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Recruiting and staffing: a candidate, an application and an assignment are different things

A good candidate applies for two roles, and moving one forward overwrites the other. An offer is revised and still goes out on the old approval. A contractor's timesheet waits for a client approver nobody chased, and payroll runs without it. We build systems that keep candidates, applications and assignments as separate records, so nothing gets overwritten, approved on old terms or paid wrong, and every decision about a person stays with a person.
Start a projectPermanent and contract, side by side ↓
appliedscreenedinterviewofferplacedcandidateC.M.both histories keptREQ-61 · Operations coordinatorappliedscreenednot progressed · reason keptREQ-74 · Office managerappliedscreened2 interviewsoffer v2 approvedaccepted · placed

Permanent and contract, handled differently

Most firms do both. They need different records and different approvals.

Offer for REQ-74, revised after negotiation

  1. Offer v1 approved

    by the client's hiring manager

    done

  2. Terms revised

    start date and salary changed

    done

  3. v1 approval reused

    approval belongs to v1's terms

    not done

  4. v2 approval

    hiring manager approves the revised terms

    with a person

The offer the candidate receives is the one that was approved.

Decisions about people stay with people

  1. 01

    Hiring decisions

    Made by accountable people

    The system organises interview notes and evidence. Who's hired, and who isn't, is decided by a person.

  2. 02

    No “best candidate” scores

    Organised, not ranked

    We don't build systems that rank people as objectively better. Recruiters see the evidence and decide.

  3. 03

    Approvals on the actual terms

    Offers and time

    An approval applies to exactly what was approved: a version of an offer, a week of time.

  4. 04

    Candidate data handled carefully

    Who can see what, for how long

    Access and retention follow the rules you set with your advisers.

One record for everything, or the right record for each thing

One record for everything

  1. 01A candidate's status overwritten by another application
  2. 02Offers sent on stale approvals
  3. 03Timesheets chased by email
  4. 04Payroll run with time still pending

The mistakes land on candidates, clients and contractors, the people you can least afford to upset.

The right record for each thing

  1. 01Candidates, applications and assignments kept apart
  2. 02Approvals tied to the terms they approved
  3. 03Named client approvers, chased automatically
  4. 04Payroll only from approved time

Fewer apologies, and a back office that runs on schedule.

What we'd build for a staffing firm

A good fit if your back office runs on reminders

Good fit

  • Candidates often apply for more than one role.
  • Offer terms change and approvals get muddled.
  • Timesheet approvals are chased by hand every week.

Not the right fit yet

  • You want automated hiring or rejection decisions. We won't build that.
  • A small desk where one recruiter handles everything personally.

Questions staffing leaders ask

Do we have to replace our applicant tracking system?

Usually not. We connect to it and fill the gaps around it, especially approvals, timesheets and handoffs to payroll and billing.

Will AI screen candidates?

It can organise applications and summarise interview notes. It won't rank people or make hiring decisions.

What about late or disputed timesheets?

They get their own states and owners, and follow the payroll rules you set, rather than disappearing into a generic “pending”.

How do you handle candidate privacy?

Access and retention are designed with you and your advisers. We build the controls; we don't claim compliance on your behalf.

Stop apologising for back-office mistakes

Tell us whether you place permanent hires, contractors or both, and where things slip. We'll show you what we'd build first.

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