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Workspaces7 min read

Work the ATS pipeline

One board holding every candidate in play across every role. Filter it, drag cards between your own stages, set those stages up in Settings, and capture offer and placement details as people move.

Before you start

  • The ATS module enabled for your workspace. If the board reads ATS is not enabled, an admin turns it on.
  • At least one role with candidates on it, otherwise every column reads No candidates.
  • Admin rights if you intend to change the stages. The Pipeline tab in Settings is editable by admins only.
Steps

7 steps, in order.

1

Open the board and see everything at once

ATS is the first item under Recruiting in the sidebar, at /dashboard/{orgId}/pipeline. The header reads PIPELINE, then ATS, with Export and Add candidate on the right. Below it sits a column per stage, each with a live count, and a card per candidate carrying the name, the role title, the client and the avatar of whoever owns them. This is every candidate in play across every role, not one role at a time. Run your weekly pipeline review from here. A stalled stage shows up as a column that never empties, and that is invisible when you open roles one by one.

Back|Dashboard > ATS
Pipeline
ATS
Search name or email
Pre-contact7
Dana WhitfieldRW
Appointment Setter
Marcus BellRW
Next.js Developer
Iris KavanaghKB
Sales Development
Tomas FerreiraRW
React Developer
Elena RossKB
Data Engineer
Grant WhitleyRW
Platform Engineer
Simone OkaforKB
QA Engineer
Add a card
Contacted7
Naomi WintersRW
Software Engineer
Elliot VanceRW
Backend Engineer
Hana SatoKB
Product Designer
Devon MarshRW
Data Analyst
Ruth AdeyemiKB
SDE-1
Callum ReidRW
DevOps Engineer
Jonas WeberRW
Solutions Architect
Add a card

A column per stage with a live count, and the candidates in play in each one.

2

Filter down to one search

The filter bar carries Role, Client, a date range and a search over name or email. A Board and List toggle sits on the right if you would rather read rows than columns, and a recruiter chip narrows the board to one person's desk. Filter by client before a client call and the board becomes the agenda for it.

Back|Dashboard > ATS
Pipeline
ATS
Search name or email
Pre-contact7
Dana WhitfieldRW
Appointment Setter
Datadog
Marcus BellRW
Next.js Developer
Stripe
Iris KavanaghKB
Sales Development
Shopify
Tomas FerreiraRW
React Developer
Stripe
Elena RossKB
Data Engineer
Datadog
Grant WhitleyRW
Platform Engineer
Stripe
Simone OkaforKB
QA Engineer
Shopify
Add a card
Contacted7
Naomi WintersRW
Software Engineer
Stripe
Elliot VanceRW
Backend Engineer
Stripe
Hana SatoKB
Product Designer
Datadog
Devon MarshRW
Data Analyst
Shopify
Ruth AdeyemiKB
SDE-1
Stripe
Callum ReidRW
DevOps Engineer
Datadog
Jonas WeberRW
Solutions Architect
Stripe
Add a card

The same board narrowed to a single client, which is what a client call runs off.

3

Move a candidate by dragging the card

Drag a card between columns and that candidate's stage changes. There is no separate save step. Add a card at the foot of a column drops someone straight into that stage, and Add candidate in the header does the same thing from the top of the page.

4

Open a card for the whole record

Clicking a card opens the drawer: contact details, the resume, interviews, activity and comments. Use @mentions in the comments to hand a candidate to a colleague, because that is the handover which survives someone leaving the team. The activity trail shows who touched the record and when, which is worth a glance before you call a candidate a colleague already spoke to yesterday.

5

Bulk move, and record the money while you are in there

The bulk move sheet advances several candidates at once and captures offer and placement details as it goes. Fill those in at the moment of the move. Placements reads from exactly this, and reconstructing offer details weeks afterwards is painful. A placement missing from Placements is almost always one that was moved without the details being entered.

6

Set up the stages the board uses

The stages are yours. Settings has a Pipeline tab, at /dashboard/{orgId}/settings?tab=pipeline, headed Pipeline stages with the line the columns on your ATS board, in order. A Your board strip previews the sequence. Under it, Where candidates start holds Pre-contact, which is locked. Your stages is the editable list, drag to reorder, with Add a stage at the foot. Outcomes at the bottom holds Started, which records the placement and is owners only, and Rejected, which takes the candidate off the board. Both of those are locked too. Reset to Expert Hire defaults sits underneath if you want the original set back.

  • Pre-contact

    What it is
    Where every candidate starts. Locked, so it cannot be renamed away or removed.

  • Contacted

    What it is
    Yours. Rename, reorder or delete it like any stage you added.

  • Screened

    What it is
    Yours, and marked Auto. Needs a role and a resume on the candidate.

  • Profile sent to client

    What it is
    Yours. Named after what has happened, which is the pattern to copy.

  • Offer sent

    What it is
    Yours. Needs the offer salary before a candidate can sit in it.

  • Started

    What it is
    An outcome. Records the placement, owners only, locked.

  • Rejected

    What it is
    An outcome. Takes the candidate off the board. Locked.
  • Keep it to five or six stages. Long boards stop being read.
  • Name stages after what has happened, not what you intend. Client submitted beats In progress.
  • Removing a stage is blocked while candidates are still in it. Move them first.
  • The Pipeline tab is read only unless you are an admin, the same as the Company tab.
7

Export the view when it has to leave the product

Export sits next to Add candidate and downloads the current view, which is the board as you have filtered it. Take the export at the moment it matters, for example the submission list you agreed on a client call, rather than trying to rebuild that state a fortnight later once cards have moved.

What you get

At the end of this guide.

One board holding every candidate in play, across every role and every client.

Stages named for your process, in your order, with Pre-contact, Started and Rejected fixed at the ends.

Offer and placement details captured at the moment of the move, which is what Placements reads.

A drawer per candidate with the resume, the interviews, the activity trail and comments your team can be @mentioned in.

Common mistakes

What goes wrong, and the fix.

Reviewing the pipeline role by role.

Run the review from the board. A stalled stage is a column that never empties, and that is invisible one role at a time.

Moving someone into an offer stage and filling the details in later.

Record offer and placement details during the move. That is what feeds Placements, and reconstructing it later is painful.

Building a twelve stage board.

Keep it to five or six. Long boards stop being read, and stages nobody reads stop being updated.

Calling a stage In progress.

Name stages after what has happened. Client submitted tells you where the candidate is. In progress tells you nothing.

Handing a candidate over by email.

@mention the colleague in the card comments. That handover stays on the record instead of in someone's inbox.

FAQ

Questions people ask on this one.

Still stuck? Talk to us and we will walk through your setup.

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