Recruiter handoff notes template: passing a requisition or a desk to another recruiter
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Recruiter handoff notes are the written record one recruiter gives another when a requisition or a whole desk changes hands. Good notes let the new owner make the next call without asking the previous one anything: every open role and what the hiring manager really wants, every candidate in process with the next step and its date, every promise made, and every risk. The test is simple: could someone pick this up tomorrow if you were unreachable?
This page has a requisition template, a candidate pipeline table, a desk template for agency recruiters, a filled example, and the emails that introduce the new recruiter. It is about transferring live work. For training someone new to the job, see how to onboard a new recruiter.
When you need handoff notes
The template is the same, but what matters most changes with the reason for the handoff.
| Situation | Usual notice | What matters most |
|---|---|---|
| Vacation or short leave | Days to weeks | Next steps and dates; ownership and credit stay with you |
| Parental or long leave | Weeks | Relationships, full pipeline, who owns what on your return |
| Reassignment inside the team | Days | Hiring manager preferences and history of the search |
| Leaving the company | Notice period, sometimes none | Everything: clients, terms, placements in guarantee, open invoices |
| Promotion or desk split | Weeks | Which clients and candidates move, and the credit rules |
For temporary cover, say plainly in the notes that ownership stays with you and what the cover recruiter may decide alone (booking interviews, chasing feedback) and what they must hold for your return (changing a fee, making a verbal offer). For a permanent handoff, change the owner in your ATS or CRM on the day of the handoff call, not later.
The requisition handoff template
One per open role. Copy it into the requisition record in your ATS, not into a private document.
REQUISITION HANDOFF — [role title], [client or department]
From: [recruiter] To: [recruiter] Date: [date]
Type: [temporary cover until date / permanent transfer]
THE ROLE
- Req ID / job order: [number, link]
- Opened: [date] Target start: [date] Openings: [number]
- Hiring manager: [name, how they like to be contacted, response speed]
- Other decision makers: [names, role in the process]
- Must-haves in the manager's words: [1] [2] [3]
- Nice-to-haves: [list]
- Pay range approved: [range] Flex: [what the manager said]
- Fee / terms (agency): [fee, guarantee, exclusivity, link to schedule]
HISTORY OF THE SEARCH
- Submitted so far: [number] Interviewed: [number] Offers: [number]
- What the manager rejected, and why (in their words):
[candidate type] — "[reason]"
- What has changed since the intake: [e.g. "remote dropped to hybrid
after first round"]
- Sourcing done: [boards, searches, lists; what worked, what did not]
INTERVIEW PROCESS
- Stages: [screen > manager > panel > offer]; who runs each
- Scheduling: [who books, lead time, rooms or links]
- Feedback: [who gives it, usual delay, how to chase]
OPEN PROMISES AND RISKS
- Promised to the manager: [e.g. "3 more profiles by Friday 26th"]
- Promised to candidates: [e.g. "feedback to Ana by Tuesday"]
- Risks: [e.g. "manager away 2 weeks from Oct 10"; "budget review"]
ACCESS
- Shared folders, job board postings and slots to reassign: [list]
- (Do not share passwords. Ask your admin to reassign access.)The candidate pipeline table
One row per candidate who is active on the role. Include anyone waiting on you, not just those in interviews. The "promised" column is the one people leave empty, and it is the one that costs the most.
Candidate | Stage | Last contact | Next step, owner, date | Promised | Consent/RTR | Pay / notice | Risk
----------|-------|--------------|------------------------|----------|-------------|--------------|-----
[name] | [ ] | [date, how] | [what, who, by when] | [ ] | [date] | [ ] | [ ]
[name] | [ ] | [date, how] | [what, who, by when] | [ ] | [date] | [ ] | [ ]
Stages: Screened / Submitted / Interview booked / Interviewed /
Offer pending / Offer out / Accepted / Starting [date]
Waiting on you (not in process yet):
[name] — [what they are waiting for, since when]
Closed recently (last 30 days), so nobody re-approaches them by mistake:
[name] — [outcome, reason, date]The desk handoff template
For agency recruiters handing over a whole desk: every client, every contractor on assignment, and every placement still inside its guarantee. Attach a requisition template for each open role.
DESK HANDOFF — [recruiter] to [recruiter], effective [date]
Credit and commission rules agreed by: [manager], [date]
CLIENTS (one block per client)
- Client: [company] Status: [active / dormant / prospect]
- Contacts: [name, title, what they care about, how they like updates]
- Terms: [signed version and date, fee, guarantee, link]
- Open roles: [list, each with a requisition handoff]
- Relationship notes: [e.g. "wants a call, not email, for any offer"]
- Anything sensitive: [e.g. "disputed invoice on the May placement"]
PLACEMENTS IN GUARANTEE
- [candidate] at [client], started [date], guarantee ends [date]
Check-ins due: [dates] Concerns: [any]
CONTRACTORS AND TEMPS ON ASSIGNMENT
- [name] at [client], [role], end date [date], extension likely? [y/n]
Timesheet approver: [name] Issues: [any]
MONEY
- Invoices outstanding: [client, amount, due date, who chases]
- Fees agreed but not invoiced: [client, candidate, start date]
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN PROGRESS
- [company, contact]: [last touch, next step, date]
DO NOT CONTACT
- Candidates: [names and reason, e.g. "asked not to be contacted"]
- Companies: [off-limits clients and why]A filled example
An invented requisition, handed over for two weeks of vacation cover:
REQUISITION HANDOFF — Payroll Manager, Harborview Health (finance)
From: Kim Adeyemi. To: Luis Ortega. Type: temporary cover until October 13. Ownership and credit stay with Kim.
