Advancing an application

Cards move by hand, and they move by themselves when a reply arrives. Both obey the same rule: an application goes forward through the stages, never back.

Moving a card

On a wide screen, drag the card into a lane. Right-click it for a Move menu instead. On a narrow screen, use the Move button on the card itself. Whichever you use, only the legal targets are offered, and a lane that cannot take the card will not accept the drop.

Which moves are allowed

From Draft, the only step forward is Applied. From Applied, either Acknowledged or straight to Responded. From Acknowledged, to Responded. From Responded, to Interview. From Interview, to Offer. Every one of those six stages can also be closed at any point to Rejected, Withdrawn or Removed.

There is no way back. Interview cannot return to Applied, and Rejected cannot return to Interview. The rule is enforced on the server, not only on the board, so it holds however the move was triggered. Rejected and Withdrawn have exactly one move left — on to Removed — and Removed has none at all.

There is one deliberate exception, and it is not really a move backwards. Preparing documents again for a role whose application had been Removed reopens it as a fresh Draft, rather than attaching new documents to a closed application. The old applied date is cleared with it, because it belonged to the abandoned attempt.

Recording that you applied

Nothing tells Rolehound you sent an application except you. On the Suggestions tab a Draft application shows Mark as applied, which is the quickest way; dragging the card from Draft to Applied does the same thing.

The applied date is stamped the first time an application reaches Applied or beyond, and that is the date everything else reads.

Recording an outcome

Close a card the same way you advance it. Withdrawn is for the ones you pulled out of; Rejected for the ones that ended with a no; Removed for the ones you no longer want on the board at all. Nothing is deleted — a closed card still holds its documents and its history.

Moves you did not make

With a mailbox connected, an employer's reply can move a card forward on its own, and a rejection is only ever flagged for you to confirm. See how a reply advances a card.

Every move, yours or otherwise, is written to your audit trail with what caused it.