Decline candidate
Record that the candidate withdrew or said no — captures a reason for your reports. Different from Deny (which is when you reject the candidate).
“Decline” records that the candidate said no to the opportunity — they pulled themselves out. It captures a reason so you can later report on why candidates are passing on offers.
When to use this
Use Decline when the candidate told you they’re not interested anymore — pulled their application, accepted another offer, changed plans. Use the separate Deny action when you are rejecting them. The two look similar but the data they capture is different and feeds different reports.
How to open it
- Find the candidate on the kanban.
- Open the applicant menu on the card.
- Pick Decline. The sidebar slides in from the right.
What you fill in
Field
What it does
Candidate
Read-only list of the candidate(s) being declined. Multi-select from the kanban is supported.
Decline reason
Dropdown of decline reasons your organization configured. Common entries: better offer, salary, location, role mismatch, accepted internal offer.
If the reason list is short or doesn’t fit
Decline reasons come from your organization’s customization settings. If the list doesn’t cover your case, ask your Nextal administrator to add a new reason — it then appears here for everyone.
Where the data shows up
Decline reasons feed the Decline reasons chart on the job’s Reports tab and the Candidate analytics report. If most of your decisions are salary-driven, the chart will make that obvious.
Who can do what
What you want to do
What you need
Decline a candidate
Edit access to applications on this job
See decline reasons in reports
Access to reports
Add or edit the reason list
Administrator on the customization page
Tips
- Decline ≠ Deny. Decline = candidate said no. Deny = you said no. Mixing them muddies your reports.
- Pick the most specific reason. “Other” is fine when nothing fits, but vague choices weaken the analytics.
- You can change a decline later. If the candidate changes their mind, reopen the sidebar and pick a different reason — or move them back to an earlier status on the kanban.