Candidate status
Status tells you, and your colleagues, where a candidate sits in their lifecycle with you. It keeps lists tidy, reports accurate and pipeline counts meaningful.
Candidate status is largely system-driven. It is deliberately not freely editable by recruiters, so it always reflects the candidate's real state rather than something that has been set and forgotten.
The status field​
Every candidate record has a single status. You can see it on the summary and in the candidate list as a coloured badge.
The standard candidate statuses are New, Check Availability, Available, Partially Booked, Booked, Booked via Portal, Unavailable, Do Not Contact and Archived. The system name is used by RecSphere logic; your workspace may show a friendly name and colour chosen by an admin. See Status definitions.
How a candidate becomes qualified and available​
A candidate becomes qualified and Available once they have both:
- a CV on file, and
- availability on their schedule.
At that point the candidate's pipeline status reflects "qualified CV and available". The candidate appears in the pipeline as a qualified lead, and on the Scheduling page as available.
The two halves come from different places:
- Availability is derived from the candidate's schedule.
- The qualified-CV state comes from an attached CV.
Because both are derived, you make a candidate available by attaching their CV and setting their availability, not by editing a status field.
How status progresses​
Once a candidate is qualified and available, their status changes as the underlying record changes. For example, adding forward availability can make a candidate Available, a current or upcoming contract can make them Partially Booked or Booked, and a consultant can manually mark them Unavailable or Do Not Contact where appropriate. Pipeline stages such as shortlisted and submitted are tracked separately from the candidate's main status. See Using the pipeline.
Filtering by status​
You can filter the candidate list by status to focus on a particular cohort. For example, filter to Available to see candidates who are qualified and ready to be put forward.
Add the filter from the filter icon on the candidate list, as described in Filtering and saved filters. You can save the filtered group as a saved list.
Because status is system-driven, the way to change it is to change the underlying facts: attach a CV, set availability on the schedule, or move the candidate through the pipeline. This keeps everyone looking at the same accurate picture.