# How to Build a Hiring Overview That Actually Saves You Time

> Learn how to build a visual hiring overview that tracks every candidate and saves you hours a week.

- **Author:** David Verbustel
- **Category:** tmgXwfBTmoDvzx4s5EcX
- **Published:** 2026-04-01
- **Language:** en

## The Situation: You’re playing detective.
Hiring is a lot of work, and let's be honest—you already have a day job. Playing detective across LinkedIn, your email inbox, and five different spreadsheets just to see who applied today shouldn't be part of it.
When your hiring process is scattered, you lose good candidates, you annoy your team, and you waste hours doing manual admin work.
## The Solution: A single source of truth.
Let's build a hiring overview that actively protects your time. No fluff. Just a simple, clear system that works. Whether you are hiring your first employee or your fiftieth, here is the ultimate guide to organizing your applicants in an online tool.
## Phase 1: Choosing the Right Tool Selection
Before you start building, you need to know where you are building. Which specific online tool best fits your budget, team size, and technical expertise?
Do you use a flexible workspace like Notion or Airtable? A simple tracker like Google Sheets or Trello? Or a dedicated hiring tool (ATS) like Workable or Joobs?
Here is a quick breakdown to help you decide:
#### The Scalability Test
Ask yourself: Will this tool still work efficiently if our hiring volume doubles next year, or will it become cluttered and slow? If you're using a spreadsheet, the answer is almost always that it will break. Pick a tool that grows with you.
### Do you need a mobile app?
If you or your hiring managers travel often, check if the tool has a mobile app. You want to be able to review a resume and move an applicant to the next stage while sitting on the train, not wait until you are chained to your desk.
## Phase 2: Data Intake & Management
The golden rule of hiring: You should only have to check one screen. If you're logging into three different websites to check for new applicants, it's just too much friction. Funnel everything into one spot.
### How does the data get in?
- The Hard Way: Manual data entry. You download a PDF from an email and type the candidate's name into your system. (Please don't do this).

- The Smart Way: Try to set up email forwarding or use a tool that pulls every application into one central dashboard automatically, no matter where the candidate found the job link. It feels so much better to have it all in one place.


### What data do you actually need?
Keep your candidate profiles clean. You really only need:
- Full Name

- Contact Info (Email & Phone)

- The role they applied for

- Resume file (Check your tool's document storage limits!)

- A link to their portfolio or LinkedIn

- Salary expectations


 ⚠️ WARNING: Do not let your tool become a digital dumping ground. If a tool doesn't handle file attachments neatly (like previewing a PDF without making you download it), it will slow you down every single day.
 Tip & Trick: Ask a couple of dealbreaker questions upfront.
If you get 200 applications, you really shouldn't have to read all 200 resumes. You can save yourself hours by asking a couple of quick questions right when they apply:
- Do you live within a 30-minute commute?

- Do you have the required certification?


If they check "no," your system can gently filter them out for you. It’s a tiny step, but it usually cuts your reading pile in half.
## Phase 3: Visualizing the Workflow
Staring at a massive grid of names and emails is tough on the eyes. Most of us process information much better with visual cues.
### Make your applicant overview visual
Try organizing your candidates into a Kanban board—simple columns you can drag and drop:
New Application ➔ Phone Screen ➔ Manager Review ➔ Interview ➔ Hired
This makes it so easy to see where things are stuck. If you have 40 people waiting in the "Manager Review" column, you know exactly what needs your team's attention today.
### Evaluation & Scoring
How will you know if a candidate was actually good? You need a quick way to score them.
- Keep it simple: A thumbs-up or thumbs-down.

- A bit more detail: Star ratings (1 to 5).

- Advanced: Standardized scorecards where interviewers rate specific skills.


Pick a tool that lets you score candidates directly on their profile card.
## Phase 4: Communication & Collaboration
Hiring is a team sport. If your communication is broken, your hiring process will be too.
### Internal Communication: Escape your inbox
Trying to remember what your coworker thought of a resume by digging through old email threads is super frustrating.
Instead, try to keep everyone's notes, thumbs-ups, and hesitations attached directly to the candidate's profile. When it’s time to make a decision, all the context you need is right there on the screen, rather than scattered across your inbox. Look for tools that let you @tag your teammates to send them a quick notification.
### External Communication: Talking to candidates
Can you email candidates directly from the tool? You want a system that logs your email history automatically. This way, if you are out sick, your coworker can look at a candidate's profile and see exactly what was said in the last email.
### Who gets to see what? (Permissions)
Not everyone needs the keys to the kingdom.
- Admins: Can see everything, change the pipeline, and view salary data.

- Hiring Managers: Can move candidates, leave notes, and read resumes.

- Interviewers: Can only view the specific candidate they are talking to and leave a scorecard.


## Phase 5: Advanced Magic & Maintenance
Once the basics are set up, you can start letting the software do the heavy lifting.
### Automation is your best friend
Are there repetitive tasks you do every day? Automate them.
- Auto-Reply: Send a friendly "We got your application!" email the second someone applies.

- Auto-Scheduling: Automatically email a calendar link when you drag a candidate into the "Interview" column.


### Save your "Silver Medalists" for later
It's always a bummer when you have three great candidates but only one open role. Don't just lose track of those runners-up!
Use simple tags in your tool so you can easily find them again:
- Skills: Graphic Design, B2B Sales

- Status: Silver Medalist, Great Culture Fit


When someone leaves six months from now, you might not even need to post a new job ad. You can just pull up your "Silver Medalist" list and reach out to see how they're doing.
### Integrations
Your hiring tool shouldn't live on an island. Make sure it talks to the software you already use:
- Google Calendar / Outlook: For seamless interview scheduling.

- Zoom / Google Meet: To automatically generate video links.

- Slack / Teams: To get a ping when a great candidate applies.


## Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Do I really need to move away from spreadsheets?Yes. Spreadsheets are great for numbers, but terrible for files and conversations. Once you have more than 10 applicants and 2 people reviewing them, a spreadsheet becomes a massive headache.
How long does it take to set up a proper hiring overview?If you use a flexible tool like Notion, it might take a few hours to build the templates and connect the forms. If you use a dedicated hiring tool like Joobs, it usually takes about 5 minutes.
Will candidates know if I automate my emails?Not if you write them well! Keep the tone warm and conversational. A quick, automated "Thank you for applying, we will get back to you by Friday" provides a much better experience than a week of total silence.
## The Easiest Way Forward
You could spend your weekend building complex formulas in a spreadsheet, hooking up third-party automation tools, and duct-taping a system together...
Or, you could just let a tool do it for you.
Joobs does all of this for you for free.
Joobs automatically gathers your applicants into one visual dashboard, handles the dealbreaker questions, keeps your team's notes organized, and lets you tag candidates for the future.
You can just log in and start talking to great people.
Would you like me to help you draft the specific "dealbreaker" questions for your next job opening?
(Book a Demo)

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*Source: [Joobs.be](https://joobs.be/en/blog/how-to-build-a-hiring-overview-that-actually-saves-you-time)*