---
name: candidate-source-research
description: Researches candidate profiles against a role brief and produces an evidence-linked sourcing shortlist with fit gaps, provenance, and follow-up questions. Use for recruiting research, talent sourcing, executive search, candidate comparison, or pipeline qualification.
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
  adlass.categories: "hr-people/recruiting"
  adlass.industries: ""
  adlass.tags: "candidate-sourcing,talent-research,profile-review,pipeline"
  adlass.adaptation: "reference-doc"
  adlass.source: "n8n:3259, n8n:5022"
  adlass.version: "1"
---

# Candidate source research

## Purpose

Turn role requirements and candidate source material into a comparable shortlist. Preserve what a profile actually says, distinguish verified employment evidence from self-reported claims, and surface the precise evidence still needed before a recruiter advances a person.

## Scope

Assess role fit using title, employer, dates, scope, skills, certifications, location, work authorization, compensation expectation, availability, and stated achievements. Include candidate records, resumes, portfolios, referrals, and interview notes, plus the supplied hiring rubric.

**Excluded:** protected-characteristic inference, medical or personality assessment, candidate contact, background-check conclusions, ranking based on names or photos, and changes to an applicant-tracking system.

## Data basis

- Role brief with must-have, preferred, seniority, location, travel, and start-date requirements.
- Candidate profile records, resumes, portfolios, referrals, and interview notes.
- Hiring rubric, source provenance, and duplicate-candidate identifiers.
- Optional run input for role, cohort, or shortlist size.

## Result

A sourcing shortlist document and Candidate research notes sheet with one row per candidate and criterion, evidence status, citation, gap, and proposed follow-up question.

## Quality criteria

- Every scored criterion cites a resume section, profile field, portfolio item, or interview-note location.
- Must-have criteria are separated from preferred criteria and missing evidence is not scored as failure.
- Candidate names, current roles, dates, and source locations remain traceable.
- Duplicate profiles are merged only when two identifiers support the match.
- No protected trait is inferred or used in a comparison.

## Instructions

Apply the supplied rubric exactly; if absent, use pass, evidence-needed, and not-matched without inventing weights. Verify chronology by checking overlapping employment dates and label simultaneous roles rather than resolving them. Treat a claim such as “led a global team” as unverified until team size, period, and source are present. Keep rejected candidates in the sheet with the unmet or unassessed criterion. Use neutral questions for gaps and never convert silence into a negative.

## Adapt before use

- Add the hiring rubric, role architecture, and approved evidence standards to the fixed scope.
- Define privacy, retention, redaction, and access rules for candidate material.
- Specify whether location, work authorization, compensation, or start date are hard filters.