How are drop-offs different from rejections?

Rejections occur when a company makes the decision to remove a candidate from the recruiting process.

Drop-offs occur when a candidate decides on their own not to proceed with the recruiting process.


How do you categorize what is a drop-off vs rejection?

When Datapeople first integrates with your Applicant Tracking System, we work with your Account Admins to map all candidate stages and statuses--if there are unknown or unclear entries, we will collaborate with you during onboarding to clarify them.

Some ATSs have specific statuses or reason fields.

Ex. Greenhouse has two categories:

    • “We Rejected Them” which maps to a rejection in Datapeople
    • “They Rejected Us” which maps to a drop-off in Datapeople. 

Some ATSs have or allow users to create specific end stages for candidates.

For example, a candidate who did not succeed in an interview could be moved from

First Round Interview -> Rejected: Not Qualified

or a candidate who declined an offer could be moved from

Offer Extended -> Offer Declined

which would be considered a Dropoff.

Other ATSs have free text fields

which are distinct from the stages which we use to determine the candidate's outcome.

Any text that is too complex or niche will often be categorized to an “Unknown” category.


You can read more about our suggestions on collecting clean and informative candidate attrition data here.


If it seems as though your rejections/dropoffs are being mapped incorrectly, contact your Datapeople Account Rep for assistance.

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