# Pipeline stages & moving candidates > How the two-axis pipeline works — stages you define, outcomes that never lose history — in board and table form. _Collection: Jobs & Pipeline (jobs-pipeline) — Kepler Help Center. Canonical: https://keplercrm.com/support/articles/pipeline-stages/_ Each job has a pipeline — the set of candidates in process. Open a job and select the **Pipeline** tab, where you can switch between a **board** (kanban) and a **table** view. ## Stages and outcomes — two separate things Every application tracks two things independently: - **Stage** — *where* the candidate is in your process. Stages are defined by your workspace (the default set is Sourced → Applied → Screen → Submitted → Client review → Interview → Offer) and fully customisable — see [Customising pipeline stages](/support/articles/customising-pipeline-stages/). - **Outcome** — *how it ended*: **placed**, **rejected** or **withdrawn**. Outcomes are not stages: rejecting a candidate at Interview doesn't drag their card backwards — it stamps the outcome and preserves the stage they reached, so your funnel history stays honest. See [Recording outcomes](/support/articles/recording-outcomes/). ## The board The kanban board shows one column per active stage and a **Placed** column for candidates whose outcome is placed. When applicants for the job are waiting for a decision, the board starts with a **New applicants** lane: click **Accept** on a card to add them at the stage it names, **Decline** to turn them down, drag the card onto any stage to accept them there, or open it to review the applicant first (see [Reviewing inbound applicants](/support/articles/review-inbound-applicants/)). In the table view, a line above the list says how many are waiting and links to the Review page. Drag a card to a new column — the stage updates immediately and the move is logged on both the job's and the candidate's History timeline. Cards can show **days in stage** and the candidate's AI match strength, so you can prioritise within a column. While dragging, drop zones for **Reject…** and **Withdraw…** appear so you can record an exit without leaving the board. Dropping a card on **Placed** opens the place dialog; dragging a card out of Placed onto a stage reopens it at that stage. Stage order is set for the whole workspace, so columns can't be reordered on a job's board. A column's **⋯** menu offers **Hide on this board** (just for you) and **Edit stages and order…**, which opens [the stage settings](/support/articles/customising-pipeline-stages/). ## Emails and interviews when a candidate moves Some moves offer a next step. Nothing is ever sent for you: every email opens as a draft in the composer, and only **Send** sends it. - **Into an interview stage** — a dialog offers to schedule the interview (see [Tracking interviews](/support/articles/tracking-interviews/)). **Skip** keeps the move without an interview. - **Into your submitted stage, an offer stage, or another stage with a matching email template** — Kepler asks *"Email [contact] about [candidate]?"*. **Draft** opens the template, picked for this client where one exists; **Skip** just closes it. The question only appears when a template fits. - **Reject** — when a rejection template fits, the reject dialog offers **Reject and draft** alongside plain **Reject**. - **Placed** — the **Place [candidate]** dialog confirms the Consultants and, when an offer template fits, offers **Mark placed and draft**. When Kepler suggests a stage move (for example from an email), the suggestion shows on the candidate's card. Accepting it opens the same dialog instead of moving the card straight away. ## The table Switch to table view for a full-power list of the pipeline's candidates — the same columns, filters, sorting and saved views as any record list, with application details (stage, outcome, dates) alongside candidate fields. ## Working several candidates at once To move or reject several applications together, open **Pipeline** in the sidebar, filter to the job you are working and select the relevant rows. Choose **Move to stage** and a destination, or **Reject** and complete the reason dialog. Review the result message before continuing: if some applications could not be updated, check those records and retry as needed. On a job's own Pipeline tab, switch to the table view and select rows to **Send to client** or **Reject from this job**. For work across several jobs, use the [Pipeline page](/support/articles/creating-submittals/). When preparing a shortlist for a client, see [Formatting and sending CVs](/support/articles/formatting-and-sending-cvs/) and [Sharing candidates with clients](/support/articles/sharing-candidates-with-clients/). ## Adding candidates to the pipeline - From the Pipeline tab, click **Add to pipeline** and choose an existing candidate from your database. - From a candidate's record, choose **Add to job**. - By **accepting an inbound applicant** from the New applicants lane or the Review page — they enter at the stage you pick, falling back to the posting's stage and then to the workspace's **Inbound default** stage. - By **accepting an AI match suggestion** from the job's Matching tab. ## Submitted tracking In **Settings → Jobs & pipeline** you choose the stage from which candidates count as submitted — when a candidate reaches that stage (or any stage after it), Kepler stamps their **submitted date** automatically. That's what powers the delivery funnel and the Submitted column on the [Pipeline page](/support/articles/creating-submittals/). ## Pipeline hygiene - Keep stage definitions honest — "Interview" should mean a confirmed client interview, not "sent the CV and hoping". - Record outcomes when candidates drop — the dashboard and reports read stage and outcome data, and stale pipelines produce fantasy forecasts. - Use the **Interviews** tab to log rounds, feedback and scheduling alongside the stage itself. > **NOTE:** The pipeline records applications — the link between one candidate and one job. A candidate can be in several pipelines at once, each with its own stage, outcome and history.