Tasks & Cleansing
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      2. Candidate Management
      3. Tasks & Cleansing

      6 Easy Ways to Cleanse Your Candidate Database

      Optimise your Firefish database by removing non-compliant, unsuitable, and unengaged candidates. This guide outlines six simple ways to maintain quality and ensure your team focuses on valuable candidates.

      Contents

      Overview

      Regularly cleansing your candidate database is essential for optimising your recruitment process. By removing outdated, irrelevant, or non-compliant candidate data, you can enhance efficiency, reduce clutter, and improve the quality of your candidate matches. This guide explores key categories of candidates to remove and provides step-by-step guidance on how to cleanse them effectively.

      Consent Never Requested

      Sometimes, users add candidates manually or via email registration without requesting their consent. These candidates remain on your compliance to-do list until you obtain their consent, or you delete them.

      How to Cleanse These Candidates

      • Review the "never requested" compliance list weekly.
      • Send consent requests within 28 days.
      • Remove candidates who have not provided consent within the time limit.

      💡Tip: Check out the Knowledge Bank article on how to manage candidate compliance for guidance on removing these candidates.

       

      Consent Expired

      Candidates who have not responded to consent requests within 28 days move into the "consent expired" category. This poses a compliance risk.

      How to Cleanse These Candidates

      • Reprocess the candidate under Legitimate Interest (if applicable).
      • Remove candidates from your database if they remain non-compliant.
      • Perform this cleanse weekly.

      💡Tip: If you'd like to learn more about the different legal basis for processing candidates, read this article.

       

      Expired Details

      Compliance documents such as DBS checks and security clearances may expire, making the candidate unsuitable for job placements.

      How to Cleanse These Candidates

      • Contact candidates immediately for updated documentation.
      • If the candidate fails to provide up-to-date compliance details, remove them from your system.
      • Review expired details monthly.

      💡Tip: If you'd like to learn more about creating candidate compliance details specific to your business needs, read this article.

       

      Not Appropriate

      Candidates may no longer align with your hiring needs. Archiving them prevents unnecessary outreach.

      How to Cleanse These Candidates

      • Regularly review archived candidates.
      • Use "last updated" filters to prioritise deletions.
      • Perform this cleanse quarterly.

       

      Archived Candidates

      Archived candidates remain in your system even if you flag them as unsuitable. Over time, this data can accumulate and clutter your database.

      How to Cleanse These Candidates

      • Search for archived candidates based on last updated dates.
      • Remove candidates who have remained stagnant for an extended period.
      • Run this clean-up quarterly.

      💡Tip: If you'd like more info on how to archive or delete candidates, read this article.

       

      Unengaged Candidates

      Candidates who have not interacted with your brand for a long time reduce database effectiveness. Removing them improves efficiency.

      How to Cleanse These Candidates

      • Identify candidates who have not engaged for 18+ months.
      • Prioritise those who are not actively seeking opportunities.
      • Perform this process quarterly.

       

      Unsubscribed from Job Alerts

      If a candidate has unsubscribed from job alerts and has not engaged in a long time, they may no longer be interested in your services.

      How to Cleanse These Candidates

      • Search for candidates who have unsubscribed and have outdated profiles (2+ years old).
      • Remove those with no recent updates or job-seeking activity.
      • Run this cleanse quarterly.

      💡Tip: Once you've created this search, save it so that you only need to amend the dates when you need to run the cleansing process again the next quarter.

       

      Unsubscribed from Email

      Like job alerts, if a candidate has unsubscribed from email communications and has been inactive, they may not be worth retaining.

      How to Cleanse These Candidates

      • Identify unsubscribed candidates with profiles older than two years.
      • Ensure they are not actively job-seeking before removing them.
      • Save and reuse search criteria for efficiency.
      • Perform this process quarterly.

      💡Tip: Once you've created this search, save it so that you only need to amend the dates when you need to run the cleansing process again the next quarter.

       

      By following these six strategies, you can keep your candidate database up-to-date, relevant, and fully optimised for your recruitment needs.