What it means
A candidate audit trail is the record of actions, decisions, communications, status changes, approvals, reviewer notes, and data updates connected to a candidate's hiring process. In software, it may capture timestamps, user identity, source records, scorecard changes, disposition reasons, consent events, and handoffs between recruiting systems.
Why buyers should care
Candidate audit trails help recruiting teams explain what happened, resolve disputes, investigate errors, and maintain operational consistency. Without a clear trail, teams may not know who changed a stage, why a candidate was rejected, whether feedback was completed, or which records were shared with another system. Auditability is especially important when workflows involve multiple reviewers or compliance-sensitive hiring steps.
Evaluation checks
Review which events are logged, whether logs are immutable enough for operational review, how long records are retained, and who can access or export them. Check whether the trail includes approvals, overrides, emails, integrations, disposition reasons, and candidate consent events. Logs should be practical for recruiters and compliance owners to inspect.
This glossary entry is buyer-oriented guidance, not legal, compliance, or financial advice.