Every recruitment agency has information that recruiters ask for dozens of times every week, so within this article we look at the 7 recruitment custom fields every agency should use.
If you’re in recruitment, which I assume you are as you are reading this, you will be used to hearing these questions daily:
“What’s their notice period?”
“Can they work in London?”
“Do they require sponsorship?”
“What’s their current day rate?”
Yet surprisingly, much of this information ends up buried inside candidate notes.
The result?
Recruiters waste time opening profiles, reading paragraphs of text and manually checking information that should be searchable in seconds.
That’s where Custom Fields make a huge difference.
Rather than forcing your recruiters to remember where information is stored, Custom Fields create structured, searchable data that helps your entire team work faster.
Here are seven Custom Fields every recruitment agency should consider adding to their CRM.
Notes are brilliant for conversations.
They’re terrible for structured information.
Imagine you have 25,000 candidates.
One recruiter’s note says:
“Available in four weeks.”
Another writes:
“One month’s notice.”
Someone else writes:
“Available from September.”
All three mean roughly the same thing-but your CRM can’t search those consistently.
Now imagine every candidate has a dedicated Notice Period field.
One filter instantly shows every candidate available within four weeks.
That’s the difference between information that exists and information you can actually use.
For permanent recruitment, this is arguably the most valuable Custom Field you can create.
A dropdown could include:
Now recruiters can instantly search:
Instead of reading CVs and notes, recruiters simply filter the database.
Example search
Notice Period = Immediate
Whether you’re recruiting locally or internationally, Right to Work is becoming increasingly important.
A structured Visa Status field keeps every recruiter working from consistent information.
Suggested options:
Now your team can immediately identify suitable candidates before contacting them.
Example search
Visa Status = Skilled Worker Visa
This becomes particularly useful for agencies working within healthcare, technology and engineering.
Recruiters ask this question constantly.
Yet many databases store it inside notes where it quickly becomes outdated.
Instead, create searchable fields for:
Permanent recruiters
Contract recruiters
Now searches become incredibly powerful.
Hybrid working has fundamentally changed recruitment.
Candidates increasingly care about:
If this information lives inside notes, recruiters have to ask repeatedly.
Instead, create a searchable field.
Now recruiters can instantly build shortlists of candidates looking for hybrid opportunities or remote-first roles.
Example search
Working Preference = Hybrid
Recruiters often need to know:
Instead of writing:
“Happy to travel around the Midlands.”
Store it as searchable information.
Examples:
Or use multiple location fields depending on your market.
This becomes invaluable for regional recruiters.
Example search
Region = Midlands
One of the easiest wins for reporting.
Where did the candidate originally come from?
Examples include:
Knowing your best-performing acquisition channels helps you spend recruitment marketing budgets more effectively.
It also allows managers to answer questions like:
For many sectors, compliance isn’t optional.
Healthcare
Construction
Technology
Rather than hiding these inside notes, create dedicated fields.
Now recruiters can search:
Security Clearance = SC
or
DBS = Enhanced
before they even pick up the phone.
Every recruitment desk tracks different information.
Technology recruiters may add:
Healthcare recruiters may track:
Construction recruiters might record:
Executive Search could include:
The beauty of Custom Fields is that your CRM adapts to your workflow—not the other way around.
Not everything belongs in a structured field.
Skills such as:
are usually better stored as Custom Tags, because candidates often have multiple skills and recruiters search combinations of keywords.
A good rule of thumb:
If someone can only have one answer, it’s usually a Custom Field.
If they can have lots of answers, it’s probably a Tag.
Custom Fields vs Custom Tagging – What’s the Difference?
Let’s compare.
“Lives in Birmingham, available in two weeks, prefers hybrid working, currently on £65k, requires sponsorship.”
Now imagine trying to find every candidate matching that profile.
You can’t.
Now imagine the same information stored like this:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Location | Birmingham |
| Notice Period | 2 Weeks |
| Working Pattern | Hybrid |
| Salary | £65,000 |
| Visa Status | Skilled Worker Visa |
One search finds every matching candidate instantly.
Multiply that saving across hundreds of searches every month and the time adds up quickly.
The best recruitment agencies don’t necessarily collect more information.
They organise it better.
Searchable data means:
Instead of relying on memory, every recruiter works from the same structured database.
Custom Fields might seem like a small feature, but they fundamentally change how recruiters use their CRM.
Rather than hiding important information inside notes, they turn your database into something recruiters can genuinely search, filter and rely on.
If you’re evaluating recruitment software, ask yourself one simple question:
Can my recruiters instantly find the information they need—or do they have to go hunting for it?
The answer often determines whether your CRM becomes an asset or just another place to store data.
With a flexible recruitment CRM like Giig Hire, you can create searchable Custom Fields across Candidates, Contacts, Companies and Jobs, giving every recruitment desk the freedom to work the way it wants.
Custom Fields allow recruitment agencies to add their own searchable information to candidate, contact, company and job records. Examples include notice period, visa status, salary expectations and compliance information.
Yes. A good recruitment CRM allows Custom Fields to be filtered and searched, helping recruiters quickly identify candidates that meet specific criteria.
Notes are free text designed for conversations and updates. Custom Fields store structured information that can be searched, filtered and reported on consistently.
Most agencies benefit from using both. Custom Fields are best for structured information like notice period or visa status, while Tags are ideal for skills, technologies and industries.
