Candidate Profile Sharing: How to Get External Feedback Without Creating Accounts

Problem: feedback without access to ATS

In any recruitment process, the hiring decision rarely belongs to one person. Hiring managers, team leads, department directors, external consultants - everyone can have a say in the evaluation of candidates. But not everyone has (or should have) accounts in the ATS system.

The traditional solution is painfully inefficient: the recruiter downloads the candidate's CV, attaches it to an email along with a handwritten summary, sends it to the evaluator, waits for feedback (usually a vague phrase in a reply), and then transcribes that feedback back into the ATS. This process consumes time, loses context and generates fragments of information scattered in inboxes.

Another frequent solution iscreating additional accountsin ATS. But this approach has two major problems: (1) cost - many ATS platforms bill per user, and adding accounts for people who access the system infrequently increases the cost unjustifiably, and (2) complexity - creating, training and managing accounts for people who will use them a few times a year is an effort disproportionate to the real need.

The real need is simple:allows someone to view a candidate's profile and leave feedback, without the need for an account, without the need for training and without compromising data security.

How does sharing work in Treegarden

Treegarden solves this problem through a dedicated functionalitycandidate profile sharingvia secure link. Here's the full process:

What the external evaluator sees:When accessing the link, the evaluator sees a read-only page with the candidate's profile, clearly and professionally formatted. Depending on the settings chosen during generation, he can see: contact information, complete CV, professional experience, education, skills, evaluations from interviews (if they were included) and, optionally, a form through which he can leave his own feedback.

No account required:The external evaluator does not have to log in, create an account or install anything. Access the link directly from the browser - from your desktop, laptop, tablet or phone. The experience is fluid and without barriers.

Security and sharing control

The sharing of candidate data raises legitimate security and confidentiality questions. Treegarden addresses these concerns through several layers of protection:

Tokenuri HMAC SHA256:Each sharing link contains a cryptographically generated token using the HMAC SHA256 algorithm. This token cannot be guessed, manufactured or modified. Each token is unique and linked to a single candidate profile.

Expirare automata:The links expire automatically on the set date. After expiration, any access attempt displays a clear and professional "Link Expired" message. There are no "grace windows" or partial access after expiration - security is binary.

Revocare instantanee:If the circumstances change (the candidate withdrew his application, the process was cancelled, the link was sent by mistake), you can revoke any active link with a single click. Revocation is instant - the link immediately becomes invalid.

Control granular al vizibilitatii:Not all information must be visible to all evaluators. The "Profile without notes" option hides the recruitment team's internal notes (which may contain informal evaluations, comparisons with other candidates or sensitive information) while showing the rest of the profile. The "CV only" option limits visibility exclusively to the CV document, without additional information added by the team.

Tracking-ul vizualizarilor

You need to know not only that you sent a link, but also if it was accessed. Treegarden offers detailed tracking for each sharing link:

Tracking is useful not only for monitoring, but also forspeeding up the recruitment process. If you sent a link 3 days ago and the number of views is 0, you know that the evaluator has not seen the profile yet and you can send a reminder. If the views are 5+ but you have not received feedback, you know that it has been accessed and you can request the feedback directly.

Practical use cases

Sharing the candidate profile covers multiple scenarios from the daily practice of recruitment:

Evaluation by the hiring manager:The most common scenario. The recruiter does the initial screening, selects a shortlist of 3-5 candidates and sends the profile links to the hiring manager for evaluation. The manager reviews the profiles in the link, leaves feedback (if the form is activated) and the recruiter receives the evaluation directly in the ATS, associated with the correct candidate.

Collaboration with external recruiters:When you work with recruitment agencies or headhunters, they can send candidates that are added to the ATS. Profiles can then be shared with internal hiring managers without giving the agency access to the entire system.

Evaluarea clientilor (pentru agentii):If you are a recruitment agency and work for external clients, the secure sharing of profiles is essential. The client sees exactly the candidates you have selected, with the relevant information, without access to your complete candidate database or other clients' processes.

Providing context for reference checking:When requesting references for a candidate, you can share a link with the profile (without internal notes) to the person providing the reference. This can see the candidate's profile as you know it and provide more contextual and relevant feedback.

Gestionarea link-urilor active

As you share multiple profiles, it's important to have an overview of your active links. Treegarden facilitates this management in several ways:

List of shares per candidate:In each candidate's profile, the sharing section shows all generated links - active, expired and revoked. You can quickly see: when each link was created, when it expires, how many views it had and if it is still active.

Revocarea rapida:If a process ends or circumstances change, you can revoke active links directly from the sharing list. One click and the link becomes invalid instantly.

Regenerarea link-urilor:If a link has expired but you need continuous access (for example, the evaluator did not get to access the link in time), you can generate a new link with the same settings or with different settings. The old link remains expired - there is no possibility to "extend" an existing link, which ensures strict access control.

Good management practices:

• Review active links monthly and revoke those that are no longer needed
• Use short expirations (1-7 days) for urgent evaluations and long expirations (30 days) only when the process is long
• When you close a position, check and revoke all sharing links associated with the respective candidates
• Do not share links on public channels (chat groups with multiple members, emails with extended CC) - send each link individually to the intended reviewer

Integration in the recruitment flow

Profile sharing is not an isolated functionality - it integrates naturally into the complete recruitment flow in Treegarden:

Dupa screening initial:The recruiter evaluates the applications, selects the right candidates, and shares the profiles with the hiring manager for validation before scheduling interviews. This step eliminates the situation in which the recruiter schedules interviews with candidates whom the hiring manager rejects after the first look at the CV.

Dupa interviuri:After a candidate passes interviews with the recruiting team, the complete profile (including interview scores) can be shared with the department manager or CEO for final approval. This sharing provides all the necessary context for an informed decision.

In collaborative processes:When the hiring decision involves several evaluators (for example, an interview panel with members from different departments), each can receive a link to the same candidate profile. The feedback of each evaluator is collected and centralized in the candidate's profile in ATS.

Secure sharing of profiles removes artificial barriers from the evaluation process. You no longer have to wait until the manager takes the time to log in to the ATS. You no longer need to copy data from ATS in emails. You no longer need to create expensive accounts for people who rarely use them. You send a link, the evaluator accesses it when it suits him, and the feedback returns to the ATS. Simple, secure and efficient - exactly how recruitment collaboration should work.