# Reviewing inbound applicants

> Work the For Review queue — read AI match scores, preview CVs, and accept or reject applicants.

_Collection: Job Advertising & Portal (job-portal) — Kepler Help Center. Canonical: https://keplercrm.com/support/articles/review-inbound-applicants/_

Applicants always create an inbound record, but whether they wait for review depends on the workspace or posting intake policy. In review mode they wait in **For Review** in the job's **Inbound** tab — a pre-pipeline holding area — until a recruiter accepts or rejects them. Automatic intake can add clean applicants directly to the pipeline while holding duplicates or processing failures for review. (The queue also appears as an **Inbound** column at the start of the job's pipeline board.)

## The Inbound tab

Open a job and select **Inbound**. Applicants are grouped by status pills, with counts: **For Review** (default), **Accepted**, **Rejected** and **Screened out**.

Each row shows:

  - **Name and avatar**, with email, phone and location.

  - **Match badge** — **Strong Match**, **Moderate Match** or **Weak Match**, with a percentage. Open **"Why this score"** for the AI's explanation.

  - **Work experience** — expandable, parsed from the CV.

  - **CV preview** — open the resume via a secure link.

  - **Source icon** — "Applied via job portal" or "Applied via LinkedIn" — and the application date.

## Accepting an applicant

Click **Accept** and confirm the pipeline stage (it defaults to your workspace's inbound default stage, or the posting's configured stage). Kepler then:

  - Finds an existing candidate with the same email — or creates a new candidate record.

  - Attaches the CV to the candidate's Documents as their resume.

  - Creates the application and places it at the chosen pipeline stage.

  - Logs the "applied via portal/LinkedIn" activity and indexes the candidate for search and matching.

## Rejecting

Click **Reject** to move an applicant to the Rejected list. No candidate record is created and nothing enters your pipeline. Rejected applicants stay visible for audit.

## Screened out

Open **Screened out** to inspect applicants Kepler classified as junk. You can still accept a screened-out applicant. If résumé processing failed, use **Retry processing** or review the applicant manually.

## Bulk review

Select several **For Review** applicants, then choose **Accept selected** or **Reject selected** — useful after a posting attracts a wave of weak matches. Ambiguous duplicates remain in review for an individual link-or-create decision.

## Notifications

The job owner is notified when a new applicant arrives (processed, parsed and scored). Tune this in your notification preferences.

> **TIP:** Review inbound at least daily while a posting is live — applicant response rates drop sharply after 48 hours, and the Strong Match badge tells you exactly who to call first.