Add Candidate — End-User Help

Overview

This page lets you add a new candidate record to the system. Use the form to capture personal details, contact info, current employer and role, salary expectations, sourcing details, pipeline status and compliance/consent information.

You can also link the candidate to an existing open job (or create a new job inline).

Quick start (3 steps)

1. Fill the required fields: First Name, Last Name, Email.
2. (Optional) Link to an existing job by typing in Job (open only) and selecting from the list, or create a new job directly from the search.
3. Click Save. On success a small green panel/toast confirms the save; on failure an error panel shows details.

Field reference — what each field does

Personal

• Title (ddlTitle): Select a salutation (Mr/Mrs/Ms/Dr/Prof). Optional.
• First Name (txtFirstName): Required. Candidate’s first/given name.
• Last Name (txtLastName): Required. Candidate’s family name.
• Date of Birth (txtDob): Optional. Use the browser date picker or type a date.

Assignment / Job (autocomplete)

• Job (open only) (txtJobSearch + hfJobId):
• Type at least 2 characters to search open requisitions. Matching jobs appear in the list.
• Selecting a job fills the visible box and stores the job GUID in hidden field hfJobId so the candidate is linked to that job.
• If the job is not listed, choose the top “Add New Job …” option in the autocomplete. That opens a dialog where you can enter a job title and description and save — the created job will be filled into the search box and the job id set when saved.
• Tips: If you want to create a new job, capture a clear title and short description so recruiters can find it later.

Contact

• Email Address (txtEmail): Required. Use a valid email format. This is used to contact the candidate.
• Mobile (txtMobile), Phone (txtPhone): Optional telephone numbers.

Profile & Location

• City (txtCity), Country (txtCountry): Optional location fields.
• Current Job Title (txtCurrentJobTitle), Current Employer (txtCurrentEmployer): Capture current role/employer.
• Experience (years) (txtExperienceYears): Numeric; free text but intended for whole/decimal years.
• Work Mode (ddlWorkMode): Onsite / Hybrid / Remote.
• Availability Date (txtAvailabilityDate): Expected availability date.
• Notice Period (days) (txtNoticeDays): How many days notice the candidate must give.

Compensation

• Currency (ddlCurrency): Select currency for salary values.
• Current Salary (txtSalaryCurrent), Expected Salary (txtSalaryExpected): Enter amounts (use plain numbers or include currency symbol — system may store as text).

Sourcing & Links

• Source (txtSource): How you found this candidate (LinkedIn, Referral, Job Board).
• LinkedIn URL (txtLinkedIn), Website URL (txtWebsite): Full URLs recommended (https://…).

Pipeline & Meta

• Stage (ddlStage): Candidate pipeline stage (New, Screen, Interview, Offer, Hired, Rejected).
• Status (ddlStatus): Active or Archived.
• Rating (ddlRating): 0–5 rating.
• Tags (txtTags): Comma-separated tags (e.g., “C#, remote, senior”).
• Summary (txtSummary), Covering Letter (txtCoveringLetter): Free-text fields for notes and the candidate’s cover letter.

Compliance

• Consent to Contact (chkConsentContact): Candidate permits contact.
• Consent to Store (chkConsentStore): Candidate permits their data to be stored.
• Right to Work in UK (chkRightToWork): Tick if candidate has UK right-to-work.
• Visa Status (txtVisaStatus): Free-text details about visa.
• Privacy Notes (txtPrivacyNotes): Record privacy and consent details for audit.

Data Policy

• Retention Policy (ddlRetentionPolicy): Select how long candidate data should be retained. See your organisation’s Data Retention Policy for guidance.

Hidden / System fields

• Assigned To (txtAssignedTo) and Job (Requisition) ID (txtJobId): System fields, normally hidden. Do not edit unless instructed by administrators.

