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# Pipeline Stages

Every job has a **pipeline**: the ordered steps a candidate goes through, from applying to being hired. Each candidate sits at one point in that pipeline at a time, shown as their status. CONFIRM moves candidates forward automatically where the outcome is clear, and waits for your team where a decision is needed.

> **Tip**
>
> Looking for what a specific status means? See the [Status Reference](/candidates/status-reference).

## Pipeline steps

Every pipeline starts with **Applied** and **Screening**. After that, each job's pipeline is built from these steps, in the order your team chose when creating the job:

| Step             | What happens                                                                                                                      | Status while there                                      |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| Screening        | CONFIRM's AI voice agent calls the candidate and asks the job's screening questions.                                              | Screening                                               |
| Review           | Your team looks at the candidate and decides whether they move on. The first review after screening is called Screening Complete. | Screening Complete, or *Next step* · Review             |
| Interview round  | The candidate books an interview from a link, attends, and your team decides. Jobs can have several rounds.                       | Interview · Booking, · Scheduled, · Done (or Round *n*) |
| Assessment       | The candidate is sent an external assessment, such as a skills test.                                                              | *Assessment name* Sent                                  |
| Intro video      | The candidate is asked to record a short video.                                                                                   | Intro Video Sent                                        |
| Background check | A background check is run. Only available if your organization uses background checks.                                            | Background Check                                        |
| Hire decision    | Your team makes the final call after the last interview.                                                                          | Hire Decision                                           |

The progress strip on each [candidate profile](/candidates/candidate-profile) shows the job's steps and highlights where the candidate is.

## Automatic moves

CONFIRM moves candidates without manual work when the outcome is clear:

* **New applicants** start at **Applied** and move to **Screening** when CONFIRM first calls them.
* **Candidates outside the job's maximum distance** are closed as **Ineligible for Screening** before any call is placed. You can override this from their profile.
* **A completed screening call that meets the job's requirements** moves the candidate to the next step in the pipeline, often a review by your team.
* **A completed screening call that misses a knockout question** sends the candidate to the job's review step, if it has one, so your team can check the answer and decide. If the job has no review step, the candidate is rejected.
* **Booking an interview** moves the candidate from *· Booking* to *· Scheduled*. Once the interview time passes, they move to *· Done*.
* **Candidates who never respond to screening** can be closed automatically after a set number of days, if the job has **Auto-Close Unresponsive Candidates** turned on. They show as rejected.

## Moves your team makes

From the action bar on the candidate profile:

* **Primary button**: moves the candidate to the next step. Its label names that step, for example **Send Booking Link — Round 2**, **Send Evaluation**, or **Hire**. Moving a candidate this way sends any messages that go with the step, such as the booking link.
* **Reject**: closes the candidate, with an optional rejection email.
* **Override Status**: places the candidate at any step in the pipeline (**Reposition**) or records a final outcome, without sending messages or running automations. Useful for correcting mistakes or reopening a closed candidate.
* **Move to Another Job**: closes this application as **Reassigned** and starts a new one under another job.
* **Restart Screening**: sends the candidate back to screening and calls them again.

You can also change status or reject many candidates at once with [bulk actions](/candidates/bulk-actions).

## Interruptions and closed statuses

Some statuses sit outside the main flow:

* **Interruptions**, such as **Reschedule Requested**, **No Show**, and **Awaiting Recruiter Action**, pause the candidate until your team acts.
* **Closed statuses**, such as **Hired**, **Client Rejected**, **Withdrew**, **Reassigned**, **Ineligible for Screening**, **Failed Interview**, **DNC**, and **Refused Recording**, end the process for that application.

See the [Status Reference](/candidates/status-reference) for each one.

## Older jobs

Jobs created before the current pipeline builder use a fixed set of stages with older names, such as **Awaiting Screening**, **Awaiting Review**, **Reviewed — Ready to Schedule**, **Interview Scheduled**, and **Past Interview**. On those jobs, a candidate who misses a knockout question shows **Did Not Meet Requirements**. They work the same way; the [Status Reference](/candidates/status-reference#statuses-on-older-jobs) maps each one to its current equivalent.

## Where to change a job's pipeline

You choose a job's steps in the **Pipeline** step of the create-job wizard, and can review them in the **Pipeline** section of the job console. See [The Hiring Pipeline](/jobs/hiring-pipeline) for each step type and how to change a live job's pipeline, and [The Job Console](/jobs/job-console).