The Candidate Experience

Why It Matters

Understanding the candidate experience helps you set up your pipeline correctly and write better stage descriptions. When you know what candidates see at each step, you can reduce confusion, avoid drop-off, and create a process that reflects well on your company.

Browsing Jobs

Candidates arrive at your career portal and see a list of all published job postings. They can:

• Search by job title using the search bar
• Filter by location or department using sidebar filters
• Browse jobs grouped by department

Each job listing shows the title, location, department, and employment type. If you’ve configured salary information, it appears here too — helping candidates self-select before applying.

Adaptive Layout

The portal automatically adjusts its layout based on how many jobs you have published:

Jobs Published	Layout
1–3 jobs	Enriched cards with metadata badges and salary info. No search bar or filters — candidates can see everything at a glance.
4+ jobs	Compact rows with a search bar. Sidebar filters appear when you have 2+ distinct locations or departments.

This keeps the portal looking polished whether you’re hiring for one role or fifty.

Viewing a Job Posting

When a candidate clicks on a job, they see the full detail page:

• Job metadata — Title, location, department, employment type, remote status, and salary range
• Description — Your rich text job description with formatting, links, and lists
• What to Expect — An automatically generated summary of notable aspects of your process (e.g. paid assignment, GitHub required, estimated time commitment, number of interviews)
• Hiring Process Timeline — A preview of the stages they’ll go through, with names and descriptions. If the process has more than four stages, it collapses with a toggle to expand

This transparency helps candidates understand the full process before committing to an application.

Applying to a Job

The application form appears directly on the job detail page. Standard fields include:

• First name and Last name (required)
• Email (required)
• Phone (optional)
• Resume file upload (required when the stage has Require a CV or résumé enabled, otherwise optional; drag and drop supported)

If you’ve configured custom form fields on the Application Form stage (cover letter, experience level, portfolio URL, etc.), those appear below the standard fields. Candidates fill everything out and click Submit Application.

Resume Auto-Fill

When a candidate uploads a PDF resume, Kit uses AI to automatically extract contact information and pre-fill the form fields — first name, last name, email, phone, and LinkedIn URL. This happens in about 2 seconds and reduces friction significantly.

• Only PDF files trigger auto-fill (DOC/DOCX files are uploaded normally without extraction)
• Auto-filled fields show a brief highlight so candidates can review them
• Existing typed values are never overwritten
• If extraction fails or the account has no AI credits, the form works normally — candidates simply fill in fields manually

Resume auto-fill uses the economy AI tier and requires AI credits to be configured.

LinkedIn Integration

If LinkedIn integration is configured, candidates can click Apply with LinkedIn to pre-fill their name, email, and profile information. If the posting requires nothing more — no required custom fields and no required CV — the application auto-submits. Otherwise, candidates land on the pre-filled form to attach their resume and complete any remaining fields.

Duplicate Prevention

Kit prevents duplicate applications. If a candidate has already applied to the same job with the same email address, they see a message directing them to check their candidate portal instead.

After Applying

Once a candidate submits their application, two things happen:

1. Confirmation page — They see a success message on the job posting page
2. Confirmation email — They receive an email with a magic link to their candidate portal

All candidate emails — from application confirmation to interview scheduling to offer letters — are branded with your company’s logo, colors, and name as the sender, matching the career portal experience. Configure your branding in Account Settings > Branding.

The magic link is how candidates access their portal going forward — no password required. Links are valid for 7 days. Candidates can request a new link anytime by entering their email.

The Candidate Portal

The candidate portal is a personal dashboard where candidates track all their applications. They access it via the magic link in their confirmation email.

What Candidates See

For each application, the portal shows:

Element	Description
Job title	The position they applied for
Status badge	Active (blue), Rejected (red), Withdrawn (gray), or Offered (green)
Current stage	The name of the stage they’re currently in
Progress bar	Visual indicator of how far they are through the pipeline
Stage description	The Candidate Description you configured on the current stage

Action Required Alerts

When a candidate needs to do something — complete a questionnaire, upload a portfolio, record a video, or start a code assignment — a yellow alert box appears with a clear call-to-action button. This makes it obvious what’s expected of them at each step.

