Process
How a Keelfield search runs.
Every search runs the same 7 stages. Each one has an owner and leaves a record. This page is all of it, including the parts that are inconvenient for us.
The stages
Brief to offer, in order
Each stage has an owner and leaves a record. The recorded line under each stage is what you can ask to see.
Brief
Your recruiter, with you
We take the brief from the person who will manage the hire. Systems, seniority, working pattern, and the 2 things that would make you say no.
Recorded The brief, the must-haves, and the pay range where the law requires one.
Sourcing and ranking
Model
Models search across sources and rank every candidate against the brief, not against a keyword list.
Recorded Every candidate considered, with the ranking and the reason.
Ranked-list review
Your recruiter
Your recruiter reviews the ranked list and decides who moves forward. They can override any ranking.
Recorded Who moves forward, who does not, and why. Any override.
First-round screen
Model, reviewed by your recruiter
A structured first-round screen, run by a model against the brief. Your recruiter reviews the results and decides who continues.
Recorded The transcript and the recruiter's decision.
Practice screen
Someone who has done the job
A working engineer for engineering roles, someone who has practised in the area for legal, an operator for corporate. Against the specifics from the brief.
Recorded The screen notes and who ran the screen.
Shortlist
Your recruiter
Up to 5 people we would defend, each with the screen notes, availability, expectations, work authorization, and a plain note on where they are weaker.
Recorded The shortlist and the reason for each inclusion.
Interviews and offer
You, with your recruiter managing
You interview. We brief candidates, keep the process moving, and handle the offer and counter-offer conversations.
Recorded The outcome.
A named recruiter reviews every shortlist and has the final say on who moves forward.
For employers
Tools and records
Automated tools are used at stages 2, 4, and 5 of every search: sourcing and ranking, the first-round screen, and assessment scoring. Compensation benchmarking across US and international markets uses the same tools.
We keep the selection record for every search: who was considered, how they were ranked, and every decision a person made. Several US states now require employers to give candidates notice when automated tools are used, and we give you what you need for yours.
We name the tools we use in the engagement documents.
Data
Candidate data and your data
Résumés and attachments go to private storage on Cloudflare and never to a public URL. Nothing a candidate sends us goes to you until they have seen the role and agreed to that submission.
What we keep, for how long, and how to have it removed is in the privacy policy. How automated tools treat candidate data is on the AI in hiring page.
Questions
Before you send a role
Who owns my search?
A named recruiter in the United States. You get their name at the brief, and they are the person you call. They review the ranked list and every shortlist before you see it.
What does the model actually decide?
It ranks, it runs the structured first-round screen, and it scores assessments against the brief. Your recruiter decides who moves forward at every stage and can override any ranking.
What arrives in a shortlist?
Up to 5 people. Each comes with the screen notes and who ran the screen, availability and notice, rate or salary expectation, work authorization and location, and a plain note on where they are weaker. We send fewer than 5 rather than pad it.
Where do candidates come from?
US and international markets. Compensation is benchmarked across them, so you see what the role costs in each before you decide where to hire.
How fast is it?
We give you a target date at the brief and tell you as soon as we know we are going to miss it. We do not publish an average we have not earned.
Send the role and see the stages run
A named recruiter reads it and comes back with what the market will supply at your rate, and whether we are the right firm for it.