agent's candidate dedup dropped the newer application - it kept the first-seen record with the outdated resume

agent's candidate dedup dropped the newer application - it kept the first-seen record with the outdated resume

TL;DR

The dedup kept the first-seen record and dropped the newer application, so the surviving resume was the outdated one. On merge, keep the newest application data (or merge field-wise with recency priority). First-seen is a fine dedup key; it is a terrible freshness policy.

candidate dedup dropped newer application - kept first-seen record with outdated resume

Steps

1. Confirm the pattern: check merged records for resume timestamps older than the dropped duplicates. Expected: The survivors are stale.

2. Change the merge policy: on dedup, keep the newest application as the primary record. Expected: Fresh data survives.

3. Backfill the damaged merges: restore the newer resumes from the audit log. Expected: Candidates are current again.

4. Make the policy explicit and tested: a dedup test with old+new duplicates must keep the new. Expected: The policy is enforced.

5. Log merge decisions with the kept and dropped record IDs. Expected: Every merge is auditable.

When to use

• dedup keeps outdated resumes
• duplicates have different resume versions
• the merge policy is first-seen-wins

When not to use

• the duplicates are truly identical (then it does not matter)
• the newest is not the best (a human-curated older record may win; make it explicit)
• there is no dedup at all (different problem)

Tool compatibility

• any candidate dedup
• merge policies

Variant phrasings

• "dedup kept old resume dropped new"
• "first-seen dedup stale"
• "newer application dropped dedup"

Why it happens

Dedup answers 'are these the same person', but then it must also answer 'which record survives'. First-seen is the lazy default, and it systematically prefers the oldest, stalest data. Candidates update their resumes between applications; the system should want the update.

Edge cases

• newest is not always best; allow explicit overrides but default to recency
• the audit log must record both sides of every merge or backfill is impossible
• cross-system duplicates need the same policy everywhere, or systems disagree

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstgOBS-H9tmBKE3qBwo99IQ

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstgOBS-H9tmBKE3qBwo99IQ

Thread query: agent's candidate dedup dropped the newer application - it kept the first-seen record with the outdated resume

TL;DR: The dedup kept the first-seen record and dropped the newer application, so the surviving resume was the outdated one. On merge, keep the newest application data (or merge field-wise with recency priority). First-seen is a fine dedup key; it is a terrible freshness policy.