Shortlisting checklists

Build reusable scoring or ranking checklists, attach them to screening stages, and see how reviewers' results feed the Shortlisting tab and stage moves.

A shortlisting checklist is the set of criteria your reviewers use to assess candidates at a screening stage. You build it once under Settings, then attach it to the screening stages of each job. Admin and HR users can manage checklists. Interview stages do not use them: they use feedback forms (see Interview feedback form templates).

Create a checklist

Go to Settings > Feedback Forms and stay on the Shortlisting Checklists tab.
Select + Add Checklist under the list on the left.
Enter a Checklist Name (required, up to 255 characters).
Add a Description if you want reviewers to see guidance on when to use it (up to 2,000 characters).
Choose the Checklist Type: Scoring or Ranking.
Select New Checklist. It is created with starter content, and opens in the Edit panel on the right.
Change the criteria or ranking levels, then select Save.

If you manage a group of organisations, choose the company from the selector at the top right of the page first. Checklists belong to one company.

Scoring checklists

Reviewers give each criterion a number and Recruit adds them up. A new scoring checklist starts with two criteria, Role fit and Experience quality, each worth 5 and marked Essential. Use Add Criterion to add more. Each criterion has:

Criterion: the wording reviewers see, up to 500 characters. It cannot be blank.
Importance: Essential or Desirable. This is a label shown next to the criterion when reviewers score and in the results. It does not weight the score and it does not stop a candidate progressing.
Max Score: a whole number from 1 to 10. Reviewers cannot enter more than this.

A scoring checklist needs at least one criterion, so the bin icon is disabled on the last one.

Ranking checklists

Instead of numbers, reviewers pick one level from a list. A new ranking checklist starts with Strong Yes, Yes, Maybe and No. Rename them, or use Add Level to add your own. You need at least two levels, and each label must be filled in. Ranking checklists have no total score, so they cannot have a pass threshold or blind scoring.

Change, copy, archive or delete a checklist

Select a checklist on the left to edit it. The left list is sorted A to Z, can be searched by name, and shows each checklist's criteria count (or "Ranking checklist") and how many jobs use it. The job count only includes jobs you are allowed to see, and it may not be shown at all.

Changing the Checklist Type discards the current criteria or levels when you save.
Duplicate creates a copy called "name (Copy)" with the same type, criteria and max scores. The Importance setting is not copied: every criterion in the copy is Essential until you change it.
Archive hides a checklist from the list and stops it being attached to more stages. Turn on Show archived to find it again, and select Unarchive to bring it back. Stages already using it keep working.
The bin icon deletes a checklist. It cannot be undone, and a checklist that is still attached to a stage cannot be deleted. Archive it instead.
History lists each change (created, updated, archived and so on) with the date.

Attach a checklist to a stage

Checklists can only be attached to screening stages. There are three places to do it.

As a default for new jobs. In Settings > Pipeline, expand a screening stage and open the Decision Rules card. Choose a checklist under Default Shortlisting Checklist (optional). New jobs get it on that stage, with no reviewers, pass threshold or blind scoring set. The Applied stage does not offer this option.
On an existing job. Open the job, go to the Settings tab and find the Shortlisting Configuration card. Only System Admin, HR and the job's hiring lead see this card and can change what is on it. Recruiters and hiring managers who are not the hiring lead can open the job but not this card. Each screening stage is listed. Optionally use Evaluation method to show only Criteria-based scoring or Rank-based classification checklists. Open Add template and choose a checklist. It appears as a chip on the stage, and you can remove it with the cross. Set the options below. Each change saves as soon as you make it.
In the job setup wizard. The Pipeline step offers the same choices.

The Shortlisting tab and review form work from the first enabled checklist on a stage, so attach one per stage.

Stage options

Enabled: turn a checklist off without removing it.
Blind Scoring (scoring only): reviewer names are hidden. It also limits reviewers to their own evaluation.
Pass Threshold (out of N) (scoring only): a whole number from 0 up to the total of the criteria's max scores. Clear the field to remove it.
Reviewer Scoping: non-recruiter team members can only see their own evaluation, and anyone who is not an assigned reviewer gets a read-only form.
Assigned reviewers: pick from the job's team. Leave it empty to allow all team members.
Minimum reviewers required: how many assigned reviewers must submit before a candidate can move forward. Leave it empty to require all of them. It cannot be higher than the number of assigned reviewers, and Recruit shows a warning if it is.

If removing a reviewer would take you below the minimum, you are offered Remove and lower the minimum or Remove and clear the minimum.

