micro1 shows a status against every application in its talent dashboard. There are ten, several look alike, and two are routinely read as the same rejection when micro1 defines them as different outcomes.
micro1 has now published what each one means. Everything below is micro1’s own definition of its own process, stated by micro1 and not measured by this site.
On the path
- Interview pendingYour interview is not done yet
- Awaiting next stepsmicro1 is preparing the next stage
- Under reviewRecruiters, up to 72 hours
- Hiring manager reviewingHuman selection, up to 30 days
- SelectedOnboarding arrives by email
Off the path
- Did not qualifyYou did not meet this role's criteria. micro1 says it may still approach you for another role.
- Not selectedYou interviewed well; the seat went elsewhere. You stay eligible for other roles.
- Hiring on holdThe role is paused, and may reopen.
- Application incompleteThe interview was never completed and the role has closed.
The ten statuses
Nine of the ten are shown above. The tenth, Not interested, only appears when you have declined the opportunity yourself. It is not a decision micro1 made about you, and it does not close off anything else you have applied to.
| Status | micro1’s definition |
|---|---|
| Interview pending | The application arrived but the interview is missing. Click the job title to reach the interview link. |
| Awaiting next steps | micro1 is preparing the next step and will notify you. |
| Under review | Recruiters are reviewing your interview. Up to 72 hours. |
| Hiring manager reviewing | You performed well. Your profile is in the vetted talent pool, under human review. Up to 30 days. |
| Selected | You have the role. Onboarding steps arrive by email. |
| Did not qualify | You did not meet the required criteria for that particular role. |
| Not selected | You performed well in the interview but were not selected for that specific position. |
| Hiring on hold | Hiring for the role is temporarily paused and may reopen. |
| Application incomplete | The AI interview was not completed and the role has since closed. |
| Not interested | You chose not to proceed with the opportunity. |
The two timelines micro1 states
micro1 gives a stated window for exactly two statuses, and they are the two that involve a person reading your application.
Under review takes up to 72 hours. This is micro1’s recruiters evaluating the interview itself. micro1 says you are notified once that evaluation is complete.
Hiring manager reviewing takes up to 30 days. By this point micro1 says you have cleared the interview and your profile has joined its vetted talent pool. What is happening is matching: a human deciding which of the vetted profiles fits the client’s requirement. micro1 is explicit that reaching this status does not guarantee placement.
Thirty days is a long window, and nothing you do shortens it. The existing guide to what happens after you apply collects what contractors describe at this stage across the platforms this site tracks, and the short version is that a stalled status is not a soft rejection.
Every other status carries no stated timeline. Interview pending and Application incomplete are the two that depend on you rather than on micro1, and Application incomplete is what Interview pending becomes if the role closes before you sit the interview.
Did not qualify is not the same as not selected
This is the distinction most people get wrong, and micro1’s staff have now explained it directly. The two statuses come from different points in the process and say different things about the application.
Not selected means you met the criteria in the Zara interview. You cleared the bar. The client then chose someone else. micro1 says this can happen for many reasons and is not a reflection of something you did wrong.
Did not qualify means you did not meet the criteria for that position in particular. micro1 is careful about what that does not mean: it says it does not mean you lack the skills.
micro1’s own analogy for this is a doctor and a nurse. Both share the same knowledge base, anatomy, vaccination, disease. Both apply it differently: one prescribes the treatment, the other administers it. The underlying knowledge is identical. What differs is the judgement being exercised and the criteria being applied to it.
Read that way, “did not qualify” is a statement about fit between how you answered and what that specific role was testing for, not a verdict on your profession. A role built around a different application of the same knowledge can return a different result.
Who actually decides
Neither rejection is decided by the interview alone, which is why neither is worth reading as a verdict on you.
micro1 says the initial vetting is AI-driven and the final selection is human-led. Its recruitment team reviews applications holistically on skills and experience, and selection depends on the specific requirements of micro1’s clients and how well a profile aligns.
micro1’s staff go further: the client makes the final selection decision, and client needs and decisions can change during a hiring process. A requirement can shift after you have already interviewed against the old one. That is how an application that looked strong produces an unexpected result, and it is outside both your control and micro1’s.
micro1 staff also say it took some of their own experts many attempts before landing a role.
It is also why you see roles that read as duplicates. A title posted twice is usually two clients with different requirements, so each one is its own application and its own interview.
What to do on each outcome
Interview pending. Sit the interview. Open the application, click the job title, and the interview link is there. This status is the only one that expires into a worse one.
Awaiting next steps, Under review, Hiring manager reviewing. Apply elsewhere while they sit. None of the three responds to anything you do, and the 30-day window on the last one is long enough that treating it as the only thing in flight is a mistake.
Did not qualify. Apply to a different kind of role rather than resitting the same one. The doctor-and-nurse point is that the criteria differ between roles built on the same knowledge, so the useful change is which role you go for. micro1 says its team may still approach you if it considers you a good fit for something else, so the profile stays live either way.
Not selected. Keep applying, and change nothing about how you interview. This status says the interview worked. Redoing it differently is solving a problem you do not have. micro1 says you may still be considered for future opportunities and can apply to other roles matching your skills.
Hiring on hold. Leave it and apply to other roles. micro1 says it will reach out with updates once hiring resumes, and the role may reopen. This is not a rejection.
Application incomplete. The role has closed, so there is nothing to recover on that one. Apply to other open opportunities and sit the interview promptly next time.
Selected. Watch your email. Onboarding steps are sent there.
Before the next interview
If the status you keep getting is “did not qualify”, the interview is where the decision is being made, and it is worth preparing for properly. The Zara interview guide covers what that interview asks for, and what people who have sat it several times say about clearing it. The micro1 hiring process article covers the stages either side of it, including certification and the vetted skills that carry between applications.
Then browse the open roles and pick one that matches how you would answer, rather than one that matches your job title.