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Every time you run a job search in Recruitier, the search criteria and results are saved. Over time, you accumulate dozens or even hundreds of saved searches. Without organization, this list becomes unwieldy — which search was for which client? Which searches are related to the same engagement? Linking searches to projects solves this by creating a clear association between your search activity and the broader recruitment effort it supports. When a search is linked to a project, it appears in the project’s detail view, and the jobs and outreach from that search contribute to the project’s aggregate statistics. This is what transforms a project from an empty container into a rich dashboard of your engagement progress.

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How Linking Works

The relationship between projects and searches is straightforward:
  • A project can have many linked searches (no limit).
  • A search can belong to at most one project at a time.
  • A search can also be unlinked (not associated with any project).
When you link a search to a project, you are saying “this search activity is part of this client engagement or campaign.” The link is purely organizational — it does not change the search itself, its criteria, or its results.
Linking a search to a project does not copy or move any data. The search and its jobs remain exactly as they are. The link creates a reference that allows the project to include the search in its views and analytics. Think of it as placing a folder shortcut rather than moving the folder.

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Linking a Search to a Project

Searches are linked to projects from the search detail page using the project assignment component.
1

Open the Search

Navigate to your saved searches and click on the search you want to link. This opens the search detail page.
2

Find the Project Assignment

On the search detail page, look for the “Project” section. If the search is not yet assigned, it will show “Not assigned.” If it is already assigned, you will see the project name as a badge.
3

Click the Edit Icon

Click the small edit icon next to the project assignment. This opens an inline editor with a dropdown of all your projects.
4

Select a Project

Choose a project from the dropdown list. The list shows all your projects by name. To remove a project assignment, select “No project” from the top of the list.
5

Confirm the Link

Click the checkmark button to save the assignment. The search is now linked to the selected project and will appear in that project’s detail view. The project’s aggregate statistics immediately update to include this search’s data. You can click the X button to cancel without saving.
The most efficient workflow is to link searches to projects at the time you create them. When you know you are running a search for a specific client, assign it to the appropriate project from the start. This prevents searches from accumulating in an unorganized state and ensures project analytics are accurate from day one.
If you linked a search to the wrong project, or if the search is no longer relevant to the project:
  1. Open the search detail page and click the edit icon next to the project assignment.
  2. Select “No project” from the top of the dropdown.
  3. Click the checkmark to save.
The search is now unlinked and will no longer appear in any project’s views. The search itself and its jobs are completely unaffected — only the organizational grouping changes.
You can re-link a search to a different project at any time. Simply update the project assignment to the new project. Because a search can only belong to one project at a time, assigning it to a new project automatically removes it from the previous one. There is no need to unlink first.

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Viewing All Searches Within a Project

The project detail page includes a section showing all linked searches. For each search, you can see:
InformationDescription
Search name/titleThe title of the search (typically the job title and location you searched for)
Number of jobsHow many jobs have been saved from this search’s results
Creation dateWhen the search was originally run
Search parametersThe skills, filters, and preferences used in the search
This consolidated view helps you understand the scope of your research for a given project. If a project has three linked searches — “Python Developer Amsterdam,” “Backend Engineer Netherlands,” and “Senior Developer Randstad” — you can see that you have explored the role from multiple angles and geographic scopes.

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Search Counts Per Project

In the project list view, each project displays the number of linked searches as a count badge. This gives you a quick sense of how much search activity has been invested in each project.
ProjectLinked SearchesInterpretation
Acme Corp - Backend5 searchesSignificant research effort invested, multiple angles explored
TechStart - Series A2 searchesEarly stage or very focused engagement
FinServ - Data Team0 searchesProject created but no searches run yet — needs attention
A project with zero searches may indicate that you created the project but have not started the research phase. A project with many searches suggests deep investment and multiple approaches.

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Why Linking Helps Track Progress

Linking searches to projects creates a chain of traceability: 
Project
  -> Search 1
    -> Saved Job A (with outreach flow)
    -> Saved Job B (with outreach flow)
  -> Search 2
    -> Saved Job C
    -> Saved Job D (with outreach flow)
This chain allows Recruitier to calculate aggregate statistics at the project level:
  • Total jobs across all linked searches
  • Total completed outreach steps across all jobs in the project
  • Pending outreach steps waiting to be executed
  • Outreach by channel — how many email, LinkedIn, and phone touches across the project
  • Activity trends — daily outreach activity for the past 30 days, showing momentum
  • Completion rates — what percentage of outreach steps have been completed vs scheduled
Without linking, this data would be scattered across individual searches and jobs with no way to aggregate it. The project becomes the lens that brings everything into focus.
The most insightful metric at the project level is the outreach completion rate — how many of your saved jobs have had outreach executed versus how many are sitting idle. If you have 30 saved jobs for a project but only completed outreach on 5, you either need to ramp up activity or re-evaluate whether all 30 jobs are worth pursuing. A healthy project shows consistent outreach activity across its job pipeline.

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Agency-Wide Project Visibility for Admins

For agency administrators, projects provide team-level visibility. Admins can:
  • See all projects across the agency, not just their own
  • View which team member owns each project
  • Check project statuses and linked search counts for every team member
  • Review outreach statistics to understand team productivity and identify who may need support
This is particularly valuable for managing team workloads. If one recruiter has 10 Active projects with minimal outreach while another has 3 Active projects with heavy outreach, the admin can identify the imbalance and rebalance assignments or provide coaching.
Standard (non-admin) users see only their own projects. The agency-wide view is an administrative feature designed for team management and is available through the Team Projects page.

