*Updated for Spring 2025 Release*
Introduction
Evolve Recruitment Marketing (RM) gathers candidates from multiple sources, including the ATS, job boards, talent networks, and imports. By default, Evolve RM checks duplicate profiles based on an email address. Please see the FAQ for Merging Candidate Profiles by Email for additional information. NOTE: This feature is enabled by default and cannot be disabled.
In addition to checks based on email, you can enable another duplicate management feature that will merge candidates with the same first name, last name, and phone number. The enablement of Merge Candidates with the same First Name, Last Name, and Phone Number helps minimize manual effort by reducing the need for candidate profile merging.
Audience
All Users
Prerequisites for Enabling Merge Candidates with the Same First Name, Last Name, and Phone Number
To enable this feature for your account, please submit a Help Center ticket. Once activated, it will automatically process new data. If you need historical data processed, mention this in your support ticket. Processing historical data will not affect your reporting.
Manual Profile Merge based on Phone Number
The following manual actions will trigger merging candidate profiles based on phone number:
- Editing a candidate’s first name, last name, or SMS number so that all three match an existing candidate.
- Changing a candidate’s primary profile, making their first name, last name, and SMS number match an existing candidate.
In both cases, you will receive a warning before the candidate is merged into an existing profile.
FAQ for Merging Candidate Profiles by Email
NOTE: The behaviors described below reflect default merge candidate profile logic in Evolve RM. Additional matching based on first name, last name, and phone number is available once the duplicate prevention feature is enabled.
Q. When does profile merging occur in Source & CRM?
A. Resumes and profiles that enter Evolve RM with the same email address (including any contact email for candidates with multiple emails) are merged into a single candidate record. The source of the resume or profile (e.g., Job Board, ATS, or Import, etc.) does not affect this process. Once merged, a default resume or profile is selected.
Q. How is the default (primary) profile determined when profiles are merged?
A. The system first checks the CRM setting for selection: ATS Profile or Most Recent Profile.
- ATS Profile (Default Setting) - If selected, the ATS profile becomes the default. The newest ATS profile (based on resume age) is the default if a candidate has multiple ATS profiles.
- Most Recent Profile - If selected, the most recently added profile, regardless of the source, is set as the default.
- ATS Profile with Most Recent Application – If selected, the ATS profile with the most recent application becomes the default.
- Manually Set Default Profiles - If a recruiter manually designates a default profile, it remains unchanged even after merging newer profiles.
- Visitor or Referral Profiles - These will never be the default profile.
Q. Can a user manually set a specific profile as the default?
A. Yes. Recruiters can manually select a primary profile by navigating to the Profiles tab, choosing a non-primary profile, and selecting Set as Primary. Once set, the primary profile remains unchanged even when new profiles are added.
Q. What criteria are used to merge candidates and profiles?
A. The primary criterion for merging candidates is an identical email address. However, there are exceptions:
- Inbound Text Message Candidates: If a temporary candidate is created via an inbound text message (without an email), the system merges it with another candidate having the same SMS number, preserving the message history.
- Visitors: Initially merged based on the visitor’s web tracking ID. Once the candidate provides an email address, merging is based on the email.
Q. How does Evolve RM handle candidates with multiple profiles?
A. When multiple profiles share the same email, they are merged under a single candidate. The system allows up to fifty profiles per candidate. Once this limit is reached, new profiles will no longer be merged into that candidate, and additional profiles will be created as separate candidates. This limit helps maintain system performance for backend processing and the recruiter UI.
Q. What data is displayed on a merged candidate profile?
A. Contact Information
- The contact details come from the primary/default profile.
- If a new profile becomes the default, the contact information is updated accordingly.
- NOTE: The overall contact information may be affected if the new primary profile has incomplete or lower-quality contact data.
Work History, Education, and Summary (Overview Tab)
- Displayed from the default profile.
- The Profiles tab allows viewing each profile's specific work history, education, and summary details.
Applications
- Applications from all profiles are displayed and grouped by profile.
Other Fields
- All collected field data from merged profiles is shown.
- If multiple profiles contain the same field, the value from the primary profile takes precedence. You can expand the Show All section to view detailed field data.
Q. What happens to edited data when profiles are merged?
A. Contact Data - Manually edited contact details precede data from new primary profiles. Once edited, future profile merges will not overwrite contact data.
Custom Fields - If you edit a custom field, the edited data will be shown on the profile, and the new data will be stored in the Show All section but will not be searchable.
Examples of Merging Candidates with Custom Field Data:
- If both candidates have edited Field A, the most recently updated value remains; the value from the other profile is not saved.
- If Field A was edited in one profile and Field B in another, the resulting candidate will have both fields.
- If a profile with no value for Field A is merged with one with an edited Field A, the edited value is retained.
- If an original value exists in one profile but an edited value in another, the edited value takes precedence, while the original remains in Show All.
- If two candidates have the same original field, the primary profile’s value is retained, and the other is stored in Show All.
Q. How can I merge two candidates with different or missing emails?
- Open the candidate whom you want to merge into another one.
- Edit contact info.
- Modify the email address to match the other candidate’s profile or add the other candidate’s email as either a primary or secondary email.
- A prompt will appear to confirm the merge.
- Once confirmed, the candidates will merge, and the default profile will be chosen based on the CRM setting.