stage. Move them first, then delete it.
You cannot delete a pipeline. Candidates are still on it. The Delete pipeline section shows how many.
There is no Review & convert to Worker button. The candidate is not on the final stage. Check which stage is set as final in Customise pipeline.
Create Worker record is greyed out. Details are missing from the application. The amber message lists them; select Edit application to add them.
A candidate says the form never arrived. Check the email address on their record, then send the form again from Send form.
A CV will not upload. Check it is a PDF and no larger than 5MB.

If something still does not look right, contact our Support Team with the candidate's name and the pipeline they are on.

Happy hiring! 🎉