Candidate Pipeline - Recruitier

Overview

Once the AI matching engine finds and scores jobs for a candidate, those matches do not just sit in a list. Recruitier provides a Kanban-style pipeline that lets you track every match through your recruitment workflow — from first discovery to successful placement. The pipeline gives you a visual, drag-and-drop interface where each column represents a stage in your process, and each card represents a job match. At a glance, you can see where every opportunity stands for a given candidate. The pipeline also integrates with the outreach system, showing outreach progress directly on each card without requiring you to open the match detail view. Every status change is tracked through the CandidateJobActivity entity, creating a complete audit trail of actions taken on each match: status changes, notes added, calls logged, emails sent, and interviews scheduled.

Pipeline Layout

The pipeline is organized into 4 display columns that group related statuses together. This keeps the Kanban board clean and scannable while still supporting detailed status tracking through sub-statuses within each column.

Column	Color	Statuses Grouped	Description
New Matches	Gray	Pending	Freshly found matches from the AI. Unreviewed opportunities waiting for your attention.
Favorited	Yellow	Favorited	Marked as promising. Your shortlist of matches worth pursuing.
In Progress	Blue	Under Review, Contacted, Applied, Interviewing, Offer Stage	All actively worked opportunities. Cards within this column show a sub-status badge indicating the specific stage.
Placed	Green	Placed	Successfully placed. The goal of the entire process.

Not Proceeding (rejected) matches are hidden by default. A toggle at the top of the pipeline lets you show or hide rejected matches when needed.

The 4-column layout simplifies the visual experience while preserving the full 9-status workflow underneath. When you drag a card into the “In Progress” column, it defaults to “Under Review” status. You can then change the specific sub-status (Contacted, Applied, Interviewing, Offer Stage) using the dropdown menu on each card.

All Available Statuses

While the pipeline displays 4 columns, each match can be in one of these 9 statuses:

Status	Column	Protected?	Description
New Match (pending)	New Matches	No	Freshly matched, unreviewed
Favorited	Favorited	Yes	Marked as promising
Under Review	In Progress	Yes	Actively being evaluated
Contacted	In Progress	Yes	Outreach initiated to the company
Applied	In Progress	Yes	Formal application submitted
Interviewing	In Progress	Yes	Active interview process
Offer Stage	In Progress	Yes	Offer being discussed or negotiated
Placed	Placed	Yes	Successfully placed
Not Proceeding (rejected)	Hidden (toggle to show)	No	Rejected or no longer pursued

Accessing the Pipeline

The pipeline is accessed from the candidate detail page. When viewing a candidate’s matches, you can toggle between two views using the list/kanban buttons in the top right of the matches section:

List view (default) — A scrollable list showing detailed match information including scores, key matching points, potential concerns, and action buttons
Pipeline view — The 4-column Kanban board for visual workflow management with drag-and-drop

Both views operate on the same data. Changes made in one view (like moving a match to a different status) are reflected when you switch to the other view.

Using the Pipeline

Kanban View

The pipeline interface is a 4-column Kanban board — a horizontal layout where each column groups related statuses and matches are draggable cards within those columns. Each card displays key information at a glance:

Card Element	Information	Purpose
Job title	The position being matched (clickable)	Primary identification
Sub-status badge	Specific status within the In Progress column (e.g., “Under Review”, “Contacted”)	Track detailed progress
Company name	The hiring company (clickable to view company details)	Context for outreach decisions
Location	Where the job is based (normalized)	Geographic relevance check
Salary range	Compensation data (if available in the listing)	Budget alignment
Match score	AI-calculated relevance percentage as a badge	Quick quality indicator
Outreach status	Steps completed out of total, with next step action button	Track communication directly from the card
Job link	External link to original job posting	Quick access to the source listing

A summary line above the columns shows the total number of active matches and how many columns contain matches. A “drag to move” hint reminds you of the interaction model. This means you can scan the entire pipeline and immediately identify which opportunities need action, which are progressing well, and which have stalled — all without opening individual match detail views.

