Add notes to candidate profiles

This article is about how your team uses notes, not about how to add one mechanically. For the mechanics (composer, formatting,

mentions, editing rules, deletion), see Add notes to a candidate profile in the Candidates category.

Notes are a team conversation

Most teams figure out their note conventions in the first month and stick with them for years. A few principles worth deciding

deliberately rather than letting them emerge by accident:

What goes in a note vs a scorecard. Notes are running commentary; scorecards are interview feedback. If you find yourself

writing structured "score plus comment" content as notes, that's a missed scorecard.

What goes in a note vs a message. Notes are for your team. Messages are for the candidate. Don't draft candidate-facing

language as a note; draft it in the message composer.

What goes in a note vs Slack. Anything that affects the hiring decision belongs in the profile. The candidate's profile is the place a

future reader will look; Slack is not.

Private vs team-visible, in practice

The toggle exists for a reason. A few common patterns:

Private:

Your first impression after a screen, before you've decided if it's a fair assessment.

A speculative thought you don't want to weight the team's reading of the candidate.

A note to yourself about following up on something.

Team-visible:

The summary of a screening call your team should read.

A handoff to a colleague.

A reason for moving a candidate (or holding them).

A flag the hiring manager should see.

If you're hesitating, default to private. You can convert to team-visible later. The reverse doesn't work.

Writing notes the team can use

A note that helps the next reader is short, specific, and grounded. A note that doesn't is vague, emotional, or speculative without

saying so.

Helps: "Strong on Python, weaker on Go than the resume suggested. Pushed back on technical depth in q3, gave a clear answer but

went around the question first. Worth a Go-specific follow-up."

Doesn't help: "Pretty good. Some concerns but overall positive."

The pattern in the helpful version: a specific observation, evidence for it, a concrete recommended next step. Not every note needs

all three, but the more important the note, the more it should have.

Notes during handoffs

Handoffs are when notes earn their keep. When you pass a candidate to a teammate (an interviewer, a hiring manager, a panel

member), the note you leave is the only context they'll start with.

A good handoff note covers four things:

Where this candidate is and why. "Just completed Online Screening with an 88 resume match. Strong on backend, weaker on

frontend, which matches the role."

What you've learned that's not in the AI brief. "Spoke with her by phone yesterday. She's open to remote but has a strong

preference for our Paris office and is willing to commute."

What you want the next person to focus on. "Hiring manager: please dig into her actual production experience at scale. Resume

says distributed systems, but I want to confirm."

Open questions or risks. "Salary expectation is at the top of our band. We should confirm before final."

Four sentences, four jobs. Anyone reading that knows what they're walking into.

Reading notes others have written

When you open a candidate's profile, the notes section may already have a lot in it. A few patterns for reading well:

Read in reverse chronological order. The most recent notes are the most relevant for what's happening now.

Notice who wrote them. A note from the hiring manager carries different weight than a note from a recruiter, even if both are

right.

Look for the conversation. Notes that reply to other notes (via @mentions) tell you what the team has already debated. Don't

reopen settled questions without new information.

If something seems off, ask. A confusing or contradictory note is a sign that you're missing context. Ping the author rather than

acting on a misreading.