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Multiple Searches Per Project

It is common and encouraged for a single project to have multiple linked searches. This happens naturally as you explore different angles on the same hiring need:
  • Search 1: “Python Developer Amsterdam” — focused on the exact role title and location
  • Search 2: “Backend Engineer Netherlands” — broadening the search geographically
  • Search 3: “FastAPI Developer” — targeting a specific technology stack
  • Search 4: “Senior Software Engineer” — widening the seniority and title range
All four searches serve the same project goal (filling a backend developer position for the client), and linking them all to the same project keeps the full research effort organized and measurable. The project’s job count and outreach statistics aggregate across all four searches.

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What Happens When You Delete a Project

When you delete a project:
  1. All searches linked to that project are unlinked (their project_id is set to null).
  2. The searches themselves, their jobs, and all outreach data remain completely intact.
  3. The project record and its aggregate analytics are removed from your project list.
No data is lost. Searches simply return to an unlinked state and can be linked to a new project if needed.
Deleting a project removes the organizational container and all aggregate analytics for that project. The outreach statistics, daily activity charts, and channel breakdowns for that project are no longer available. If you need to preserve the project history, consider marking it as “Completed” or “Cancelled” instead of deleting it.

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Best Practices

  • Link searches immediately. When you run a search for a client, assign it to the project right away. It takes 5 seconds and saves minutes of organization later. It also means your project analytics are complete from the start.
  • One project per engagement. Do not combine multiple client engagements into a single project. Separate projects give you clean analytics per client and per scope of work.
  • Review unlinked searches regularly. If you notice searches without project assignments, take a moment to link them. Unlinked searches do not contribute to any project’s analytics, which means your project views may be understating your actual effort.
  • Use descriptive search titles. When searches are viewed within a project context, clear titles help you understand the purpose of each search without opening it. “Backend Python Amsterdam 2026” is better than “Search 47.”
  • Check project analytics weekly. The aggregate view of searches, jobs, and outreach within a project is one of the most valuable tools for managing your recruitment effort. A 5-minute review per active project keeps you informed and helps you spot issues early.

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Advanced

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How Linking Works Under the Hood

The project-search relationship is implemented through a foreign key (project_id) on the search entity. When you link a search to a project, the search’s project_id field is updated to reference the project’s ID. When you unlink a search, this field is set to null. Key technical details:
  • The relationship is a simple FK reference, not a junction table. This means a search can belong to at most one project.
  • Setting a search’s project_id to a new project automatically removes it from the previous project (FK update, not multi-value).
  • The project entity does not store a list of search IDs. Instead, project views query for all searches where project_id matches the project’s ID.

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Project Deletion and Unlinking

When a project is deleted, the system does not cascade-delete linked searches. Instead, it performs an update that sets project_id = NULL on all searches that referenced the deleted project. This is a deliberate “soft unlink” approach that preserves all search data while removing the organizational container. The sequence is:
  1. Set project_id = NULL on all searches where project_id = deleted_project_id
  2. Delete the project record
This ensures searches are never accidentally deleted when a project is removed.

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Aggregate Statistics Calculation

Project-level statistics are calculated dynamically by traversing the project -> searches -> jobs -> outreach hierarchy. When you view a project detail page:
  1. The system finds all searches where project_id matches the project
  2. For each search, it retrieves all saved jobs
  3. For each job, it retrieves outreach flow steps and their completion status
  4. The data is aggregated into totals, channel breakdowns, and daily counts
The outreach statistics specifically include:
  • Total outreach steps (completed + pending)
  • Completed outreach steps (with breakdown by channel: email, LinkedIn, phone)
  • Pending steps (scheduled but not yet executed)
  • Daily activity over a 30-day rolling window, with per-day counts by channel
  • Completion rate (completed / total)

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Batch Loading for Project Jobs

When the project jobs view loads all jobs across all project searches, it uses batch loading for both job data and tags. The get_tags_for_multiple_jobs() function retrieves tags for all visible jobs in a single query, regardless of which search they belong to. This keeps the project jobs view responsive even for projects with hundreds of jobs across many searches.

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Connection to Team Features

In an agency context, the Team Projects view (available to admins) queries all projects across all users in the agency. For each project, it displays the owner’s name and email alongside the project details. This cross-user query is what enables team-level visibility. The team view is read-only — admins can see all projects but cannot edit or delete another member’s projects. This preserves recruiter autonomy while giving admins the oversight they need.

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Edge Cases and Business Rules

  • Search with project assignment deleted: If a search’s linked project is deleted, the search’s project_id becomes null. The search is not deleted or affected in any other way.
  • Linking to a non-Active project: You can link a search to a project in any status (Active, On Hold, Completed, Cancelled). There are no restrictions based on project status.
  • Empty projects: A project with zero linked searches is valid. It might represent a planned engagement that has not started yet.
  • Project with all searches unlinked: If you unlink all searches from a project, the project remains with zero searches. It is not automatically deleted.

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Power-User Tips

  • Use linking as a triage step. When reviewing new searches, immediately link each one to the appropriate project. This keeps your unlinked search list at zero, which means every search is accounted for.
  • Check the project detail before client meetings. The aggregate view (total jobs, outreach completed, channel breakdown) gives you a data-driven summary to present to clients. You can say “We’ve contacted 23 companies through email and LinkedIn, and 8 are in active discussion.”
  • Use search titles strategically. Within a project context, search titles are the primary way to distinguish different research angles. Title them by what makes each search unique: the technology, the location, the seniority level, or the job title variation.
  • Monitor search-to-job conversion. If a project has many searches but the total job count is low, your search criteria may be too narrow or the market may be thin. Adjust your approach accordingly.

Creating Projects

Set up new projects for your client engagements.

Project Statuses

Track project progress with status indicators.

Team Projects

View all projects across your agency team.