How to review candidate submittals from a recruiter: a hiring manager's guide
On this page
- What should you check before reading the submittal?
- How do you read a submittal in five minutes?
- Evidence or adjectives: how do you tell the difference?
- A review sheet to copy
- How fast should you reply, and what should the reply say?
- What if several submittals miss in the same way?
- When should you call the recruiter instead of replying in writing?
- How do you keep the review fair across candidates?
- What should you not do with a submittal?
- Questions people ask
Review each submittal in four steps: first check whether you already know the candidate (a direct applicant, a referral or another agency's submittal) and tell the recruiter before anything else; then read it against the three to five must-haves agreed at intake, looking for evidence (what the candidate did, at what scale, with what result) rather than adjectives; then check the practical points (pay, notice, location, other processes); and finally reply inside the window you agreed with a decision and a reason tied to the criteria. When several submittals miss for the same reason, the brief needs recalibrating, not the recruiter replacing.
Most of what is written about submittals is for the recruiter who writes them, such as our candidate submittal template. This page is for the person reading them.
What should you check before reading the submittal?
Duplicates. Before you open the resume properly, search your ATS and your inbox for the candidate's name and email. Look for four things:
- A direct application to this or another role, with its date.
- A referral from an employee.
- A submittal of the same person from another agency.
- A past process with your company, including a rejection and its reason.
If any of these exist, reply to the recruiter in writing the same day with the date and source, and hold the candidate until it is settled. Whether a fee is owed depends on the agreement you signed, which is why a prompt, dated note matters. Candidate ownership disputes explains the usual rules and the evidence that settles them. Do not interview first and raise it later: an interview after a submittal is the kind of record that supports the agency's claim.
How do you read a submittal in five minutes?
- The headline. Does the one-line summary match the role you briefed? A headline about a different job (a strong candidate, but for another team) is a calibration issue to raise.
- The must-haves, one by one. For each criterion, find the sentence that addresses it. If a must-have is not mentioned, assume it is not met until the recruiter says otherwise.
- The evidence. Is each claim backed by scope (team size, budget, volume), a result, or the candidate's own words? Adjectives are the recruiter's opinion; evidence is something you can test in an interview.
- The gaps. A good recruiter names the weak spot and what they learned about it. A submittal with no gaps is either an exceptional candidate or an incomplete screen.
- The practical points. Pay expectation against your approved range, notice period, location or relocation, work authorization if relevant, and other processes with dates.
- The resume last. Use it to check dates and scope, not to rescreen from scratch. If you always rescreen the resume, the recruiter's screen is not doing its job, and that is worth saying.
Evidence or adjectives: how do you tell the difference?
| The submittal says | Evidence would look like | What to ask the recruiter |
|---|---|---|
| "Strong leader" | "Manages 14 people across two shifts; promoted two team leads last year" | How many people, and what happened to them? |
| "Excellent with stakeholders" | "Ran the monthly forecast review with the CFO and three VPs" | With whom, how often, about what? |
| "Expert in Salesforce" | "Built the opportunity stages and reports for a 40-person sales team" | What did they configure, versus use? |
| "Great culture fit" | Nothing; this is an opinion | Which of our must-haves does this refer to? |
| "Very interested in the role" | "Leaving because their site is closing in March; asked about our night shift pattern" | Why now, and why us? |
The examples in the middle column are illustrations, not real candidates. If the recruiter quotes the candidate, ask whether the quotes are verbatim from the call or paraphrased. We make Interview Signal, a desktop interview note-taker whose submittals keep only quotes found in the call transcript; whatever tool the recruiter uses, verbatim quotes are worth more than summaries.
A review sheet to copy
Use the same sheet for every submittal on a role, so candidates from different recruiters are compared on the same terms.
SUBMITTAL REVIEW - [Role] - [Candidate] - from [Recruiter/Agency]
Received: [date, time] Reply due: [date, time per SLA]
Duplicate check: [none / applied directly on __ / referral /
submitted by ___ on __] -> told recruiter on [date]
Must-have Evidence in submittal Met? Probe at interview
1. [ ] [ ] Y/N/? [ ]
2. [ ] [ ] Y/N/? [ ]
3. [ ] [ ] Y/N/? [ ]
Gaps the recruiter named: [ ]
Pay expectation vs approved range: [within / above by __ / unknown]
Notice / start: [ ] Location: [ ] Other processes: [ ]
Decision: [Interview / No / Question first]
Reason (tied to a must-have): [ ]
Calibration note for the search: [more of / less of / no change]How fast should you reply, and what should the reply say?
