Building the Approved Pool

From application to introduction-ready.

4 min readUpdated May 10, 2026

Why this matters

The Approved Pool is the asset that makes you fast. The bigger and better-screened it is, the shorter your placement timelines.

The candidate stages, in order

  • New: just applied; not yet contacted.

  • Phone Screen Scheduled / Phone Screen Complete: initial 20-30 minute call.

  • In-Person Scheduled / In-Person Complete: longer in-person or video conversation.

  • Reference Check: three references in flight.

  • Background Check: Checkr running (or about to be).

  • Approved Pool: cleared every stage; ready to introduce to families.

  • Placed / Rejected / Withdrew: terminal.

Working a candidate through the pool

  1. Use the NBA button on the candidate detail panel; it tells you the next move at every stage.

  2. After the in-person interview, click 'Start reference check'. This generates the reference check Doc and advances the candidate to 'Reference Check'.

  3. Use the References section on the detail panel to track the 3 references through pending → contacted → scheduled → complete.

  4. Once all references are complete, the candidate auto-advances to 'Background Check'.

  5. When Checkr returns clear, advance to 'Approved Pool'.

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