Manage the Candidate pipeline

This guide is for recruiting team members who move applicants through a vacancy’s hiring workflow and record shortlist and rejection decisions. At the end, the applicant is in the stage your review supports, and the move and its reason are on record. To record offers and hires, see Record offers and hires.

Why every move is recorded

A person moves each applicant. Scores and suggestions are evidence; they never move anyone on their own. Because a move is a judgement, Aivident records who made it, when, and from which stage to which. Where a stage asks for a reason, the reason is kept with the move. Earlier results stay as they were, so another reviewer can see what the decision rested on.

Before you start

• Board access: open the vacancy, then select Applications. The board shows applicants and actions only after Aivident confirms that you can operate the vacancy.
• Moving between stages: your access level needs the permission the access-level editor lists as workflow.manage. Without it, the move fails and nothing changes.
• Hired: the move into Hired and Mark hired appear only when your company’s plan includes marking applicants hired.
• Not needed: a screening result for every applicant. Screening, interviews and moves are separate actions.

How the board moves an applicant

The columns come from the vacancy’s hiring workflow. See How applications reach the board for how the columns are drawn.

• One step at a time: a card moves forward to the next stage of the workflow. The picker also lists the later stages, but choosing one of them only explains which stage is next. Nothing is sent.
• No backward move: the board has no action that moves an active card back to an earlier stage.
• No skipping: the board does not skip a stage or place a card straight into an interview stage.
• Without a saved workflow: the board uses Applied, Screened and Shortlisted. A move into Shortlisted opens the shortlist decision, and a move from Shortlisted to Hired opens the hire decision.

Move one applicant

1. Find the applicant’s card in the Active view.

2. To move to the next stage, select the button on the card that names the next stage. It moves the card right away.

3. To see every possible stage, select Move to…. The picker lists the later stages and marks the valid next one. Choosing another stage shows the reason it is not valid, and nothing changes. Select Cancel to close the picker.

4. If the workflow requires a reason for this move, the picker asks for Reason for this move. Write the context, then select Continue move.

5. Read the line on the card. It confirms where the applicant moved and that the move was recorded with your name.

Mandatory checks can pause a move

If your company requires checks before this stage and they are due, the move stops and Mandatory checks are due opens. Select Review checks to complete them. Where company policy allows an exception, the dialog also shows Override reason. Write the reason, then select Continue with override. The original results stay unchanged; the override does not turn them into a pass.

Record a shortlist or rejection decision

Shortlist and rejection are decisions, not stage moves. Each one keeps a reason.

1. Open the card’s action menu (the three-dot button). Select Shortlist or Reject. On a screened card you can also use the check and cross buttons.

2. Under Reason category, choose the reason closest to your decision. For a shortlist the choices include Strong match, Meets requirements and High screening score. For a rejection they include Requirements gap, Missing required document and Knockout answer. Recruiter review is available for both.

3. Under Reason summary, write a short reason another reviewer can understand.

4. Under Evidence notes, name the evidence you checked. Do not only repeat the score.

5. Select Record the decision. If the category or summary is missing, the dialog refuses and keeps everything you typed.

A rejected card moves to the Rejected view. On a board with a saved workflow, a shortlist records the decision, and the card stays in its stage until you move it.

A decision does not send an email

The dialog says so itself: the reason is internal. Recording a decision does not email the Candidate. Use your company’s approved process when the Candidate must be told.

Move several applications

The selection bar’s buttons appear in English in both languages.

1. Select the applicants’ cards.

2. Select Move status.

3. Under Target status, choose a move. The list offers only moves that every selected card allows: the next stage they share, Shortlisted, or Hired. If nothing is shared, the dialog says so.

4. For Shortlisted, write the Manual review reason.

5. Select Move selected. Choosing Hired opens the hire decision instead.

6. Read the result for each applicant. Some can succeed while others fail. Check the failed ones before you try again.

For a rejection, use Reject selected instead of Move status.

Review the Auto preview

On a board without a saved workflow, the Screened column can show Auto. It splits screened applicants at the vacancy’s shortlist bar. The bar shows whether it is this vacancy’s own number, your company’s, or the product’s starting number.

1. Check the shortlist bar above the board.

2. Select Auto and read both lists in Auto Shortlist Preview: Will Shortlist and Will Mark Not Shortlisted. Applicants whose CV gave no evidence to score stay in Screened for a person to review.

3. Cancel if any applicant needs more review.

4. Select Apply Changes only when both lists are right.

A person applies the preview and stays accountable for it. The decision records the suggestion as AI-generated and shows AI suggested. A decision you write yourself shows Recruiter reviewed.

What the history keeps

• On the card: a line confirms each move, and the decision reason shows on the card.
• On the person’s page: open the person’s page from the link on the card, then select Their workflow. Decisions on this application lists each status change and decision, newest first, with its reason, who made it or Automatic rule, and when. Entries are only ever added.
• For workflow stage moves: Aivident keeps who moved the applicant, from which stage to which, and the reason where one was required.

Moving an applicant creates no result. A stage the applicant did not complete stays not completed; no score, interview answer or pass is filled in for it.

Stage moves and invitations are separate

Moving a card into an interview stage sends no invitation. Inviting someone to an AI interview does not move their card. Each is its own action with its own result: a move confirms on the card, and an invitation reports whether it was sent. See Invite Candidates to the AI interview.

On a vacancy that is not linked to a Role Standard, and when your plan includes AI interviews, the interview controls can already appear on a card that has not been screened. That is how you invite someone without a CV or a screening result. The board has no action that places the person straight into the interview stage.

Reopen a rejected application

A rejected card, in the Rejected view, has two ways back:

• Shortlist in the card’s menu records a new decision with a reason.
• The circular-arrow button with the Move back to Screened tooltip reopens the application without a reason. It clears the decision reason shown on the card. On a board without a saved workflow, the card returns to Applied, or to Screened when its screening is complete.

Prefer Shortlist when you want the reason on record. The person’s Decisions on this application list keeps the earlier rejection either way.

What the product does not do here

• No automatic rejection: missing evidence pauses a check. It never rejects anyone.
• No side effects: a move does not screen, invite, email, or record an offer.
• No reopened stages: the board does not move an active card backward. Ask your administrator if your process needs that.

When something goes wrong

What you see	What it means and what to do
The workflow goes one step at a time	You chose a stage beyond the next one. Move to the next stage first.
The destination requires a completed screening	On a board without a workflow, choose Screen applications or review the application first.
The stage requires a reason	Write it under Reason for this move, then select Continue move.
Someone moved the applicant just now	Select Reload the card, then decide again.
You are not allowed to move candidates in this workflow	Your access level lacks the permission to move stages. Ask your administrator. Nothing changed.
The move did not reach the server, or did not go through	Select Try the move again. Nothing changed.
The card says it applied before this job had a workflow	The application predates the workflow, so no stage columns apply to it. Record decisions from the card’s menu.
The card follows an earlier version of the workflow	The board does not move it. It finishes under the earlier version. Record decisions from the card’s menu.

Where to go next

• Record offers, hires and the handoff in Record offers and hires.
• Read interview evidence in Read interview results.
• See the whole loop in How Aivident Hire works.