Reply inside the window you agreed at intake or in your recruiting SLA; one business day for a submittal is a common starting point, not a benchmark. If you cannot decide in time, send a holding note with a date. The reply needs a decision and one reason tied to a must-have; "not quite right" gives the recruiter nothing to change. The wording, with templates and rewrites of vague feedback, is in how to give feedback to recruiters.
"Question first" is a valid answer. If one point decides the interview (for example, whether the candidate has run a night shift), ask that question rather than rejecting or booking an hour you may not need.
What if several submittals miss in the same way?
Read your own rejections as a set after the first five or six. If they share a reason, one of three things is true: the brief left something out, a must-have is unrealistic for the pay range, or the recruiter has misunderstood a criterion. Each needs a different fix: add the missing criterion, change the range or the must-have, or walk the recruiter through a submittal you liked and one you did not. A short calibration profile exercise often settles it in twenty minutes.
When should you call the recruiter instead of replying in writing?
A written reply is right for most decisions. Call when the decision depends on something only a conversation will settle:
- A strong candidate above the approved range. Ask how firm the expectation is and what else matters to them before you go back to the approver.
- A deadline. The candidate has an offer or a final round elsewhere within days, and you need to know whether you can move the interview forward.
- Three misses in a row. A ten-minute call recalibrates faster than three rejection notes.
- A submittal that contradicts the brief. If the recruiter sends someone without a must-have and says they are worth seeing anyway, hear the argument; sometimes the brief was wrong.
Write the outcome of the call into the review sheet afterwards, so the decision and its reason are on record with the rest of the submittals for the role.
How do you keep the review fair across candidates?
- Same criteria for every submittal on the role, whichever recruiter sent it and whether the candidate came from an agency or applied directly.
- Decide on the evidence, not the source. A submittal from a favorite recruiter and one from a new agency get the same sheet.
- Do not ask for what you cannot use. The EEOC's page on prohibited practices says it is illegal for an employer or employment agency to take protected characteristics into account in job referrals. Do not ask a recruiter about age, family plans or other protected characteristics, and do not reward a recruiter for volunteering them; illegal interview questions lists the topics to avoid.
What should you not do with a submittal?
- Forward it outside the hiring team, or to another company. Many agency agreements charge a fee if a candidate they introduced is hired elsewhere through you.
- Contact the candidate directly to arrange the interview unless the agreement allows it. Go through the recruiter.
- Sit on it. A submittal without a reply for a week usually means the candidate has moved on, and the recruiter has learned to send your role their second-best candidates.
- Ask for "more options" without a reason. More of the same will not help; say what is missing.
Questions people ask
How should a hiring manager review candidate submittals from a recruiter?
First check whether you already know the candidate or they already applied, and tell the recruiter before doing anything else. Then read the submittal against the must-haves agreed at intake, looking for evidence such as scope, numbers and the candidate's own words rather than adjectives, check pay, notice and location, decide interview, no or question first, and reply inside the agreed window with a reason tied to the criteria.
What should I do if a recruiter submits a candidate I already know?
Tell the recruiter in writing straight away, before interviewing, with the date and source of your earlier contact, such as a direct application, a referral or another agency's submittal. Whether a fee is owed depends on your agreement, and a prompt, dated note is the simplest way to avoid an ownership dispute later.
How fast should a hiring manager respond to a submittal?
Inside the window agreed with the recruiter at intake or in your recruiting SLA; many teams start with one business day for a submittal. If you cannot decide in time, send a holding note with a date, because strong candidates have other processes running.
What makes a candidate submittal worth interviewing?
A submittal is worth an interview when it shows evidence against each must-have, such as what the candidate did, at what scale and with what result, names the gaps or risks the recruiter found, and confirms the practical points: pay expectations, notice period, location and interest in this specific role.