Moving Matches Between Stages

To move a match to a different stage:

Drag and Drop
Card Dropdown Menu

Click and hold a match card, then drag it from one column to another. Release it in the target column. The status is updated immediately upon drop with an optimistic UI update — the card moves instantly while the API call happens in the background.When you drop a card into the “In Progress” column, it defaults to “Under Review” status. You can then refine the sub-status using the card’s dropdown menu.This is the fastest way to move matches between columns and works well for quick triage sessions.

There are no restrictions on which statuses you can move to. You can:

Skip stages (New Matches directly to Contacted)
Move backward (Interviewing back to Under Review)
Jump to any status (New Matches directly to Placed, if appropriate)
Move to Not Proceeding from any stage via the dropdown menu

The pipeline is flexible by design. Not every match needs to go through every stage. Some matches may go directly from “New Matches” to “Contacted” if you already have a relationship with the hiring manager. Others may move from “Interviewing” back to “Under Review” if the interview process stalls or the candidate wants to reconsider.

Activity Tracking

Every status change and interaction is logged through the CandidateJobActivity entity. The activity types include:

Activity Type	When Created	What It Records
status_change	Match moves between stages	Old status, new status, timestamp
note	You add a note to the match	Note text, timestamp
call	You log a phone call	Call details, timestamp
email	You log an email	Email summary, timestamp
interview_scheduled	An interview is scheduled	Interview details, timestamp

This creates a complete timeline for each match, helping you (and your team, if applicable) understand the full history of an opportunity without relying on memory or external notes.

Protected Stages

Certain pipeline stages are protected, meaning matches in these stages are never removed during re-matching. This is a core design principle of the pipeline — your active work is always preserved.

Protected (Safe During Re-Match)

Under Review — Active evaluation in progress
Favorited — You actively chose to keep this match
Contacted — Outreach has been initiated
Interviewing — Interview process underway
Applied — Formal application submitted
Offer Stage — Offer being discussed
Placed — Successful placement

Not Protected (May Be Replaced)

New Matches (pending) — Unreviewed AI results
Not Proceeding (rejected) — Dismissed matches

These matches may be replaced when re-matching occurs (triggered by skill changes, location changes, or manual re-matching).

How Protection Works During Re-Matching

When the matching engine runs again for a candidate (after a skill change, location update, or manual trigger):

Identify Protected Matches

The system loads all existing matches for the candidate and identifies those in protected statuses (everything except “New Matches” and “Not Proceeding”).

Collect Exclude List

The job IDs of all protected matches are collected into an exclude_job_ids list. This list is passed to the matching pipeline.

Run Matching Pipeline

The full 5-stage matching pipeline runs with the updated candidate profile. The exclude list ensures that protected jobs are not re-scored or duplicated.

Add New Matches Only

New matches are added to the pipeline in the “New Matches” stage. They appear alongside existing protected matches. Old pending matches that are no longer relevant may be replaced.

The “Not Proceeding” (rejected) status is NOT protected. If you reject a match and then re-matching occurs, the rejected match may be replaced or the same job may reappear as a new match in a future matching run. If you want to permanently track a rejection, add a note to the match before moving it to “Not Proceeding” — the note and activity history will be preserved even if the match status is affected by re-matching.

The protection mechanism uses the match status in the database, not the UI position. Moving a match to any protected status immediately protects it from future re-matching, even before you close or save the page. The protection is instantaneous upon status change.

Filtering and Sorting

Showing Rejected Matches

By default, rejected (“Not Proceeding”) matches are hidden from the pipeline view. When rejected matches exist, a toggle appears at the top of the pipeline that lets you show or hide them. The toggle displays the count of rejected matches so you can see at a glance how many have been dismissed. When shown, rejected matches appear in a separate section below the main 4-column grid, displayed with reduced opacity to visually distinguish them from active matches.

Sorting Within Columns

Within each column, matches maintain their order. The highest-scoring matches appear at the top of each column, making it easy to identify the best opportunities first.

Pipeline and Outreach Integration

The pipeline integrates directly with Recruitier’s outreach functionality. When you initiate an outreach flow for a matched job, the outreach status is displayed directly on the pipeline card.

