Pipeline
Every requisition has its own candidate pipeline. The pipeline board is a drag-and-drop kanban view showing each candidate organized by stage. This is where the day-to-day work of a hiring loop happens.
Opening the pipeline board
From any requisition detail page, click View Pipeline. You can also reach the pipeline board for all requisitions from lightninghire.com/candidates.
Pipeline stages
Default stages, in order:
- Sourced — candidate identified, not yet contacted
- Screen — initial outreach sent or phone screen completed
- Interview — candidate is in the active interview loop
- Offer — offer letter sent or verbally extended
- Hired — candidate accepted
- Rejected — not moving forward (accessible from any stage)
- Withdrawn — candidate withdrew (accessible from any stage)
Custom pipeline stage configurations are not available in the current release. The default stage set applies to all requisitions. This is a planned Tier 2 feature.
Moving candidates
Drag and drop — grab a candidate card and drop it into the target stage column. The stage change saves immediately and is recorded in the activity timeline.
Inline stage changer — from the candidate detail page, use the stage selector in the header to change stage without leaving the candidate view.
Every stage change appends a record to the candidate application's stage history: the new stage, the previous stage, and a timestamp.
Candidate cards
Each card on the pipeline board shows:
- Candidate name
- Current title or company
- Days in current stage
- AI fit score badge (if generated)
- Scorecard count
Click a card to open the full candidate detail page.
Filter bar
The pipeline board filter bar narrows the visible candidates without changing their stages.
| Filter | Options |
|---|---|
| Source | Manual, resume upload, bulk import |
| Days in stage | Under 3, 3–7, 7–14, 14+ |
| Name search | Text search on candidate name |
Filters are per-session and do not affect other users viewing the same pipeline.
Per-column candidate count
Each stage column shows a count of candidates currently in that stage. Use these counts to assess pipeline health at a glance:
- A large Sourced count with nothing in Screen means sourcing is running ahead of outreach.
- A large Interview count with nothing moving to Offer may indicate a stalled evaluation process.
- A thin top-of-funnel with multiple Offer stage candidates may mean you are close to filled — or overextended.
Pipeline health on the dashboard
The recruiter dashboard at lightninghire.com/dashboard shows a summary pipeline view across all active requisitions:
- Candidate counts by stage per role
- Stale requisitions flagged (no candidate activity in 14+ days)
- Recent stage changes in the last 7 days
Use the dashboard for a cross-requisition view; use the pipeline board for working within a single role.
Stage history and activity timeline
Every stage change is recorded. On the candidate detail page, the Activity timeline shows the full chronological history of that candidate for the requisition:
- Stage changes (from → to, with timestamp)
- Scorecards submitted (interviewer, recommendation, date)
- Notes added
Stage history cannot be edited or deleted. It is the audit trail for the hiring decision.
Comparing candidates at the finalist stage
When multiple candidates are in the Interview or Offer stage for the same role, the comparison view lets you see their fit scores, scorecard ratings, and recommendations side by side. Access it from the requisition detail page under Compare Finalists.
This is most useful when a hiring team disagrees — scorecard data and fit scores together give you something concrete to discuss, rather than relying on the loudest voice in the debrief.
Related pages
- Candidates — adding and managing candidate profiles
- Fit scores — AI fit score on the pipeline card
- Scorecards — interview feedback feeding into pipeline decisions
- Requisitions — requisition setup and status