The role. Hiring manager Grace Wu, VP Finance. Prefers text for scheduling, email for everything else; replies same day. Must-haves in her words: "has run multi-state payroll herself, not just approved it"; "comfortable with UKG"; "can manage two people without me". Approved range $98,000 to $110,000; Grace said she would go to $115,000 "for the right person, once".
History. Five submitted, three interviewed, no offers. Grace rejected two candidates from large shared-service centers: "they have only ever done one piece of it". Hybrid moved from three office days to two after round one.
Pipeline. Dana Price: panel interview Thursday, October 2, at 10:00; Luis to send the prep email on Tuesday. Promised Dana feedback within two working days of the panel. Consent to submit dated September 15. Expects $108,000; four weeks' notice. Risk: she has a second interview elsewhere the same week.
Waiting on you. Tom Reyes, screened September 24, waiting to hear whether he is submitted. Kim's view: submit if Dana falls away; strong UKG, no management experience, and he said so.
Hold for Kim. Any offer conversation or change to the fee.
Notice what Luis can do on Monday morning without calling Kim: send Dana's prep email, chase Grace for panel feedback, and tell Tom where he stands. That is the standard to write to.
The handoff call and the introductions
Notes carry the facts; a 30-minute call carries the judgment. Walk through the pipeline tables, not the whole document, in this order: offers and anything with a date this week, candidates waiting on you, then each hiring manager's preferences. The receiving recruiter should leave with a list of calls to make in the first two days.
Then send the introductions yourself, the same day. To the hiring manager or client:
Subject: [Role] — introducing [new recruiter]
Hi [first name],
From [date], [new recruiter] will be looking after [role] [while I'm
away until date / going forward]. I've walked [him/her/them] through
everything: the candidates you've seen, what you told me about
[the must-have that matters most], and where each person stands.
Next step: [e.g. "Dana's panel on Thursday; [new recruiter] will
send you her prep notes on Wednesday"].
[New recruiter]'s number is [phone]. [I'm back on date.]
[Your name]And to each candidate in process:
Subject: Your [role] application — a quick update
Hi [first name],
A quick note so nothing slips: from [date], my colleague [new
recruiter] will be your contact for the [role] with [client or team].
[He/She/They] has all my notes from our conversations, so you won't
need to repeat yourself.
Your next step is still [step] on [date]. [New recruiter] will call
you by [day] to confirm.
[Your name]What not to put in handoff notes
Handoff notes are records about people, and in many places candidates can ask to see what is held about them. Write as if they will.
- Keep to job-related facts and judgments with evidence. "Has not managed people; said so directly" helps. "Seemed a bit old for the team" is a discrimination complaint in writing.
- No health, family, religion, pregnancy or similar details, even when the candidate mentioned them. If an accommodation has been requested, note that it exists and who is handling it, not the medical reason.
- No gossip about clients. "Grace goes quiet in budget season" is useful. "Grace is difficult" is not, and it will be forwarded one day.
- No credentials. Access is reassigned by an administrator, never passed in a document.
The same rules apply to the notes you write day to day. See what not to write in interview notes. If your interview notes live on your own computer rather than in a shared system, as they do with Interview Signal, copy the summary and scorecard for each active candidate into the ATS record before the handoff. The next recruiter cannot open your laptop.
The first 48 hours for the receiving recruiter
- Read the pipeline tables first and list every dated step for the next five working days.
- Call every candidate at offer or final stage yourself, even if an email went out. Confirm pay expectations and competing processes; both change quickly.
- Call each hiring manager. Ask one question: "What should I know about this search that isn't written down?"
- Check consent to submit for every candidate you might send, before you send. If a date or record is missing, get it again. The process in how to avoid double submissions applies to inherited candidates too.
- Check the do-not-contact list before any outreach.
- Update the owner field and the next-step dates in the ATS so reports show the truth.
- Write down questions for the previous recruiter in one message, not ten.
Questions people ask
How long before I leave should I write handoff notes?
Start as soon as the handoff is agreed and finish at least two working days before your last day, so the receiving recruiter can read them, ask questions, and join a call with you. Notes written on the last afternoon always miss the candidate who was waiting on a callback.
Who gets credit for a placement that closes after a handoff?
That is a firm policy question, not something to settle between two recruiters on a Friday. Write the agreed split into the handoff notes for each candidate in process, and have the manager confirm it before the handoff call.
Should I tell candidates that their recruiter is changing?
Yes, every candidate who is in process or waiting on you. A short introduction from you, naming the new recruiter and the next step, keeps their trust. Hearing it from a stranger after a missed callback loses it.
Can I include my opinion of a candidate in handoff notes?
Include job-related judgments with the evidence behind them, such as 'strong on month-end close; said she has not led a team'. Leave out anything about age, health, family, religion or other protected characteristics, and anything you would not want the candidate to read.