Free recruitment pipeline template: stages, a stuck-candidate check and a scorecard
A free recruitment pipeline template for Excel: stages with target days, a check that flags stuck candidates, a source summary and an interview scorecard.
On this page 8 sections
Most hiring spreadsheets record where candidates are. Very few tell you who is stuck. Yet the candidate you lose is rarely the one who failed an interview. It is the strong one who heard nothing for nine days after their work sample and took another offer.
This template is built around that problem. Every stage has a definition and a target number of days, every candidate has a next step with a due date and an owner, and a simple formula flags any next step that is overdue.
Every sheet, column and formula is set out below, so you can build it in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers, or start from the ready-made recruitment desk template in PlexiiDesk. The examples use invented candidates. If you run several hires at once, PlexiiDesk is a free download that gives each one its own desk, covered further down.
What goes in the workbook
| Sheet | What it does |
|---|---|
| Pipeline | One row per candidate, with stage, days in stage, next step, owner and an overdue flag |
| Stages | What each stage means, what moves a candidate on, a target number of days and who owns the move |
| Lists | The source options behind the drop-down |
| Summary | Candidates per stage, how many are over target, and which sources reach interview |
| Scorecard | One page per interviewer, rating the criteria from the role brief |
Make Pipeline the first sheet so you can import it straight into other tools, which usually read only the first sheet of a workbook.
The formulas. On Pipeline, put the columns described below in order, from Candidate in column A to Notes in column M, with Stages laid out as Stage, Order, Moves on when, Target days in stage and Who owns the move. Days in stage (E2) is =IF(D2="","",TODAY()-D2). Overdue? (J2) is =IF(OR(I2="",C2="Hired",C2="Not progressing",C2="Withdrawn"),"",IF(I2<TODAY(),"Overdue","")); add a conditional formatting rule that colours it red when it says Overdue, and one that colours Days in stage amber when it passes the stage's target. Make Stage a drop-down from the Stages sheet and Source a drop-down from Lists. On Summary, with each stage in column A, Candidates now is =COUNTIF(Pipeline!$C$2:$C$101,A2) and Over target days is =COUNTIFS(Pipeline!$C$2:$C$101,A2,Pipeline!$E$2:$E$101,">"&Stages!D2).
Start with the Stages sheet
Before you add a single candidate, read the Stages sheet and change it to match how you hire. A pipeline is only as useful as its stage definitions, because "Interview" means different things to different people.
| Stage | Moves on when | Target days | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applied | Application read against the must-haves in the role brief | 3 | Recruiter |
| Screen | Screening call done and notes written up the same day | 5 | Recruiter |
| Task | Work sample returned and scored against the scorecard | 7 | Hiring manager |
| Interview | Every interviewer has submitted a scorecard | 5 | Hiring manager |
| Reference | Two references taken with the candidate's consent | 4 | Recruiter |
| Offer | Written offer sent and verbal answer received | 5 | Hiring manager |
| Hired, Not progressing, Withdrawn | End states, with the reason recorded |
Three things to notice.
"Moves on when" is a test, not a description. "Interview" ends when every scorecard is in, not when the last interview happened. That one definition stops the commonest hold-up in hiring: waiting a week for the last interviewer's feedback.
Target days are yours to set. The defaults are a starting point. If your hiring manager can only score work samples on Fridays, set Task to 7 and keep it honest.
Every stage has an owner. When a candidate stalls, the sheet tells you whose move it is. That makes the follow-up conversation short.
The Pipeline columns
Using the first row of the example: Candidate A, applying for an invented customer success lead role.
Candidate and Role. One row per person per role. If someone applies for two roles, give them two rows.
Stage. A drop-down of the stages above. Change it the moment a candidate moves.
Stage since. The date they entered this stage. Update it every time you change Stage. Everything else depends on it.
Days in stage. Worked out from Stage since and today's date. When the number passes the stage's target, the cell turns amber.
Source. Job board, company careers page, referral, LinkedIn, agency, direct approach, returning candidate or other. Edit the list on the Lists sheet.
Owner. Whose move it is now. Candidate A is at Interview, so the owner is the hiring manager.
Next step and Next step due. One concrete action with a date: "Panel scorecards in", due 6 November. If you cannot name the next step, the candidate is already stuck.
Overdue? Says "Overdue" in red when the due date has passed. In the example, Candidate B's work sample came back on 31 October and was due to be scored by 3 November. The row is red, and the fix is one message to the hiring manager.