Outreach Status on Cards

Each pipeline card shows the outreach status if an outreach flow has been created:

Outreach Status	Indicator	What It Means
Not Started	Gray	An outreach flow exists but no steps have been completed yet
In Progress	Blue with progress	Some steps are completed, some pending. The next pending step is shown on the card.
Completed	Green	All outreach steps have been executed

The card also shows:

Flow name — Which outreach template or flow is being used
Steps progress — “3 of 5 steps completed” style indicator
Next pending step — What action needs to happen next

Outreach flows are created from the job detail page, not directly from the pipeline. The pipeline provides visibility into outreach status, while the actual outreach management (creating flows, completing steps, adding notes) happens in the outreach section. Think of the pipeline card as a dashboard widget for outreach progress.

From any pipeline card, you can click through to the full job detail page. This gives you access to:

Complete job description
Full match score breakdown (all four dimensions)
Key matching points and potential concerns
AI explanation of the match
Company information
Outreach flow management

Pipeline Workflow Examples

Example 1: Standard Placement Flow

New Matches -> Under Review -> Favorited -> Contacted -> Interviewing -> Offer Stage -> Placed

The most common flow: review new matches, favorite the best ones to discuss with the candidate, reach out to companies for the approved matches, guide the candidate through interviews, negotiate the offer, and close the placement. Each stage transition is logged as an activity.

Example 2: Quick Outreach (Existing Relationship)

New Matches -> Contacted -> Interviewing -> Placed

When you see a strong match (85%+) and already have a contact at the hiring company, skip the review and favorite stages. Go directly to outreach. This works best when you have established relationships with hiring managers who trust your candidate recommendations.

Example 3: Candidate Review Session

New Matches -> Favorited (batch) -> Contacted (after candidate approves)

Review all new matches, favorite the top 5-10, then present the shortlist to the candidate. After the candidate reviews and approves specific opportunities, move the approved ones to “Contacted” and start outreach. Move the ones the candidate declines to “Not Proceeding”.

Example 4: Process Stalls

Contacted -> Interviewing -> Under Review

An interview process stalls (the company goes silent, reorganization, hiring freeze). Move the match back to “Under Review” to signal that you need to reassess. Add a note with context about what happened. Follow up after a reasonable period.

Example 5: Candidate Declines After Review

New Matches -> Under Review -> Not Proceeding

After reviewing a match with the candidate (sharing the job description, match analysis, and company info), the candidate decides it is not the right fit. Move to “Not Proceeding” with a note explaining the reason. This feedback can inform future matching adjustments.

Example 6: Re-Matching Discovers Better Opportunities

Candidate skills updated -> Re-match triggered ->
  Protected: Favorited (Job A), Interviewing (Job B) -- unchanged
  Replaced: New Matches (old Job C, Job D) -> New Matches (new Job E, Job F, Job G)

When re-matching runs after a skill update, your active pipeline is untouched. Only the unreviewed “New Matches” are refreshed with opportunities that better match the updated skill set.

Best Practices

Review New Matches Promptly

Job opportunities have a shelf life. The sooner you review new matches and move promising ones to “Under Review” or “Favorited”, the better your chances of reaching the hiring manager before the role is filled. Aim to review new matches within 24 hours.

Use Favorited as Your Shortlist

The “Favorited” stage works well as a shortlist for candidate conversations. After reviewing matches, favorite the top 5-10 opportunities and present those to the candidate for discussion before starting outreach. This respects the candidate’s preferences and increases buy-in.

Keep the Pipeline Current

Move matches to “Not Proceeding” when they are no longer relevant. A clean pipeline with accurate statuses helps you focus on active opportunities and gives you reliable statistics. Stale matches in wrong stages create noise and false confidence.

Track Outreach from the Pipeline

Use the pipeline as your daily dashboard. The outreach status on each card tells you who needs follow-up, which interviews are pending, and where offers are in progress. A 5-minute morning scan of the Kanban board keeps you on top of every opportunity.