Editing a checklist after it is attached

A stage keeps its own copy of the checklist as it was when you attached it. Editing the template later does not change jobs already using it. A badge next to the checklist on the job's Settings tab tells you where it stands:

Outdated: the template has changed since it was attached. Select Reapply latest and confirm to replace the stage's criteria with the current template. Any custom changes on that stage are lost. The Shortlisting tab also shows a banner telling you to go to Settings to reapply.
Customised: the criteria on this stage differ from the template on purpose. Template updates will not apply automatically, and there is no reapply button.
Source archived: the template has been archived, so reapply is unavailable.

Reapplying job by job can be slow if many jobs use the checklist. System Admin and HR users can update them together instead.

Apply changes to existing jobs

With a checklist selected in Settings > Feedback Forms, select Apply changes to existing jobs. The button is shown to System Admin and HR users, and it is hidden when no jobs use the checklist or the checklist is archived.

Recruit lists the jobs that use the checklist, and for each one what would change: criteria added or removed, changed wording, maximum score, position, importance, the checklist name, or the evaluation method.
Tick the jobs you want to update, then select Review selection.
If a job has customised criteria, tick Replace this job's customised criteria with the template version to confirm you want them replaced. Without that confirmation the job is skipped.
On the Confirm update step, select the button that reads Update followed by the number of jobs. Each job then shows Updated, Skipped or Failed.

Submitted assessments are kept and are not re-scored or reopened, and each job's pass threshold is kept. The button applies the saved version of the checklist, not any edits you have not saved yet, so save first.

A job is skipped, with the reason shown, when it is closed or archived, when it is already up to date, when the checklist is archived, when the job changed after you reviewed it (review again and retry), or when the change would switch the evaluation method or remove or rescale scored items on a stage that already has assessments.

How reviewers score

Open the job and go to the Shortlisting tab. If more than one stage has a checklist, pick it under Shortlisting stage.
Select a candidate, or Review. The CV, cover letter and application answers open beside the form.
For scoring, enter a number for each criterion. Any criterion left alone is submitted as 0. For ranking, choose a level under Rank.
Add Notes if you want to (up to 5,000 characters).
Select Submit & Next to move to the next candidate, or Submit & Close.

Submitting again for the same candidate updates your evaluation rather than adding another. If Reviewer Scoping is on and you are not an assigned reviewer, the form is read-only and says "You are not assigned as a reviewer for this stage".

What you can see of other people's scores depends on your role. Admin and HR users always see everything. Recruiters on the job see everything unless Blind Scoring is on. Everyone else sees only their own evaluation if Reviewer Scoping or Blind Scoring is on, and so does anyone with no role on the job.

Pass thresholds and results

For scoring, Recruit averages each criterion across all reviewers, then adds the averages. That total, shown as, for example, 7.50/10, is what is compared with the pass threshold. Meeting it means the total is equal to or above the threshold.

The Shortlisting tab lists each candidate with their assessment (the total and a bar, or for ranking, how many reviewers chose each level) and a status:

Pending: nobody has reviewed the candidate yet.
Ready: a ranking checklist has at least one evaluation, or a scoring total meets the threshold.
Manual: the scoring total is below the threshold, or no threshold is set. Someone needs to decide.

Filter by All, Reviewed by me or Not reviewed by me. The grid icon switches to Comparison view, where you can Sort by score and see Meets threshold or Below threshold. Export downloads the stage's results as CSV or Excel. You can also tick candidates to move or reject them in bulk.

When a move is blocked

Moving a candidate forward from a screening stage is refused in two cases. Moves backwards are not checked.

Assigned reviewers have not all submitted. The message names the checklist and how many have finished, for example (1/2). This check comes first.
The scoring total is below the pass threshold. You see Shortlisting Threshold Not Met. A candidate with no evaluations yet is not stopped by the threshold.

To move the candidate anyway, get the missing reviews in, lower the pass threshold, or remove the reviewer requirement in the job's Settings tab. Changing the threshold or the reviewers is something only a System Admin, an HR user or the job's hiring lead can do.

Common problems

Save is greyed out. A criterion or ranking level is blank. The field shows "Criterion text is required" or "Ranking level label is required".
Add template is empty. There are no active checklists, or all of them are already on the stage. The stage must be a screening stage.
No stages listed. The job has no screening stage that you can see.
The Shortlisting tab says no stages are configured. Attach a checklist on the job's Settings tab.
You cannot see the Shortlisting Configuration card. It is shown only to System Admin, HR and the job's hiring lead.