Merging duplicate candidate records

How Recruit finds candidates who have more than one record, and how to merge them into one.

When the same person ends up with two candidate records, for example because they applied twice with slightly different details, Recruit flags both records as possible duplicates. You choose which record to keep and merge the other into it. The merge deletes the other record, and it cannot be undone.

How Recruit spots duplicates

Recruit checks for duplicates automatically whenever a candidate record is created, whether by adding them manually, importing a CV, a careers page application, a referral or an agency submission. The check runs in the background, so a new duplicate may not show a badge straight away.

Two records are treated as a match when they share either of these:

• The same first name and last name. Capital letters are ignored, so "ANNA Smith" matches "Anna Smith".
• The same phone number. Only the digits are compared, so spaces, brackets and dashes make no difference. A phone field with no digits in it, such as "N/A" or "TBC", is ignored.

Email address is not used for matching. Each email address can only belong to one candidate in your organisation, and adding a candidate with an email that already exists is rejected with the message "A candidate with this email address already exists".

Every match carries a reason and a confidence level:

Two different people can share a name, so treat a medium match as a prompt to check, not as proof. Records that have been anonymised or whose data has expired are never treated as duplicates. Recruit lists up to 50 matches for one candidate.

Who can merge

Merging has no separate permission. Anyone who can open the candidate can use it, whatever their role. The exception is a candidate record you only have view access to, such as one belonging to another company in your group. On that profile the Merge buttons are greyed out. The duplicate panel is not shown at all on a profile where personal details are redacted for you.

Merging from the Candidates list

1. Go to Candidates. Candidates flagged as possible duplicates show an amber Duplicate badge next to their name. Both records in a pair carry the badge.
2. Select the badge. The Duplicate Candidates Detected window opens and lists the record you clicked plus every record that matches it, with name and email.
3. Under Select Primary Record, select the record you want to keep. It is marked Primary. The record you clicked is selected to begin with.
4. Select Merge 1 Record(s). The number changes to match how many other records are listed. All of them are merged into the primary record, one after another.

This route goes straight to the merge. It does not show the comparison table described below, so if you want to see exactly what will change first, use the candidate profile instead.

Merging from a candidate profile

1. Open the candidate you want to keep. If Recruit finds matches, an amber Duplicate Candidates Detected panel appears at the top of the profile. Each match shows its name, email, the reason it matched and its confidence level.
2. Select Merge beside the record you want to fold in. The profile you are viewing is the record that is kept.
3. Check the Merge Preview window (described below).
4. Select Confirm Merge. A Candidates Merged message confirms it, and you stay on the kept profile.

The panel on a profile checks for matches each time you open it, so it is always current. The badge on the list depends on the last background check.

Reading the Merge Preview

The Field Comparison table has one row per field and two columns. Keep (Target) is the record you are keeping, and Source is the record being merged in and deleted. The table covers these fields only: Phone, LinkedIn URL, Location, Company, Title, Notes, CV URL and Source Details. Name and email are not compared and never change. The kept record's name and email stay as they are.

Below the table, Merged Tags shows the combined tag list, and What will be transferred shows how many applications will move across. The document line in that section always reads 0, because merging does not move documents.

What is kept, combined or lost

• The kept record keeps every value it already has. Nothing on it is overwritten.
• If one of the eight fields in the comparison table is empty on the kept record and filled on the other, the value is copied over.
• Tags from both records are combined, with repeats removed.
• Applications on jobs the kept record has not applied to move across to it.
• If both records have an application on the same job, the other record's application is deleted and the kept record's application stays. The status of either application makes no difference. The preview shows a red Overlapping Applications warning when this applies, and the merge is not blocked.
• The other record is permanently deleted. Nothing beyond the items above is copied across, so check it for anything you need before you confirm.

If you are unsure which record to keep, choose the one with the correct name and email, since the merge never changes those.

This cannot be undone

There is no way to restore a merged record or to separate the two again. If you merge several records from the list in one go and one of them fails, the merges before it have already happened. Each merge is recorded in your organisation's audit log.

Problems you may see

The duplicate flag is out of date. If you open a badge and the window says no other record matches the candidate and that the duplicate flag is out of date, the other record no longer matches, for example because it has already been merged or deleted. There is nothing to merge and the merge button is disabled. Close the window. The badge clears automatically the next time the candidate is checked.

Merge Failed. If a merge does not go through you will see this message, followed by advice to withdraw or reject one application and retry. That advice is out of date, because overlapping applications do not block a merge. Close the window, reload the page and try again. If it keeps failing, contact support.

A record is not listed as a match. Recruit only matches on an identical name or phone number. A spelling variation such as "Katie" and "Kate", or two different phone numbers, is not flagged, so those two records cannot be merged from the list.