Hiring the right people is crucial for your team, but without a process, resumes can pile up, feedback may get lost, and you might miss out on great candidates. A candidate tracking template helps you organize every applicant, stage, and decision. In this article, we’ll explain what a candidate tracking template is, why it’s important, what to include, and how to set one up in Asana to simplify your hiring process.

What is a candidate tracking template?

A candidate tracking template is a ready-made tool that helps you organize, monitor, and review job applicants during the hiring process. It gives your team a single place to store candidate details, track progress, and capture interview feedback, so you don’t have to build a system from scratch.

No matter how many roles you’re hiring for, a candidate tracking template helps you stay organized. With a template, you can:

• Centralize candidate information: Store resumes, contact details, and notes in one easy-to-access place instead of scattering them across emails and documents.

• Track pipeline stages: Quickly see where each candidate is in the process, from application to offer.

• Coordinate your hiring team: Give recruiters, managers, and interviewers a shared view so nothing is overlooked.

Why use a candidate tracking template

When you're managing multiple open roles, a staffing plan helps keep details from falling through the cracks. A candidate tracking template helps you stay organized, move faster, and deliver a better experience for everyone involved.

Organize candidate details in one place

Resumes, contact details, interview scores, and notes can easily get lost in different inboxes and documents. A candidate tracking template puts everything in one place, so your team always knows where to look. That matters because, according to Asana's State of Work Innovation 2024 report, knowledge workers spend 9 hours a week looking for the information they need to get work done.

• No more scattered information: You won’t have to search through emails or ask others for interview feedback.

• Consistent candidate experience: Interviewers come prepared with the right context and interview questions every time.

Collaborate easily with your hiring team

Hiring is rarely a solo effort. Recruiters, hiring managers, and interviewers rely on cross-functional collaboration to stay aligned on candidates' status.

• Real-time updates: Everyone can see changes as soon as they happen.

• Fewer status meetings: Stay on the same page about next steps without needing extra meetings.

Create a better first impression with candidates

Your hiring process reflects your organization. When you’re organized and respond quickly, candidates notice.

• Timely follow-ups: Make sure no candidate is left waiting because you missed something.

• Consistent experience: Give every applicant a professional experience from the first contact to the final decision.

Key features to include in your candidate tracker

A useful candidate tracking template covers every stage of the hiring process. Here are the core fields your tracker should include to make it actionable.

• Position and role details: Job title, department, hiring manager, target start date

• Candidate information: Full name, email, phone, current role, application source

• Application status: Pipeline stage (Applied, Phone screen, Interview, Offer, Hired)

• Interview feedback: Interviewer notes, candidate scores, recommendation

Position and role details

Begin by recording the basics for each open role: job title, department, hiring manager, and target start date. This helps your team understand the context and manage several positions without confusion.

Candidate information and contact details

For each applicant, record their full name, email, phone number, current company or role, and where they applied. Keeping this information together makes it easy to contact candidates and see which sources bring in the best people.

Application status and pipeline stages

Define stages for your hiring process, like Applied, Phone screen, Interview, Offer, and Hired. Giving each candidate a status helps you quickly see how many people are at each stage and spot any slowdowns.

Interview notes and scores

Give interviewers a dedicated space to follow an interview guide, record their feedback, and rate candidates using a consistent scoring system. This makes it easier to compare applicants fairly and ensures valuable insights don't get lost between rounds.

How to plan and manage your candidate tracking project with our template

Finding great talent takes effort, especially when you’re hiring for several roles at once. Using a candidate tracking template in Asana helps you:

• See each candidate's status in the hiring process at any time.

• Store important contact details and documents in a single shared project.

• Capture interview notes so the team can always access feedback.

• Keep all the details in one place. Interviewers can come prepared with the right information, so every candidate has a consistent experience. Tracking everything together prevents information from getting lost.

• Connect with your favorite tools. Asana connects with 260+ apps, including many recruiting tools, saving time and keeping information accurate everywhere.

• See where each candidate is in the process. With a quick look, you can sort your tracking project, check everyone’s progress, and keep things on track.

Hiring great talent directly affects your company's success. Remove complexity from the hiring process and create a seamless system for hiring and onboarding top candidates.

How to use the candidate tracking template

Getting started with your candidate tracking template is easy. Follow these steps to set up your tracker and begin managing applicants right away.

Set up your roles and positions

Make a section or column for each open role, including the job title, department, and hiring manager. This setup keeps each search organized, even if you’re hiring for several positions at once.

Add candidate information

When applications arrive, add each candidate to the right role section. Enter their contact details, where they applied from, and any notes from their resume or cover letter.

Track progress through hiring stages

Move candidates through each stage as they progress, from initial review to phone screen, interview, offer, and final decision. Regularly updating their status keeps your whole team up to date on next steps. Use Board view to show each stage as a column, then set up Automations to notify the hiring manager or assign interview prep tasks when a candidate moves to a new stage.

Collaborate with hiring managers and interviewers

Use comments and task assignments to loop in the right people at each stage:

• Tag a hiring manager when it's time to review a candidate.

• Assign an interviewer to complete their feedback by a specific date.

• Keep all communication in one place to avoid separate email threads.

When to switch from spreadsheets to a work management platform

Spreadsheets work well for tracking candidates when you have only a few roles. But as your team and hiring needs grow, updating them by hand takes more time and can lead to mistakes.

• Real-time collaboration: Spreadsheets offer limited support, while a work management platform includes built-in comments, assignments, and notifications.

• Status updates: A spreadsheet requires manual updates, while a work management platform updates status automatically as tasks move through stages.

• Pipeline visibility: A spreadsheet relies on basic rows and columns, while a work management platform offers visual board, list, and timeline views.

• Tool integrations: A spreadsheet offers minimal integrations, while a work management platform connects to recruiting and HR tools.

• Scalability: A spreadsheet becomes difficult to manage beyond a few roles, while a work management platform handles multiple roles and teams.

If you spend more time maintaining your tracker than hiring, a work management platform like Asana is a better fit. You get collaboration, automation, and visual pipeline views, all without the limitations of a static spreadsheet.

Simplify your hiring process with Asana

A candidate tracking template helps you stay organized and consistent, but using it with a work management platform takes your hiring to the next level. With Asana, you can:

• Automate repetitive tasks, such as moving candidates between stages and sending reminders.

• Coordinate with shared projects, comments, and notifications.

• Focus on what matters most: finding the right people for your organization.

Get started with a free candidate tracking template and see how much smoother your hiring process can be.

FAQs about candidate tracking templates