The Potential Matches tab is the first step in your candidate shortlisting process. This guide will walk you through how to review and manage automatically matched candidates based on the job's key criteria.
In this guide:
Coding Your Jobs
Your Potential Matches will automatically pull in the most suitable candidates within your database for your job, however before these can be pulled in you need to set the parameters for these to pull.
On the Summary tab of your Job Workflow, add in Preference and Keywork Information which reflects what you are looking for:
Adding Keywords will search for these on the candidates CV and Profile, and the Discipline, Location, Specialisation and salary/rate details will look to match based on the candidates preferences.
You can edit how strictly candidates are matched to the details listed on the job within your Potential Matches settings. You can find full details on this here!
Please note: Candidates who are listed as Happy In Current Position, Currently Contracting, Contracting through us or Not Interested in a particular workflow will be automatically omitted from potential matches, even if their preferences are a match.
Potential Matches List
The Potential Matches tab is where you can access your candidate list. Here, you’ll find a list of candidates who closely match the job criteria. 
On the list of matched candidates, you can use the Preferences & and Rank to see how close a match the candidate is - the top matching candidates will appear at the top of the list:
The Preferences column shows how much of the preferences listed on the job the candidate matches, and hovering over this will detail which they match. The Rank indicator will show how much of a match the candidates are to the keywords - the more red you see here, the more prevalent the keywords are within the candidates CV and Profile.
To consider a candidate:
- Simply click the tick icon to the right of their name.
- Once considered, the candidate moves to the Considering list for that job.
If you need to consider multiple candidates, it’s just as easy! Select as many candidates as you like using the tick boxes, and then click Consider at the bottom of the page.
⚠️Note: Once a candidate is marked for consideration, it can’t be undone. However, you can choose to not progress or withdraw them later if needed.
Removing Candidates
If a candidate doesn’t match your requirements, you can remove them from the Potential Matches tab by:
- Clicking the X icon next to their name, or
- Selecting multiple candidates and hitting the Remove button at the bottom of the page.
As the Potential Matches will only show a set number of candidates, usually 50 (this can be updated in settings), if you do remove any candidates from this list then other matching candidates may drop into the list as new.
Bulk actions make it simple to manage large groups of candidates. Whether you’re considering or removing, just select multiple candidates and act accordingly.
Best Practise
Beyond preferences and ranking, keep these factors in mind when reviewing your potential matches:
- Engagement – Use the coloured indicators to check if candidates are already in advanced stages of another process. If someone is at final interview or under offer, coordinate with the colleague managing that role before reaching out.
- Last Updated – Check how recently the last updated on the candidate's profile was. If it has been a while, verify their current role on LinkedIn to ensure they are still a fit.
- Star Rating – For key clients, consider prioritising candidates with higher ratings.
- Postcode Radius – Especially useful for roles with tricky commute requirements or unusual hours.
Super users can also create up to 10 engagement indicators in Settings — click here for how-to instructions.
Identifying who is interested.
After removing unsuitable candidates from your list, it may still be too long to contact everyone immediately — especially if you are managing multiple roles.
Instead of calling each one, try using an advert mailshot to send a personalised email to your potential matches.
- Full instructions are available here. Just be sure to select ‘Potential Match’ under the ‘From your job’ section.
After sending, monitor who opens or engages with the email via the marketing column in your potential matches list — indicated by coloured fish icons.
We recommend prioritising follow-ups with green and orange fish candidates, as they have shown the most interest.