> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.equip.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Changing Stages

> Move candidates through your pipeline, and control the emails that go out.

Moving a candidate to a new stage is the most common action in the Equip ATS. Depending on the stage you pick, Equip shows a contextual dialog: a simple move, a rejection flow, or an invitation flow with a full email preview.

<Note>
  Equip never emails candidates automatically. Every stage-change email is triggered by you, and you always see exactly what will be sent before it goes out.
</Note>

## Moving Candidates Between Stages

You can change stages from the applications dashboard in both **Table** and **Kanban** views, for one candidate or many at once.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Select the candidates">
    Open a candidate, or select multiple candidates in the table to use the bulk **change stage** action.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick the target stage">
    Choose the destination stage from the stage dropdown. The dialog that opens depends on the type of stage you are moving to.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review and confirm">
    For invitation stages, review the email preview, set an optional Reply-To and schedule, then send. For a simple move, just confirm.
  </Step>
</Steps>

What happens next depends on the target stage:

| Target stage                                                                      | Dialog you see                                                       |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Phone Screening**, **Hired**, **Withdrawn**, other stages without an email step | Simple move, no email involved                                       |
| **Rejected**                                                                      | Rejection dialog with a reason dropdown and optional rejection email |
| **Assessment**, **One-Way AI Interview**, **Conversational AI Interview**         | Invitation dialog with email preview and a credit notice             |
| **Video Interview**, **Custom**                                                   | Invitation dialog with email preview, no credits involved            |

Assessment and AI interview invitations consume **credits**. The dialog states the cost up front, for example "We'll deduct N credit(s) now." along with "Reclaimable if not attempted." As a baseline, an assessment costs 1 credit per candidate, a one-way AI interview costs 1 or 2 credits depending on question count, and a conversational AI interview costs 2 credits (Quick) or 3 credits (Comprehensive).

<Note>
  Assessments with more than 2 tests can carry an extra per-test deduction, for example "We'll deduct 0.5 credits per candidate when they start the third test." The invitation dialog always spells out the exact policy before you send.
</Note>

<Warning>
  If your team's balance cannot cover the invitations, the move is blocked with "Insufficient credits (need X, have Y)". Top up your balance and try again.
</Warning>

## Rejections and Statuses

Moving candidates to the **Rejected** stage opens the **Reject candidate(s)** dialog. Pick a rejection reason from the dropdown; these reasons power the "Rejections by reason" chart in ATS Insights, so consistent tagging pays off later.

The 10 rejection reasons are: **Not enough experience**, **Skills mismatch**, **Overqualified**, **Salary expectations too high**, **Location/relocation concerns**, **Culture fit**, **Position filled**, **Incomplete application**, **No response from candidate**, and **Other**.

The dialog also has a **Send rejection email to candidates** checkbox. It is off by default, so rejecting a candidate silently is a single click; tick the box only when you want the rejection email to go out.

Separately from the pipeline stage, every candidate carries a **status**. Stage and status answer different questions:

|              | Pipeline stage                                 | Candidate status                                 |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Answers      | Where is the candidate in the process?         | What is your verdict so far?                     |
| Values       | Your configured stages (Applied through Hired) | Applied, Maybe, Shortlisted, Rejected, Withdrawn |
| Changes when | You move the candidate                         | You update it independently, at any stage        |

<Tip>
  Use status as a lightweight triage layer. You can mark a candidate **Shortlisted** or **Maybe** while they are still sitting in an early stage, without touching the pipeline.
</Tip>

## The Email That Gets Sent

Invitation and rejection dialogs render the email from your **email templates**, filled in with the candidate's details, and show a preview before anything is sent. Each stage can have its own template attached in the pipeline builder.

| Stage type                                                    | Template used                      |
| ------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Assessment, One-Way AI Interview, Conversational AI Interview | Assessment/AI Interview Invitation |
| Video Interview                                               | Video Interview Invitation         |
| Custom                                                        | Custom Stage Invitation            |
| Rejected (checkbox ticked)                                    | Rejection Email                    |

To change the wording, edit the template rather than the individual email. Templates support variables like the candidate's name, the job title, and the test link; see [Email Templates](/email-templates).

<Warning>
  Candidates with an **unverified email** trigger a warning in the invite dialog and receive no stage-change emails until their email address is verified. This applies to bulk-imported candidates in particular; you can copy a verification link from their profile to share with them.
</Warning>

Every action is logged. The **Candidate Journey** tab records the stage change itself plus events like "sent/scheduled assessment invite", "sent/scheduled AI interview invite", and "sent/scheduled rejection email", so your team can always see who sent what and when.

## Reply-To and Scheduling

Before sending, the dialog gives you two controls over delivery.

**Reply-To** sets who receives candidate replies. Pick any team member; it defaults to you. If no Reply-To is set, the email is sent from **[no-reply@equip.co](mailto:no-reply@equip.co)** and replies go nowhere.

**Schedule Send** delays delivery instead of sending immediately:

| Unit    | Range       |
| ------- | ----------- |
| Minutes | 1 to 10,080 |
| Hours   | 1 to 168    |
| Days    | 1 to 7      |

All three units cap out at the same point: emails can be scheduled up to **7 days** in advance.

<Tip>
  Rejecting candidates late at night? Schedule the rejection emails for the next morning so they arrive during business hours.
</Tip>

## Related Resources

* [Pipeline Stages](/pipeline-stages) - Configure the stages, templates, and assignees candidates move through
* [Email Templates](/email-templates) - Customize the invitation, rejection, and offer emails with variables
* [Candidates and CVs](/candidates-and-cvs) - Table and Kanban views, filters, and bulk actions on the dashboard
* [Reclaim Credits](/reclaim-credits) - Get credits back when invited candidates never attempt