To keep recruiting workflows efficient and data-driven, Gem allows teams to customize candidate profiles and projects using custom fields. These fields ensure consistent data entry, improve searchability, and enhance reporting, helping hiring teams quickly filter, track, and analyze the information that matters most.
This article covers:
- Candidate custom fields: Used to capture key prospect details beyond Gem’s default profile fields, allowing for more targeted outreach and hiring insights.
- Project fields: Used to categorize and filter projects within Gem, making it easier to track hiring initiatives, manage talent pools, and align efforts across departments.
Candidate custom fields: tracking key prospect data
Candidate custom fields allow teams to track, record, and report on unique prospect or candidate data that isn’t covered by Gem’s default fields (e.g., name, work experience, contact info). These fields ensure that your recruiting pipelines are tailored to your hiring needs.
Setting up candidate custom fields
Only admins can create and manage candidate custom fields. To set them up:
- Navigate to the Prospects tab of your Admin settings page.
- Under Custom fields select the + New custom field button.
- In the pop-up that appears, Gem will prompt you to enter a Field Name, choose a Type (single-select, multi-select, date, or freeform text), and define the relevant Options for that field. Check the Required box to make this field mandatory when adding a new prospect to Gem.
- Select Create.
From this page, admins can also edit or hide existing candidate custom fields.
Using candidate custom fields
Once created, these fields appear in the Gem extension under Team Custom Fields. Users can fill them out by selecting the text box. If a required field is missing, Gem will prompt users to complete it when adding a prospect.
Recommended candidate custom fields
To improve tracking and reporting, consider using:
- DEI tag: Track diversity-related recruiting efforts.
- Skills: Identify competencies (e.g., Rails, Javascript, Java).
- Discipline: Categorize candidates by specialization (e.g., Frontend, Backend, Infrastructure, Security).
- Department: Aligns candidates with the hiring team (e.g., Engineering, Product, Design).
- Preferred language: Useful for multilingual hiring efforts.
- Location or Region: Helps track geographical availability (e.g., North America, APAC, San Francisco, Dublin).
Project fields: organizing projects for better insights
Project fields help teams organize and track Gem projects efficiently. These fields apply organization-wide, making it easier to filter, search, and analyze projects based on relevant criteria.
What are project fields?
Project fields allow teams to assign key attributes to each project. Examples include:
- Department or Cost center: Such as Engineering or Marketing.
- Req ID: For job-related projects.
- Project type: Such as Job, Event, Talent Pool, or Referral.
- Location or Region: For location-specific projects.
Project fields can be single-select, multi-select, or freeform text, and may be required for consistency. Users choose values when creating a project and can later filter their Projects page using these fields. As organizations scale, additional fields like ‘Recruiting Team’ and ‘Grade/Seniority Level’ may provide deeper insights.
Setting up project fields
Only admins can create and manage project fields. To set them up:
- Navigate to the Prospects tab of your Admin settings page.
- Under Project fields select the + New project field button.
- In the pop-up that appears, Gem will prompt you to enter a Field Name, choose a Type (single-select, multi-select, or freeform text), and define the relevant Options for that field. Check the Required box to make this field mandatory when adding a new project to Gem.
- Select Create New Field.
From this page, admins can also edit or hide existing project fields.
Setting up project custom fields
In addition to the team-wide project fields your team admins can create, you can also create custom project fields for a project. To set them up:
- Navigate to the Projects page and select a project.
- Select the Options dropdown from within your project, and then select Edit project custom fields from the list.
- Select the Clone from another project button to clone custom project fields from an existing project, or create a new field by selecting the + New Custom Field button.
- You will be required to name the new field, select a field type, and the options for that field if you are creating a single or multi-select field.
Best practices for using project fields
When implementing project fields, consider how your team currently organizes projects and choose fields that will enhance clarity and efficiency.
- Start simple: Use as few fields as possible while covering essential needs. As your team starts using them, you can iterate and refine based on usage.
- Make key fields required: This ensures consistency across all projects.
- Use intuitive categories: Choose field names and values that align with your team’s workflow.
- Adjust as needed: It’s normal to refine project fields over time as your organization scales.
Recommended project fields
We suggest making these fields required to keep projects organized:
- Department or Cost center: Align with your careers page or ATS for consistency.
- Location or Region: Match locations listed in your careers page or Gem ATS.
- Project type: Job, Event, Referral, Talent Pool, Other.
Additional Fields to consider
Depending on your team’s needs, you might also use:
- Grade/Seniority Level: Such as ‘Junior (1-3 years)’, ‘Mid (4-9 years)’, ‘Senior (10+ years)’, ‘Management’.
- Diversity & underrepresented groups: Track DEI-related initiatives.
- Nurture status: Such as ‘Silver Medalists’, ‘Uncontacted: Save for Later’.
➡️ Next, you’ll create a Project in Gem!
Have any issues or questions on this topic? Please feel free to contact your dedicated Gem Customer Success Manager directly or our Support team at support@gem.com.
- Candidate custom fields: tracking key prospect data
- Setting up candidate custom fields
- Using candidate custom fields
- Recommended candidate custom fields
- Project fields: organizing projects for better insights
- What are project fields?
- Setting up project fields
- Setting up project custom fields
- Best practices for using project fields
- Recommended project fields
- Additional Fields to consider