Buttons / Actions

• Save (ButtonAddCandidate): Submits the form to create the candidate. On success you will see the green success panel and a slide-in toast message (saveToast). On error a red error panel (ErrorPanel) displays server-side error text.
• Clear Form (ButtonClearForm): Resets the form fields to blank/default values.
• Add New Job (inline): From the Job autocomplete choose “Add New Job” or click to open the job card (addJobCard) dialog. Enter title + description and Save. The new job is persisted and the Job field gets populated.

Autocomplete and Add-Job dialog — detailed behavior

• Minimum characters: Type at least 2 characters to trigger job suggestions.
• Server lookup: The autocomplete calls the server for open jobs matching what you type.
• “Add New Job” option: Always shown at the top. Selecting it opens a dialog for creating a job.
• When creating a job:
• Provide a job title (required) and optional description.
• On save the server creates the job and returns a job id; the form fills txtJobSearch and hfJobId.
• A toast message confirms the job save.
• Keyboard support: Use arrow keys to navigate suggestions and Enter to select. ESC closes the add-job overlay.

Validation rules & expected errors

• Required: First Name, Last Name, Email. Saving without these will show validation errors.
• Email: Must be valid email format; server may validate as well.
• Numeric fields: Experience and Notice should be numeric-like values (system may store as text).
• Job linking: If you select a job, the hidden hfJobId ensures correctness — if hfJobId is empty the system treats the job as free-text unless you create a job through the add-dialog.
• Server errors: Shown inside the top ErrorPanel or ErrorPanelJob (for job creation). Read the message and correct the field(s) indicated.

Accessibility & keyboard tips

• Autocomplete is keyboard navigable: arrows + Enter to pick, ESC to close.
• The add-job overlay and dialog trap focus while open; press ESC to close it.
• Toast uses aria-live="polite" so screen readers announce success updates.
• Form labels are visually associated with inputs for screen reader support.

Best practices & tips

• Link to an existing job when possible — it avoids duplicate jobs and keeps candidates attached to requisitions.
• Use clear tags and summary text to make search and filtering easier later.
• For LinkedIn/Website include the full URL to allow direct navigation.
• Fill consent and privacy fields to support compliance requirements (GDPR/UK rules).
• If you plan to re-contact a candidate, make sure Consent to Contact is ticked.

Examples

• Tags: C#, .NET, remote, senior
• Salary: £65,000 or 65000 — be consistent across your team.
• Source: LinkedIn or Employee referral (John Smith)

Troubleshooting

Autocomplete shows no results

Confirm network connectivity and that open jobs exist on the server. Try a different search string.

New job created but candidate not linked

Ensure the job save returned a jobId and that hfJobId is populated. If not, re-open the Add Job flow and save again.

Save fails with server error

Check the error message in the red panel then correct inputs. If the problem persists contact support and provide the error text.

Date inputs display weird formatting

Browser locale influences the date picker. Enter the date using the format shown by your browser or type YYYY-MM-DD if in doubt.

Browser & environment

• The form uses standard HTML and jQuery UI autocomplete/dialog. Use a modern browser (recent Chrome, Edge, Firefox). JavaScript must be enabled for autocomplete, add-job dialogs and toasts.
• Date fields use the browser date control; behavior varies by browser.

Privacy & legal guidance

• Only store candidate data when you have consent (use chkConsentStore).
• Document consent for contact and storage in Privacy Notes.
• Use the ddlRetentionPolicy value to match organisational retention rules. For GDPR/UK law consult your Data Protection Officer when in doubt.

Support & contact

If you still need help:

• Provide a screenshot of the error panel or the exact error text.
• Give the steps to reproduce (what you typed into Job, which fields were filled).
• Contact your internal recruitment systems support or the administrator responsible for candidate management.

Short FAQ

Q: How do I link to an existing job?

A: Type the job title, wait for suggestions, select the correct job — the hidden hfJobId will be set.

Q: Can I add a job from here?

A: Yes — choose “Add New Job” from the autocomplete or use the Add Job popup, enter title + description and save.

Q: Why isn’t the job saved after I create it?

A: If the server returns an error the job will not be created; an error message appears in the job dialog. Correct the message and retry.