Why you need a recruitment pipeline tracker
Managing 1 position in your head? Fine. Managing 3 positions with 15 candidates across different stages? You'll lose track. Emails, spreadsheets, WhatsApp notes everywhere. Nothing centralised.
A pipeline tracker is your single source of truth. Where is each candidate? What's the next step? Who's fallen through? When did we last follow up? One place for everything.
What's in these templates
Template 1: Kanban Pipeline (Notion)
Drag-and-drop pipeline with columns: New → Screened → Interviewed → Evaluated → Offered → Hired (or Rejected).
Each card shows: candidate name, position, applied date, interview date, score, next action, due date.
Why Notion? Visual, easy to update, comment on candidates, date tracking, filtering by position or stage. Perfect for seeing the whole pipeline at a glance.
Template 2: Multi-Position Tracker (Excel)
Spreadsheet with rows for each candidate, columns for: position, name, email, phone, applied date, CV score, interview date, interview score, reference check, offer status, start date, status.
Why Excel? Sorting, filtering, pivot tables, calculations. You can sort by position, filter by status, calculate average time-to-hire per position. Good for data analysis.
Template 3: KPI Dashboard (Excel)
Automated dashboard tracking: time-to-hire, sourcing channels (which channels work?), conversion rates (% screened → interviewed → hired), offer acceptance rate, cost per hire, quality (performance after hire).
Why this matters? You start to see patterns. "LinkedIn gives us better candidates than Indeed." "Average time-to-hire is 25 days, but I want 20." "Referral offers 80% acceptance vs 60% externals." Data-driven recruiting beats gut feel.
How to use these templates
- 1
Import into Notion
Copy the Kanban template into your Notion workspace. Personalise the position list (Engineering, Sales, etc). You can now drag candidates through the pipeline.
- 2
Import into Excel
Download the multi-position tracker. Create a row for each position you're hiring (you'll add candidates as you find them). Set up filters and conditional formatting (colour candidates based on score).
- 3
Set up the KPI dashboard
Follow the Excel template formulas (they're simple: COUNT, AVERAGE, etc). It auto-calculates from your tracker. Check it weekly to spot trends.
- 4
Use daily/weekly
Every time a candidate applies: add to Notion. Every time you interview: update score in Excel. Every time you make an offer: mark as Offered. Template stays current.
- 5
Review weekly
Spend 15 minutes on Friday reviewing: Who's stuck in evaluation? Who do we need to follow up with? Where are the bottlenecks? Dashboard shows: are we on pace to hit hiring goals?
Real example: tracking 3 simultaneous positions
You're hiring: Senior Developer, Marketing Manager, Operations Lead. 3 different processes at different stages.
Without templates: You have emails from each position scattered, Google docs with lists, phone notes, some Slack messages. You don't remember if you followed up with the developer candidate. Marketing offers went out but you forgot to track responses. Operations interviews are scheduled but you can't remember which candidates are which.
With templates: Notion shows you: 2 developers in "Interviewed", 1 in "Evaluated waiting for references". 3 marketers in "Screened", 1 about to interview. 4 ops candidates still in "New", 1 interview scheduled. Excel tracker auto-calculates: you've spent 10 days on dev hiring, 6 on marketing, 2 on ops. Dashboard shows: 18% screening-to-interview conversion (good), but ops is slow. You add ops screening to your priority list this week.
Result: Clarity. You see what's stuck, what's moving, what needs attention. No surprises.
Tips for maintaining your pipeline
Pipeline maintenance checklist
- Update daily, not weekly
5 minutes a day is easier than 1 hour once a week. Update immediately when something changes: candidate applied, interview scheduled, offer accepted.
- Set follow-up reminders
"Due date" field should have dates for next actions. Review due dates daily. Don't let candidates fall through cracks.
- Archive rejected candidates
After rejection, move to archive or create "Rejected (keep for future)" column. Reduces clutter but keeps history.
- Track sourcing channel
Did they come from LinkedIn, job board, referral, or network? After 6 months you'll see which channels work best.
- Note interview feedback immediately
After each interview, add notes (not evaluation score, just feedback). "Strong technical skills but poor communication" or "Great fit, but asked for remote full-time and we need office 3x/week."
- Review KPI dashboard weekly
Spend 15 min on Friday reviewing: time-to-hire, conversion rates, sourcing channels, offer acceptance. Identify bottlenecks.
- Keep historical data
After you hire someone, keep their record. After 6 months, note: "Hire was successful" or "Struggles with X" or "Left after 3 months." You'll learn what predicts success.
KPI definitions and targets
Key recruitment KPIs explained
| KPI | Definition | How to calculate | Healthy target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time-to-hire | Days from job posting to offer accepted | (Offer date - Post date) | 20-25 days |
| Screening-to-interview ratio | % of applications that get interviews | (Interviews ÷ Applications) × 100 | 15-25% |
| Interview-to-offer ratio | % of interviews that get offers | (Offers ÷ Interviews) × 100 | 30-50% |
| Offer acceptance rate | % of offers accepted | (Acceptances ÷ Offers) × 100 | 70-85% |
| Cost per hire | Total recruitment costs ÷ hires | Job boards, ads, time value | €1-3k per hire for SME |
| Quality of hire | Performance after 6 months | Performance review + retention | 80%+ perform well |
| Sourcing channel effectiveness | Which channels give best hires | Hires per channel ÷ cost | Referral usually best |
| Hiring forecast accuracy | Did we hit hiring targets on time | Actual vs plan | 90%+ accuracy |
Download your Notion & Excel templates
Outil non disponible : recruitment-templates
Templates handle tracking. AI handles screening.
Use these templates to manage your pipeline manually. Or use Aurelia.jobs to auto-screen candidates and auto-populate your pipeline. 10x faster.