Sometimes you come across candidates that are great – just not a perfect match for the specific job they've applied for. In this case, it could be a good idea to save the candidate for when another position comes up. In this article, we explain how to handle this.
There are a few different ways to keep candidates on file:
You can use our talent pool feature.
You can create a new private job and move candidates there. When a position opens up that they might be a good fit for, you can move them to this new job post.
You could use tags.
How to place a candidate in your talent pool
Make sure you have the 'All candidates' permission.
Via the sidebar on the left, click on a job opening under 'Your jobs' or head to the 'Jobs' page to navigate to the specific job.
Select 'Candidates' in the menu bar at the top.
Click on a candidate to open up their profile.
Click on the ellipsis icon (three dots) in the top right corner, then click 'Copy to talent pool'. The original profile remains in the job, and the candidate is now duplicated to your Talent pool!
Note that all comments, reviews and apply form questions are not moved along.
How to find the talent pool
To locate your talent pool, follow these steps:
Via the sidebar on the left, click on 'Candidates'.
Select 'Talent pool' in the menu bar at the top. That's it! All candidates you have moved to the talent pool are placed here.
Keeping candidates on file by using tags
Instead of duplicating the candidate to the talent pool, you can use tags (read more about using tags in this Help Center article) to help you find candidates later. For example, you can give a candidate the tag 'Talent' or 'Maybe later'. You can then filter on these tags if you want to see who you have in this pool for future positions:
Via the sidebar on the left, click 'Candidates'.
You can filter on a specific tag by clicking on Filters at the top of the page. You now have a list of all the candidates with that tag.
You can narrow down your search by adding different filters like dates, more tags, job posts or amount of stars.
As soon as a position becomes available that might be interesting for some candidates, you can copy their profile to that job.
Extending the data retention period
Due to privacy regulations, you are not allowed to store candidate data indefinitely. If you want to keep candidates on file, it's wise to check when their data retention period ends. You can do so at the bottom of each individual candidate profile.
If needed, you can request to keep a candidate's data longer. This way you'll prevent candidate data from being automatically deleted (if you've chosen to automatically delete candidate data after a certain period in the Privacy settings of your account).