Recording outcomes — placed, rejected, withdrawn
Close out applications with a reason, keep the stage history, and reopen when circumstances change.
When a candidate's journey on a job ends, record an outcome instead of dragging their card away. The outcome stamps how it ended while preserving the stage they reached — so "rejected at Interview" stays distinguishable from "rejected at Screen" in your reporting forever.
The three outcomes
| Outcome | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Placed | They got the job. Marking someone placed creates the placement record; open it to add fees and dates while they're fresh. |
| Rejected | The client or you ended it. |
| Withdrawn | The candidate pulled out. |
How to record one
- On the board — start dragging a card and drop it on the Reject… or Withdraw… zone that appears, or on the Placed column. A card's ⋯ menu also has Reject… and Withdraw….
- In the application drawer — open the application and use Mark as placed…, or Reject / Withdraw… in the ⋯ menu.
The reason dialog
Rejections and withdrawals always capture a reason. The Reject [candidate] dialog has:
- Reason — Client rejection, Candidate declined / withdrew, Internal rejection, or Role closed. Choosing Candidate declined / withdrew turns the dialog into a withdrawal.
- From [stage] — the stage the candidate is on is pre-selected; correct it if the exit really happened earlier.
- A note for reporting — optional context ("base too low, wants 95k+").
When a rejection email template fits the client, the dialog also shows the template and offers Reject and draft: the candidate is rejected first, then the email opens in the composer for you to check and send. Plain Reject skips the email. Withdrawals don't offer an email.
Marking someone placed works the same way: the Place [candidate] dialog confirms the Consultants and, when an offer template fits, offers Mark placed and draft next to Mark as placed. Nothing is sent until you press Send in the composer.
If your workspace has turned on When a job closes, reject its active candidates, closing a job rejects everyone still active on it with the reason Role closed — see Job statuses & job health.
Closed applications show a banner — e.g. "Rejected at Interview" — and the reason stays editable if you learn more later.
Reopening
Circumstances change: the client reopens the role, the candidate comes back. Use Reopen in pipeline in the application drawer — the outcome is cleared and the card resumes at the stage it had reached. On the board, dragging a card out of Placed onto a stage reopens it at that stage.
If the application was placed, reopening it keeps the existing placement record. Open the placement separately to review its status, fees and rebate if the deal has changed. Returning a candidate to the pipeline does not undo the commercial record.
Reasons feed your win/loss reporting. "Client rejection" vs "candidate withdrew" tells you whether to fix qualification or candidate experience — but only if you record it every time.