> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.staffer.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How Staffer works

> The path a hire takes through Staffer, where each part lives in the app, and who does what.

Every hire in Staffer runs through one job. The job holds the brief, the candidates, the process they go through and the conversation with the agent about all of it. This page follows a job from the first message to the final decision.

## 1. The brief

You start a job by describing it to the agent. It drafts the brief on the job's **Brief** tab:

* **Details**: function, engagement, work mode, location, languages, salary and a few more.
* **Role**: a written description of the job.
* Criteria: plain-language sentences you'll judge candidates against, split into **Required** and **Preferred**.

The criteria matter most. Every candidate is scored against them, one criterion at a time, so a vague criterion gives you a vague score. See [Write the brief](/companies/brief-criteria).

## 2. Finding candidates

Candidates reach a job through two doors.

* **Sourced**: you ask the agent to search Staffer's candidate database, or you add people yourself by LinkedIn URL, by name or from a file. Results land on the **Scouting** tab. See [Search for candidates](/companies/running-a-search).
* **Applied**: you publish a listing and people apply from your career page or the public Staffer job board. Applicants go straight into the job's **Candidates** tab. See [How candidates apply](/companies/inbound-applications).

Either way, each candidate gets a [match score](/companies/match-scores) for this job, with a reason for every criterion.

## 3. Shortlist, then promote

Search results stay on the **Scouting** tab. Shortlist the ones worth a closer look, then promote them into the job's pipeline.

Promoting a candidate does three things: it keeps a copy of their profile as it is at that moment, creates a private link to their application, and sets up the job's process for them. It doesn't contact them. Your first message does that. See [Shortlist and promote candidates](/companies/shortlist-and-push).

## 4. The process

Each job has its own process on the **Process** tab: a sequence of steps such as reviews, questionnaires, file uploads, interviews and AI interviews. Steps can apply to everyone, or only to people who applied, or only to people you sourced, so the two groups can start differently and meet later.

Candidates see the process in their application, so they know what's coming. Internal steps, like your team's reviews, stay hidden from them unless you choose to show them. See [Build a hiring process](/companies/build-a-process).

## 5. Next actions

For every candidate, Staffer works out one next action from what has actually happened: their stage, the messages sent and received, where they are in the process and how they compare with others in the job. "Send intro outreach", "Reply to their message" and "Complete step" are typical examples.

Next actions are suggestions. Nothing sends or changes on its own. You act on them one candidate at a time from the **Process** tab, or in bulk with **Speed action**. See [Next actions](/companies/recommended-actions).

## 6. Messages

You message candidates from Staffer. Replies come back into the same thread, whether the candidate answers the email or writes in their application. See [Message candidates](/companies/message-candidates).

## 7. Scores that follow the evidence

A candidate's score updates when there's new evidence about them: they reply to a message, complete a step, or an interview transcript arrives. Your team's notes count as evidence too. Editing the brief doesn't rescore anyone on its own. See [When scores change](/companies/editing-and-rescoring).

## 8. The decision

A person moves every candidate to a new stage: **In review**, **In progress**, **Offer**, **Hired** or **Rejected**. Every change is logged with who made it and when. Hiring someone doesn't close the job. You close it yourself when you're done, and you can choose to reject and message everyone still in the pipeline at the same time. See [Close, reopen or delete a job](/companies/close-reopen-delete).

## What the candidate sees

A candidate you've contacted gets a private link to their application in your message. From there they can follow their progress, complete steps and reply to you, without creating an account. If they sign in to Staffer, they can also edit their profile and see their applications in one place. An application you sourced only shows up there once you move the candidate past **In review**. The private link works from the start.

Applicants who apply with a CV get the same private link by email. See [Staffer for candidates](/candidates/what-staffer-is).

## Where the agent fits

The agent works inside each job. It drafts and refines the brief, runs searches, shortlists and promotes candidates, builds the process and drafts the listing when you ask. In **Ask permission** mode it asks before changing things, and it never messages candidates. See [Work with the agent](/companies/the-agent).