How should I use the starred candidates feature?

From role to role you’ll encounter candidates who pique your interest but don’t quite make the cut: perhaps they were pipped to the post by another equally (or more) qualified candidate; or maybe you deemed them not quite right/ready for the current role you’re advertising. Given the effort and time it takes to attract and identify great candidates like these, it would be a huge shame to simply reject and move on.  

Applied’s new starred candidates feature is designed to help you save and re-engage these outstanding runners-up, so that when the right role does come along, you’ve got a rich source of potential hires waiting to be tapped. 

Who should I star?

Has a candidate excited or impressed you? Can you see them working for your organisation one day? Might you have a suitable role on the horizon? Then save them as a starred candidates so you can easily find and re-engage them in the future. 

Note: candidates will not receive any notification of this fact.

Why not just star everyone who applied automatically?

If you simply star every interested candidate who applies to your roles, you might as well not star anyone at all: you’ll need to sift through all the noise to find the candidates you loved - wasting valuable time and resources. We recommend you ask yourself: ‘can I see this person working for our organisation in the future?’

How do I save a candidate?

To save a candidate as a starred candidate, navigate to the role they applied for and open the candidate list. On the left hand side of the table, you will see each candidate row contains a small star icon with a blue outline. Click on the star to open a dialogue box, where you are able to add a note (very useful for future reference) and confirm that you wish to save the candidate. 

If the action was successful, the star will turn blue. Click on it a second time to unsave the candidate or update your note. 

What should I include in the candidate note?

This is an ideal place to communicate with your future self (or team members). What might you want to know about this candidate when you look them up in 6 months time?

• Are they doing a relevant qualification?
• Might they need to develop in a particular area before you can consider them again?
• Could they be right for a different role?
• Were they simply squeezed out by a similarly brilliant candidate?

Record it here. 

Why can’t I star this candidate?

When a candidate submits an application, they are asked whether they consent to being contacted about future roles. If a candidate does not consent, you will be unable to save them as a starred candidate. The star that appears in their row on the ‘candidates’ list will be greyed out. 

Where do I find all starred candidates?

Provided you’ve starred candidates, there are two ways to find them when you need them:

1. When you first launch a role and have fewer than 20 submitted applications, navigate to the ‘Sourcing’ page, where we’ll prompt you to view and consider candidates you’ve previously saved.

   
   
   

2. Once you have more than 20 submitted applications, you can scroll down the ‘Sourcing’ page to the ‘invite candidates from talent pool’ section and select ‘view and invite'.
   

How do I un-star a candidate?

To remove a candidate's star status, you can do one of two things:

1. If you are on the candidate management list, find the candidate you wish to remove, select the blue star and then select ‘Remove’ when the dialogue box appears. This will remove the star from this application. The candidate may still appear in the starred candidates pool if another of their applications has also been starred.
   
   
   
   
2. If you wish to remove the candidate entirely from the starred candidates pool, either because they have asked you to or because you no longer think they are a fit for your organisation, then you can do so by navigating to the starred candidates list, finding the candidate, opening the profile drawer and selecting ‘Remove from pool’.
   
   

How do I invite starred candidates to apply for a role?

Once you have launched a role, you might want to invite one or more starred candidates to apply. To do so, simply navigate to the starred candidates list (or follow the prompt if you have fewer than 20 applications), identify the candidates and do one of the following:

1. If you are inviting a single candidate, open their profile drawer and select ‘invite to apply’. You’ll be shown an email drawer, where you can choose an appropriate template or compose a personalized email. When you’re ready, hit ‘invite to apply’ to send the invitation.
   
   
2. If you want to invite multiple candidates, select those you wish to invite by checking the boxes on the left hand side of the list. You can send a bulk invitation by clicking on ‘invite to apply’ when the blue action ribbon appears at the bottom of the page. You can choose an appropriate template to compose a new email. When you’re ready, hit ‘invite to apply’ to send the invitation.
   
   

Before you send the invitation, you have the option to direct the selected candidates down the quick-apply route, which means they can submit without completing written answers to work sample questions. To learn more about quick-apply, click here.