Project template
Recruitment Template: Every Candidate Is a Card
Seven stages from application to accepted, with rejection as a proper stage rather than an unanswered email. Good enough for most teams hiring a handful of people a year, and honest about what it is not.
Runs on Cloud and Self-Hosted · Not an applicant tracking system, and this page explains where the line is
What the Recruitment template sets up
Choosing Recruitment starts the project on a board with the Recruitment Workflow, which is seven statuses: Application, Screening, Interviewing, Interview offer, Offer discussion, Rejected, and Accepted. Each candidate is a card that moves left to right. Work is grouped into task groups, which most teams use as one group per open role. Be clear about the boundary: this is a pipeline board, not an applicant tracking system. There is no CV parsing, no job board posting, no interview scheduling, and no candidate portal. If you hire at volume you want a dedicated ATS. If you hire five people a year, this is usually better than the spreadsheet you are using now.
The board
Seven stages, two of them endings
The exact stage names the template creates. Rename them to match your process if your interview loop has a different shape.
01
Application
Applied, not yet looked at. Your intake column, and the one to clear daily.
02
Screening
CV reviewed, or a first conversation with a recruiter. Deciding whether to interview.
03
Interviewing
In the interview loop. However many rounds you run, they all happen here.
04
Interview offer
Interviews finished, the decision is being made and an offer is being prepared.
05
Offer discussion
The offer is with the candidate and terms are being negotiated.
06
Rejected
Not progressing, at whatever stage. A real column, so nobody is left waiting without an answer.
07
Accepted
Offer accepted. This is where recruitment ends and onboarding begins.
Rejected sitting alongside the pipeline rather than at the end is deliberate. A candidate can be rejected from any stage, and having a column for it is what stops people being ghosted.
On day one
What you get on day one
A pipeline you can start using this afternoon, with the two outcomes both modelled.
A board as the landing page
You want to see the whole pipeline at once, and where candidates are piling up.
Seven hiring stages
From application through to accepted, with rejection as a proper stage rather than silence.
Task groups per role
One group per open position, so you can see each role's pipeline separately or all of them together.
Owners on every candidate
The recruiter or hiring manager responsible right now, so nothing sits with nobody.
Comments and attachments
Interview notes and the CV on the candidate card, so feedback is in one place rather than in five inboxes.
Due dates that mean something
The date you promised the candidate a decision by, which is the one that protects your reputation.
Who it is for
Who picks this one
Small and mid sized HR teams
Hiring a handful of roles at a time, where a full applicant tracking system is more than you need.
Learn more →Hiring managers running their own process
Engineering or sales leads hiring for their own team, without a recruiter in the middle.
Learn more →Teams who need it on their own servers
Candidate data is personal data. The self-hosted edition keeps all of it inside your own network.
Learn more →Starting board
How to run one open role
The template arrives empty. This is the structure that works, and the rules worth agreeing before the first candidate arrives.
Per roleOne task group
- One task group per open position
- One card per candidate, named so you can find them
- The job description attached to the group's first card
- Agreed interview loop written down before anyone applies
Per candidate cardEvery card
- Source, so you learn which channels actually work
- Owner: whoever is responsible for the next action
- Due date: the day you promised them a decision
- Interview feedback as comments, written the same day
Rules to agree firstBefore you start
- Maximum time a candidate may sit in any one stage
- Who can reject, and who must approve an offer
- That every rejected candidate gets a reply, without exception
- How long candidate data is kept, and who deletes it
Candidate records are personal data. Decide your retention rule before you start, and use roles so only the people involved in a hire can see it.
The problem
What this template fixes
Candidates in a spreadsheet
✓ One board, one card per candidate, one owner.
People get ghosted
✓ Rejected is a column. Moving a card there is the prompt to send the reply.
Interview feedback disappears
✓ Feedback goes on the candidate card, the same day.
How to start
Start a project from this template
Twenty minutes, and it is worth doing before you advertise the role.
- 1Create a project and choose RecruitmentThe project opens on a board with the seven hiring stages already in place.
- 2Decide who can see itCandidate data is personal data. Set the roles so only the people involved in the hire have access, and do this before any candidate goes in.
- 3Create a task group per open roleSo each role's pipeline is separable, while you can still see all your hiring in one board.
- 4Adjust the stages to your loopIf you run a take home exercise or a panel stage, add it. If you do not negotiate offers, merge the two offer stages.
- 5Agree the stage time limitA maximum number of days a candidate may sit in any stage. Slow processes lose the best candidates, and this is the rule that prevents it.
- 6Add candidates as they applyOne card each, with the source and an owner. Clear the Application column daily.
- 7Write feedback the same dayOn the card, as a comment. Debriefs from memory a week later are worse than useless.
- 8Hand over to onboarding on acceptanceWhen a card reaches Accepted, create the onboarding project. That is where recruitment ends.
Pairs with
The features this template leans on
Attendance and leave management is Self-Hosted only. The rest is in both Cloud and Self-Hosted.
Kanban boardThe pipeline view itselfCustom status workflowStages that match your interview loopUser roles and permissionsWho can see candidate dataEmployee onboarding use caseWhat happens after AcceptedHuman resourcesHow HR teams use OrangescrumSelf-hosted editionKeep candidate data on your own servers
Frequently asked questions
Recruitment template FAQ
What stages does the Recruitment template create?
Seven: Application, Screening, Interviewing, Interview offer, Offer discussion, Rejected, and Accepted. Each candidate is a card that moves through them.
Is this an applicant tracking system?
No, and it is worth being straight about that. There is no CV parsing, no job board posting, no interview scheduling, and no candidate portal. It is a pipeline board. If you hire at volume you want a dedicated ATS. If you hire a handful of people a year, this is usually a large improvement on a spreadsheet.
Why is Rejected a column rather than an end state?
Because a candidate can be rejected from any stage, and giving it a column makes moving somebody there a visible action. That is what prompts the reply, which is the difference between a fair process and ghosting people.
Can I change the stages?
Yes. Add a take home exercise or a panel stage, or merge the two offer stages if you do not negotiate. Statuses can be edited from the board or the status workflow page.
How should I handle candidate data?
Set the project roles so only the people involved in the hire can see it, agree a retention period before you start, and delete records when it expires. Organisations that cannot let candidate data leave their network can run the self-hosted edition.
How do I stop the process being slow?
Agree a maximum number of days a candidate may sit in any one stage, and review the board daily. Losing good candidates to a slow process is the most common and most avoidable hiring failure.
What happens when somebody accepts?
Recruitment ends and onboarding begins. Create a separate onboarding project, ideally the moment the offer is accepted, so IT have two weeks rather than two hours to provision a laptop.
Does it schedule interviews?
No. There is no calendar integration and no scheduling feature. Scheduling stays in your calendar tool, and the card records what was agreed.
Put your hiring pipeline on a board
Seven stages, one card per candidate, and nobody left without an answer.