Last contact. The last time you spoke to the candidate. A long gap here, even when the stage is moving, is how good candidates drift away.
Outcome / reason. Required for Not progressing and Withdrawn. In the example: "No renewals experience (must-have 2); told by phone 30 Oct." The reason should point to the role brief, which keeps decisions consistent and easy to explain.
Notes. Anything else, kept short. Long interview notes belong on the scorecard.
The Summary sheet: two questions every week
Where is everyone, and who is stuck? The left half counts candidates in each stage and how many are over the target days. A healthy pipeline has a few in each stage and nobody over target. Five candidates over target at Interview usually means scorecards are not coming in.
Which sources are working? The right half counts candidates by source and how many of them reached Interview or later. Applications are easy to get; candidates who reach interview are what you are paying for. If one source sends forty applications and none reach interview, that is worth knowing before the next role.
The scorecard
The Scorecard sheet is one page per interviewer, filled in straight after the interview and before talking to anyone else about the candidate. That order matters: each interviewer's view is on paper before it can be shaped by anyone else's.
Write the criteria from the role brief, three must-haves and a nice-to-have, with what good evidence looks like for each. Then rate 1 to 4:
- 1, no evidence
- 2, some evidence
- 3, clear evidence
- 4, strong evidence beyond what the role needs
Record what you actually heard or saw beside each rating. "Walked through a real onboarding plan she wrote, including what went wrong" is evidence; "seemed confident" is not.
The page ends with a hire or do-not-hire call and the one reason that decided it. If interviewers disagree, compare the evidence columns, not the overall calls.
Keeping candidate data safe
A pipeline holds personal information about people who have not joined your organisation. Keep the file somewhere only the hiring team can open, do not email copies around, and follow your organisation's privacy policy on how long to keep records of unsuccessful candidates. When a role closes, archive the sheet rather than leaving it in a shared folder.
To keep each hire's pipeline, brief and scorecards on one desk, download Plexii free.
Running the hire on one desk
A spreadsheet works for one role. When you are running several at once, the trouble is everything around it: the role brief, the scorecards, the salary sign-off and the emails, each in a different place.
In PlexiiDesk, each hire gets its own desk. The recruitment desk template sets one up from brief to offer: a Pipeline table you can view as a Kanban board with a lane per stage and drag candidates across, a Page for the scorecard, and a Chart of shortlists by source. The page for recruiters and people teams shows the whole hire on one desk, and the interactive demo can build a recruiter desk in your browser with nothing to install.
To bring this workbook in, add a Table work widget, then create Stage and Source as Single select columns with options named exactly as in the workbook. Values that match an option land in the right lane. Right-click the table's title bar, choose Import CSV, JSON or Excel…, and pick the file. It reads the first sheet, Pipeline. See Import CSV, JSON or Excel into a table and six views of every table.
When a different job interrupts, it gets a desk of its own, so switching does not mean packing the hire away. One desk per task explains why that matters. For the follow-ups that slip between stages, the habits in how to keep track of everything you have promised people apply directly: every promise to a candidate is a commitment. If you recruit for clients, a client workspace that keeps each client separate covers the agency side.
PlexiiDesk costs nothing for personal use. See pricing. More role-based guides are in the by role hub.
Common questions
What are the stages of a recruitment pipeline? A common set is applied, screen, task or assessment, interview, references, offer and hired, plus end states for candidates who do not progress or withdraw. The exact stages matter less than writing down what moves a candidate from one to the next.
How do I stop candidates getting stuck in the pipeline? Give every stage a target number of days and an owner, and give every candidate a next step with a due date. Then check weekly for anyone over target or overdue, and chase the owner.
What is the difference between an applicant tracking system and a pipeline spreadsheet? An applicant tracking system usually adds job posting, application forms, email and permissions. A spreadsheet is enough when you are hiring for a handful of roles and want something you control and can change in minutes.
How should I score candidates fairly? Use the same criteria, taken from the role brief, for every candidate. Have each interviewer score independently before any discussion, and record the evidence behind each rating.
Should I track candidate source? Yes. Counting which sources produce candidates who reach interview, not just applications, tells you where to spend time and money on the next role.
Does the pipeline work in Google Sheets? Yes. Build it directly in Google Sheets: the drop-downs, the overdue formula and the Summary counts work the same way there.