Submittal
What a submittal is in staffing, how it differs from an application, how to calculate submittal-to-interview ratios, and the mistakes that cost agencies trust.October 4, 2026
4 min read
ATS & Recruiting
Written by the NextCrew team
Definition
A submittal is a recruiter's formal presentation of a candidate to a client for a specific job order, usually a resume or profile plus the recruiter's notes. In staffing, the submittal is the point where sourcing work becomes a client decision, and it is the step most recruiting metrics count from.
What does a submittal look like in practice?
It is a short, deliberate list, not a stack of resumes. For a candidate submittal, a recruiter takes a job order, shortlists candidates, confirms each one is interested and available, and sends the best two or three to the client with a short note on why each fits. On a VMS program the submittal goes through the client's portal instead of email, and the program's rules decide what has to be attached.
- Profile or resume, formatted the way the client expects.
- Recruiter notes, covering fit, availability, pay expectations and any concerns.
- Confirmation of interest, so the client never interviews someone who has not agreed to be presented.
- Right to represent, where the client or VMS program requires written permission from the candidate.
How do you measure submittals?
Count from the date of submission, and give each group time to finish its interviews before judging it. Two ratios show whether submittals are working, and both are simple division:
| Ratio | Formula | What a change usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Submittal-to-interview | Interviews ÷ submittals × 100 | Falling: the job order or the screening needs work |
| Submittal-to-placement | Placements ÷ submittals × 100 | Falling: candidates are interviewing but not closing |
| Submittals per order | Submittals ÷ job orders | Rising: recruiters are guessing instead of qualifying |
Illustrative example: a recruiter submits 30 candidates in a month, 12 are interviewed and 5 are placed. The submittal-to-interview ratio is 40% and the submittal-to-placement ratio is about 17%.
Where agencies get submittals wrong
- No shared definition. If one recruiter counts a shared profile and another counts only a full packet, the numbers mean nothing. Agree what counts, internally and with each client.
- Volume over fit. Sending more candidates to raise the odds trains the client to ignore your submittals.
- Duplicate submittals. Presenting a candidate another agency already submitted creates fee disputes. Confirm interest and representation first.
- Blaming sourcing. A low interview rate is more often a vague intake conversation than a weak candidate pool.
Bottom line: a submittal is a recommendation with your name on it. Fewer, better-qualified submittals build the client's trust faster than more of them.
How NextCrew fits
In NextCrew, the HR statuses that track each candidate are an editable list, so an agency can add a status for submitted candidates and filter its pipeline by it. Recruiters keep notes, documents and status history on the same candidate record. See the ATS for staffing agencies page.
Frequently asked questions
Related terms
- Job order: the client request a submittal answers.
- Right to represent: the permission many clients require before a submittal.
- Candidate pipeline: the stages a submittal sits between.
- VMS: where many client submittals are made.
- Fall-off: what happens when a placement does not hold.
Go deeper
See the ATS for staffing agencies page.