Candidate Pipeline

The candidate pipeline tracks every prospective hire from first contact through a hiring decision, capturing production history, licenses, and stage.

Adding a candidate

To add a new candidate to the pipeline:

1. Go to Recruiting in the sidebar.
2. Click Add Candidate.
3. Fill in the candidate form (described below).
4. Click Save.

You will be redirected to the candidate’s detail page after saving.

Candidate fields

Basic information

Field	Required	Description
First Name	Yes	The candidate’s first name
Last Name	Yes	The candidate’s last name
Email	No	Email address. Must be a valid email if provided.
Phone	No	Phone number
Current Employer	No	The company the candidate currently works at
NMLS	No	The candidate’s NMLS number for license verification

Recruiting information

Field	Required	Description
Stage	Yes	The candidate’s current pipeline stage. Defaults to Lead.
Desired Role	No	The role the candidate is being considered for
Target Branch	No	The branch the candidate would be assigned to if hired
Source	No	How the candidate was identified (Referral, Job Board, LinkedIn, etc.)
Source Detail	No	Free-text field for additional source context (e.g., “Referred by Jane Smith”)

Available roles

The following roles can be assigned as a candidate’s desired role:

Role	Description
Loan Officer	Originates mortgage loans
Loan Officer Assistant	Supports Loan Officers with file management and borrower communication
Processor	Manages loan files from setup through closing
Contractor	Independent contractor providing services to the company
Branch Manager	Manages a branch office and its team

Production history

Field	Required	Description
Average Monthly Volume	No	The candidate’s self-reported or verified average monthly loan volume in dollars
Average Monthly Units	No	The candidate’s average number of loans closed per month

Production history is particularly important for Loan Officer candidates. This data helps you assess the candidate’s potential contribution and is used as input for the compensation estimator.

Pipeline stages

Every candidate moves through a series of stages that represent their position in the hiring process.

Stage definitions

Stage	Description	Typical actions
Lead	Initial identification. The candidate is in your system but has not been actively engaged.	Record basic info, identify source, begin outreach
Screening	Active evaluation of qualifications.	Review resume, verify NMLS and licenses, conduct phone screen
Interview	The candidate is interviewing with your team.	Schedule interviews, gather feedback, assess cultural fit
Offer	An offer has been extended to the candidate.	Use the compensation estimator, prepare and send the offer
Accepted	The candidate has accepted the offer and is awaiting onboarding.	Begin pre-boarding tasks, schedule start date
Hired	The candidate has been converted to an employee record. Set automatically during conversion.	Complete onboarding checklist
Declined	The candidate or company decided not to proceed.	Record reason in notes
Withdrawn	The candidate withdrew from the process.	Record reason in notes

Moving candidates through stages

To change a candidate’s stage:

1. Open the candidate’s detail page.
2. Use the Stage dropdown to select the new stage.
3. The stage change is saved immediately.

Stage changes are also reflected in the candidate list view, where stage badges are color-coded for quick visual identification:

Stage	Badge color
Lead	Gray
Screening	Blue
Interview	Yellow
Offer	Default
Accepted	Green
Hired	Green
Declined	Red
Withdrawn	Muted

Terminal stages

Hired, Declined, and Withdrawn are terminal stages. While the system does not strictly prevent moving a candidate out of a terminal stage, these stages represent the end of the pipeline under normal circumstances:

• Hired is set automatically when you convert a candidate to an employee.
• Declined should be used when either party decides not to move forward.
• Withdrawn should be used when the candidate removes themselves from consideration.

State licenses

For roles that require state licensing (particularly Loan Officers), you can track the candidate’s state-by-state licenses.

Adding licenses

Licenses are managed in the candidate form:

1. Open the candidate form (either when creating a new candidate or editing an existing one).
2. In the State Licenses section, add entries for each state.
3. For each license, provide:

Field	Description
State	The US state the license is issued in
License Number	The license number (optional)
Expiration Date	When the license expires (optional)

Licenses are important for two reasons:

• They help you verify the candidate’s qualifications during screening.
• When the candidate is converted to an employee, their state licenses are automatically copied to the employee record.

Adding notes

Notes provide a running record of interactions, observations, and decisions about a candidate.

Creating a note

1. Navigate to the candidate’s detail page.
2. Scroll to the Notes section.
3. Enter your note text.
4. Click Add Note.

Notes are timestamped and attributed to the employee who created them. They are displayed in reverse chronological order (newest first).

What to record in notes

Common uses for candidate notes include:

• Phone screen summaries and impressions
• Interview feedback from different team members
• Reference check results
• Compensation discussion details
• Reasons for stage changes (especially for Declined or Withdrawn)
• Follow-up reminders and next steps

Automatic notes

The system automatically creates a note when a candidate is converted to an employee, recording the conversion event with a timestamp.

Stage counts

The recruiting dashboard displays counts of candidates in each active pipeline stage, giving managers a quick overview of pipeline health. These counts exclude archived candidates and are updated in real time as candidates move through stages.