Awaiting Review

When a candidate has completed their submission and is waiting for your team to review, the portal shows an “awaiting review” status. If you configured a screening message on the Application Form stage, that message appears here too.

Stage Submissions

Each stage type has a dedicated submission page that candidates access from their portal:

Questionnaire

Candidates see each question with a text area to write their response. Questions can be required or optional. A word or character limit is displayed if configured.

Portfolio Upload

Candidates upload files via drag and drop or file picker. The page shows accepted file types and the maximum number of files allowed. PDFs and images are accepted out of the box; to take archives, screen recordings or layered design files, name those extensions on the stage.

If you configured a brief on the stage, the same page becomes a take-home task and moves through four states:

State	What the candidate sees
Before starting	The stage name, the payment amount if the stage is paid, the estimated effort, and how many days they’ll have. The brief itself is not on the page yet.
After pressing Start task	The deadline with the time left next to it, the brief, and the upload area below it. An extension button, if you allowed one.
Past the deadline	A banner naming the moment uploads actually close. Uploading still works until then.
After submitting	A receipt with the timestamp and the filenames, the brief collapsed underneath. The receipt stays readable afterwards, so a candidate who closes the tab can come back and confirm what arrived. Submitting is final — there is no re-upload.

Starting the task is what begins the clock, so a candidate can read the summary, judge whether they have time this week, and start when they’re ready.

Video

Candidates watch an embedded or uploaded video. If a minimum watch percentage is configured, they need to watch at least that much before the stage marks as complete.

Video Recording

Candidates record a video response directly in the browser. The recording prompt (configured by your team) is displayed to guide their response.

Code Assignment

If GitHub integration is set up, candidates connect their GitHub account and receive access to a private repository created from your template. The page shows:

• Duration (deadline)
• Estimated hours
• Whether the assignment is paid (and the payment amount)
• A link to the GitHub repository once it’s created

When the candidate finishes, they submit their assignment. If they don’t submit before the deadline, Kit auto-submits their work.

Live Interview

Candidates see their scheduled interview details — date, time, duration, and meeting link. They can confirm attendance or request to reschedule (if within the allowed reschedule window).

Magic Links

Candidates authenticate via magic links — there’s no password to remember. Key details:

• Magic links are included in the application confirmation email and stage notification emails
• Each link is valid for 7 days
• If a link expires, candidates visit the portal URL and enter their email to receive a new one
• Kit protects against email enumeration — it always shows a success message regardless of whether the email exists

Candidate Description Tips

The Candidate Description field on each stage is public: it appears in the hiring process timeline on the job page, on the template gallery, and in stage notification email, not only in the portal. Write it for anyone reading the posting.

Do	Don’t
Explain what’s expected at this stage	Leave it blank — candidates will be confused
Set realistic time expectations	Promise specific review turnaround times you can’t guarantee
Mention any preparation materials	Use internal jargon candidates won’t understand
Include contact info for questions	Assume candidates remember instructions from earlier emails
Keep task instructions and task links in the stage Brief	Paste a Drive or Figma link here — it’s published with the job

The brief is the private counterpart, readable only by a candidate who reached the stage and started the task.

Quick Checklist

• Write clear Candidate Description text for every stage — remembering it’s public
• Put take-home instructions and their links in the stage Brief instead
• Set up screening messages so candidates know their application is being reviewed
• Configure salary information on job postings for transparency
• Keep your job descriptions concise — candidates read on mobile too
• Test the candidate experience by applying to a test job yourself
• Verify magic link emails are being delivered (check your email provider)
• Branded candidate emails
• Use the “What to Expect” section preview to make sure it reads well