Pipeline Counts and Statistics

The pipeline provides aggregate statistics visible in both list and pipeline views: Stats bar (shown above the match list): Displays compact counts for:

Total — All matches across all statuses
Favorited — Matches marked as promising (yellow highlight)
Applied — Matches with formal applications submitted (green highlight)
Rejected — Matches that are no longer being pursued (red highlight)

Pipeline summary (shown above the Kanban columns): Shows the total number of active matches and how many columns contain matches. These numbers give you a quick health check on your recruitment pipeline:

Signal	What It Means	Action
”New Matches” growing, “Contacted” stagnant	Not reviewing fast enough or not finding suitable matches	Spend time triaging or adjust candidate preferences
Many “Contacted”, few “Interviewing”	Outreach is not converting to interviews	Review outreach approach, check match quality
Many “Interviewing”, few “Offer Stage”	Candidates are not progressing through interviews	Coach candidates, review match accuracy
Balanced pipeline with flow through stages	Healthy recruitment process	Continue current approach

Review your pipeline at least once per day. A 5-minute scan of the Kanban board keeps you on top of every opportunity and ensures nothing falls through the cracks. Pay special attention to the “Interviewing” and “Offer Stage” columns, where timely follow-up is critical for closing placements.

Advanced

The CandidateJobMatch Entity

Each match in the pipeline is stored as a CandidateJobMatch record in the database. The key fields include:

Field	Type	Purpose
`candidate_id`	UUID (FK)	Links to the candidate profile
`job_id`	UUID (FK)	Links to the matched job listing
`status`	Enum	Current pipeline stage (pending, favorited, rejected, applied, etc.)
`score`	Float	Final composite match score (0-1)
`role_fit`	Float	Role Fit dimension score
`skills_fit`	Float	Skills Fit dimension score
`experience_fit`	Float	Experience Fit dimension score
`secondary_fit`	Float	Secondary Fit dimension score
`matching_skills`	JSONB	List of skills the candidate has that the job needs
`missing_skills`	JSONB	List of skills the job needs that the candidate lacks
`explanation`	Text	AI-generated natural language explanation
`recommendation`	String	”apply”, “consider”, or “skip”
`rank`	Integer	Position in the ranked list (1 = best match)

The CandidateJobActivity Entity

Every interaction with a match is logged as a CandidateJobActivity record:

Field	Type	Purpose
`match_id`	UUID (FK)	Links to the CandidateJobMatch
`activity_type`	Enum	Type: status_change, note, call, email, interview_scheduled
`details`	JSONB	Activity-specific data (old/new status, note text, etc.)
`created_at`	Timestamp	When the activity occurred
`user_id`	UUID (FK)	Who performed the action

This activity trail provides a complete audit log for every match in your pipeline, enabling you to review the history of any opportunity at any time.

How Protected Statuses Interact with the Database

The protection mechanism is implemented at the data layer during re-matching:

Query protected matches: SELECT job_id FROM candidate_job_matches WHERE candidate_id = ? AND status NOT IN ('pending', 'rejected')
Pass to matching pipeline: The exclude_job_ids set prevents the vector search from even retrieving these jobs
Double-check on creation: Even if a protected job somehow makes it through filtering, the match creation stage checks for existing matches and skips duplicates

This multi-layer protection ensures that under no circumstances can a re-matching run delete or modify a protected match.

Pipeline Status Internal Mapping

The pipeline stages map to internal status values:

Pipeline Stage	Internal Status	Protected
New Matches	`pending`	No
Under Review	`reviewing`	Yes
Favorited	`favorited`	Yes
Contacted	`contacted`	Yes
Interviewing	`interviewing`	Yes
Applied	`applied`	Yes
Offer Stage	`offer_pending`	Yes
Placed	`placed`	Yes
Not Proceeding	`rejected`	No

Connection to Company Pipeline

When you engage with a matched job (move it out of “New Matches”), the associated company is automatically linked to your client pipeline if it is not already there. This means:

Viewing a match detail page can trigger company addition
Starting outreach creates the company association
The company’s industry, size, and LinkedIn data from the global_company table become available in your client view
Staffing and recruiting agencies are excluded from match results entirely (via EXCLUDED_CLIENT_INDUSTRIES), so they never appear in your pipeline

Performance Considerations

The pipeline view is optimized for performance even with large numbers of matches:

Pagination: The Kanban view loads matches in batches per column to prevent slow rendering
Eager loading: Match cards are loaded with company and outreach data pre-fetched to avoid N+1 queries
Status counts: Aggregate counts per stage are computed efficiently with a single query
Real-time updates: SSE events update individual cards without requiring a full page reload

Power-User Tips

Use the pipeline for daily standup preparation. Before your daily review, scan the pipeline from right to left (Placed -> Offer Stage -> Interviewing -> Contacted). This prioritizes your most advanced opportunities first, ensuring you follow up on the ones closest to closing before spending time on new matches.

