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Candidates overview

The Candidates page is where you store every person you work with: prospects, active workers, placed candidates and archived contacts. It is the central record that links into your vacancies, contracts and payroll.

What a candidate record represents​

A candidate record holds everything you know about one person: contact details, CV, work history, compliance documents, communications and any placements. Each candidate has a unique record matched on email address by default, so the same person is never stored twice.

You add candidates in three main ways:

  • Add a blank candidate using the Add candidate button and type the details in.
  • Add from a CV and let RecSphere parse it into a record.
  • Import a batch from a spreadsheet or another applicant tracking system.

The Add candidate button gives you the first two of these: add from CV, or add a blank candidate. See Adding a candidate.

Candidate records do not sit on their own. They connect to other pages as you move someone through the placement lifecycle:

  • Vacancies and shortlists. When you add Sarah Williams to the shortlist for vacancy RS-1045, the link appears on both her record and the vacancy.
  • Applications and pipeline. Each time a candidate is matched to a vacancy or moved through a pipeline stage, the activity is logged against their record.
  • Contracts and payroll. Once a candidate is placed, their contract, timesheets and payments are visible from the Contracts tab on their record.
  • Communications. Every call, email, WhatsApp message and SMS with a candidate is captured in the Contact Log on their record.

Working in the candidate list​

The candidate list is a list table showing the candidates you have access to. It opens on your last saved view. It includes an Indicators column you can hover for a quick scan of flags on each candidate, such as CV on file, references, compliance percentage and how many vacancies they are matched or shortlisted for. The list uses the same table tools as every list page in RecSphere, so the skills carry across the whole platform:

For an introduction to the tools shared by every list page, see Platform basics.

The candidate record​

Click any candidate in the list, in search results, or in a shortlist to open their record. The record opens on the Summary. It is organised into these tabs, in order:

Summary, Personal, Job Details, Education & Employment, Schedule, Matched & Shortlist, Compliance, Financials, Contracts, Documents.

For a guided tour of every tab, see Candidate records.

The action rail​

A vertical strip of icon buttons runs down the side of the record (it appears on the right in the current UI). These are quick actions for the open record: toggle the side panel, upload, download or view the CV, set up a Teams call, compose an email, message on WhatsApp, add a task, add a note, and delete the record. The same style of action rail appears on other record types, such as clients and vacancies.

Contact Log, Activity Log and Notes​

Alongside the record, a side panel toggles between three views:

  • Contact Log. The captured communications with the candidate: calls, SMS, emails and WhatsApp. Filter by channel and click an item for the detail.
  • Activity Log. A log of system activity and what has happened on the record.
  • Notes. Free-text notes with author and timestamp. Add a note here.

Contacting candidates​

Anything shown in gold across RecSphere is clickable, and this works throughout the platform, not only on the candidate record:

  • Click any email address to open the in-app email composer. If the candidate has opted out of contact, RecSphere warns you but lets you continue.
  • Click any phone number to start the dialer through your VoIP/telephony integration (Aircall).

You can also invite the candidate to the candidate portal from their record, where they manage availability, timesheets and contracts and upload compliance documents. An invite emails them a one-time link to set a password and sign in. Invite once they are ready, so the portal is not empty.

Typical workflows​

Most recruiters work in one of these patterns:

  • Sourcing in bulk. Drag a folder of CVs onto the upload area, review the parsed records, then assign them to vacancies.
  • Adding one at a time. Use Add candidate when you take a call or referral and want a quick record before the CV arrives.
  • Migrating from another ATS. Run a one-off CSV import to bring across your historical database, then continue working in RecSphere from day one.
Start with import

If you are migrating from another ATS, run a bulk import first instead of adding records one by one. See Importing your data.