Candidate submittal checklist before you send

Published 6 October 2026. Updated 6 October 2026.

Most submittal errors are not dramatic. They are small slips made under time pressure: a wrong figure, a missing detail, a name left over from the previous email. A client who spots one starts to doubt the rest. A short, repeatable check before you hit send takes a few minutes and protects the relationship.

This guide is a checklist plus the mistakes it exists to catch. If you need help writing the email itself, see how to write a candidate submittal email.

What to check before you send

Work through this in order, with the CV, your interview notes and the requisition open next to the draft.

Identity and addressing

1. The candidate's name is spelled the same everywhere: subject line, body, summary, attachment file name.
2. The client contact's name and company are right. Check the To line, not only the greeting.
3. The role title matches the requisition exactly.
4. No leftover text from a previous submittal: another candidate's name, another client, another role.

Facts

1. Years of experience match the CV and your notes. If they differ, resolve it with the candidate before sending.
2. Job titles, employers and dates match the CV.
3. Every skill or tool named in the email appears in the CV or in a note.
4. Qualifications, licences or certifications named are ones the candidate actually holds. If a licence is a requirement of the role, confirm the detail with the candidate.
5. Numbers such as team size or results are exactly what the candidate said or wrote, not rounded up.

Practical details

1. Notice period is stated, or marked as to be confirmed.
2. Location, relocation and remote preferences are stated if the role depends on them.
3. Work authorisation is stated if the client asks, and only in the form the candidate agreed to share.
4. Availability to interview is given as real times or a clear follow-up date.
5. Compensation is included only if the client expects it and the candidate agreed to share it.

Content that should stay out

1. No personal details unrelated to the job, such as age, marital status or children. Ask your own counsel what your firm must never pass on.
2. No private opinions you cannot support.
3. Nothing the candidate asked you to keep confidential.

Format and delivery

1. The attachments are the right files, in the format the client wants.
2. The summary fits on one page if that is the client's habit.
3. The tone matches this client, not your default.
4. Links, if any, open.

Which mistakes does the checklist catch?

What if your sources disagree?

Candidates do not always give consistent answers, and CVs go out of date. A conflict in your sources is not a sign you did something wrong. It is a sign that you need one more message to the candidate. The bad outcome is a draft that quietly picks one version and moves on.

The same goes for gaps. If the requisition asks for something and you have no evidence, there are only two honest options: find out, or say plainly that it is not confirmed. Do not write around it.

How to make the check faster

You can cut the time this takes with a few habits:

• Take notes in a consistent order, so the notice period and location are never forgotten.
• Write down the source of each number as you note it, such as "CV line 2".
• Keep the checklist where you draft, not in a separate document you forget to open.
• Read the To line last, after everything else is done.

How ClearSubmittal does this step

ClearSubmittal runs part of this checklist in code before you see the draft. It reads the CV, interview notes and requisition, cites the quote behind each factual sentence, and lists conflicting numbers, missing fields such as salary, requirements with no evidence and sentences it could not match to a source.

Those leftovers appear as flags, and they are listed in their own file so you can settle them. A figure that conflicts between your notes and the CV is left out of the draft, and a missing field is left out rather than guessed. A second AI model also reviews every result, fixes what it can and lists what remains. It is model output, so you still do the final read, and the tool never sends, scores or ranks a candidate. One submittal is 1 credit. To try it with your own files, sign up.

Questions

What is the most common mistake in a candidate submittal?

Inconsistent facts: the email, the summary and the CV give different years of experience, dates or titles. It is easy to introduce when you edit quickly, and it is the first thing a careful client notices.

Is it fine to send a submittal with a missing salary figure?

Often yes, if you say it is to be confirmed and your client does not require it. If the client expects compensation up front, get it from the candidate before you submit.

Who should double check a submittal before it goes out?

The recruiter who wrote it should read it last against a written checklist, with the CV and interview notes open. If a colleague can spare two minutes, a second read catches slips the author no longer sees, such as a wrong client name.