Batch your triage sessions. Instead of reviewing new matches one by one throughout the day, set aside a dedicated 15-30 minute block to process all new matches at once. This is more efficient and helps you compare matches against each other, leading to better shortlisting decisions.

Add notes when moving to “Not Proceeding”. While the rejected status is not protected during re-matching, notes on the match ARE preserved. Adding a brief reason (“Candidate declined — salary too low”, “Company filled the role”, “Skills mismatch on Kubernetes”) creates valuable context that helps you avoid repeating the same outreach if the match reappears.

Monitor your conversion rates. Track how many matches move from “New Matches” to “Placed” over time. A healthy conversion funnel narrows gradually at each stage. If you see a sharp drop at a specific stage (e.g., many “Contacted” but few “Interviewing”), that stage needs attention — perhaps the outreach messaging needs adjustment or the match quality needs review.

Understanding Scores — Interpret match scores to prioritize your pipeline
How Matching Works — Learn what drives the matches in your pipeline
Managing Profiles — Keep candidate data current for better matches
Skills & Expertise — Accurate skills lead to more relevant pipeline matches

Welcome

Getting Started

Candidates

Job Search

Jobs

Client Discovery

Client Management

Outreach

Organization

Team & Agency

Settings

Billing

​Overview

​Pipeline Layout

​All Available Statuses

​Accessing the Pipeline

​Using the Pipeline

​Kanban View

​Moving Matches Between Stages

​Activity Tracking

​Protected Stages

Protected (Safe During Re-Match)

Not Protected (May Be Replaced)

​How Protection Works During Re-Matching

​Filtering and Sorting

​Showing Rejected Matches

​Sorting Within Columns

​Pipeline and Outreach Integration

​Outreach Status on Cards

​Pipeline to Job Navigation

​Pipeline Workflow Examples

​Example 1: Standard Placement Flow

​Example 2: Quick Outreach (Existing Relationship)

​Example 3: Candidate Review Session

​Example 4: Process Stalls

​Example 5: Candidate Declines After Review

​Example 6: Re-Matching Discovers Better Opportunities

​Best Practices

Review New Matches Promptly

Use Favorited as Your Shortlist

Keep the Pipeline Current

Track Outreach from the Pipeline

​Pipeline Counts and Statistics

​Advanced

​The CandidateJobMatch Entity

​The CandidateJobActivity Entity

​How Protected Statuses Interact with the Database

​Pipeline Status Internal Mapping

​Connection to Company Pipeline

​Performance Considerations

​Power-User Tips

​Related

Overview

Pipeline Layout

All Available Statuses

Accessing the Pipeline

Using the Pipeline

Kanban View

Moving Matches Between Stages

Activity Tracking

Protected Stages

How Protection Works During Re-Matching

Filtering and Sorting

Showing Rejected Matches

Sorting Within Columns

Pipeline and Outreach Integration

Outreach Status on Cards

Pipeline to Job Navigation

Pipeline Workflow Examples

Example 1: Standard Placement Flow

Example 2: Quick Outreach (Existing Relationship)

Example 3: Candidate Review Session

Example 4: Process Stalls

Example 5: Candidate Declines After Review

Example 6: Re-Matching Discovers Better Opportunities

Best Practices

Pipeline Counts and Statistics

Advanced

The CandidateJobMatch Entity

The CandidateJobActivity Entity

How Protected Statuses Interact with the Database

Pipeline Status Internal Mapping

Connection to Company Pipeline

Performance Considerations

Power-User Tips

Related