Overview
When migrating from your old ATS to Gem you can import candidates directly into specific jobs or Projects using our import tools, getting you quickly up and running in Gem. We recommend planning this process carefully and preparing your data in advance. This article covers the steps we suggest for planning and implementing your migration, with links out to practical step-by-step migration guides. We suggest completing these steps in the order shown.
Requirements
- Your team must use Gem ATS.
- You must have the Admin or Standard user role.
- You must have the Add and edit applications job access permission.
Prepare for your CSV imports
Before you start migrating anything, we recommend you do the following:
- Ask your current ATS how to export the data - you may be able to request a full data download. If you'd like to upload resumes, ask if they can generate a resume book (see the Import resumes if required section below for more details).
- Prepare your CSV files ahead of time, so everything is ready to go.
- Double-check the header columns of your CSV files against the Gem candidate fields. If there's a mismatch, rewrite the CSV file headers to match the Gem fields.
Some points to consider during your preparation:
- If you have LinkedIn URLs in your ATS, we highly recommend including those as a column in your CSVs. Gem can perform a data refresh to pull in candidates' most recent job title and experience from LinkedIn, which ensures your CRM stays up to date for searching.
- To avoid duplicates, ensure that the candidates' first name, last name, and email address match for those who appear in multiple CSV files.
- Notes and scorecards can’t be migrated; please retain this data for your records if needed.
Import active candidates into jobs
We recommend migrating your active candidates first - i.e. those candidates who are currently in the pipeline for active jobs. You can use Gem’s CSV import tools to import these candidates directly into either individual jobs or, using the bulk import tool, into multiple jobs at once.
We recommend doing this as close to the end of the migration process as possible so that you upload candidates into the correct stages.
Note that you can only import active candidates into jobs. If you include any rejected candidates in your CSVs, the system will import them as active candidates, and you will need to manually reject them (either individually or in bulk).
Here are our recommended steps to complete this process:
- Build your open jobs in Gem. See Gem ATS: Create a job for a step-by-step guide to creating a job.
- One to two days before your Gem launch date, download a CSV of active candidates for active jobs from your old ATS.
- Structure the CSV data to include the supported columns in Gem ATS. See the sample files attached below for templates that you can use when creating CSV files.
Gem supports CSV file uploads up to 10MB in size.
- Upload active candidates to each open job in Gem, either by uploading a CSV to a single job or using our bulk import tool. See Gem ATS: Import candidates into jobs via CSV for a step-by-step guide to both options.
Import historical candidates into Projects
After you’ve migrated your active candidates, you can import all of your historical candidates - i.e. those candidates who are no longer active in your current ATS, because they were either rejected or dropped out at some point in the past. We recommend importing historical candidates into Projects in Gem - Projects are a great way for you to organize candidates in Gem for future rediscovery. See Getting started with Gem Projects: Overview and dashboard for more details about Projects.
Here are our recommended steps to complete this process:
- Decide on a Project structure. We recommend a single Project to begin with, to keep the import process as streamlined as possible. Later, you can split historical candidates out into separate Projects (based on department, location, special skills, etc.) to organize them further.
- Create your Project in Gem to house the historical candidates. See Creating a Project in Gem for a step-by-step guide to creating new Projects.
- Decide on which custom fields you want to capture on this batch of candidates. We suggest you use Job Applied, Stage Reached, Application Date, and Rejection Reason fields.
- Set up custom fields in Gem to house candidate data. See Gem custom fields for details of custom field types, and how to create new custom fields.
- Import your CSV into your new Gem Project. If you’re using multiple Projects, you'll need one CSV per Project. See Upload CSVs to Gem Projects for a step-by-step guide to importing CSVs into Projects.
Import resumes (optional)
After you’ve imported both active and historical candidates, you can also import resumes into Gem - either individually or in bulk.
Resumes are imported against candidate profiles, rather than individual applications, so they apply to any jobs that candidates apply for.
Here are our recommended steps to complete this process:
- Prepare your resumes in several files according to the requirements in Resume book upload.
- Upload your resume book files to a Project in Gem.
Some notes about this process:
- This process may create duplicates if email addresses or names parsed from resumes don’t match what was in your CSV. To prevent this, double-check the CSV headers against the fields in Gem.
- You can also upload resumes to each active candidate individually, which can also prevent duplicates due to mismatched data.
Additional resources
To learn more about importing candidates into Gem, check out the following resources.
- The Set Up Your Sourcing Workflow course in the Gem Academy.
- Gem ATS: Import candidates into jobs via CSV.
- Upload CSVs to Gem Projects.
Have any issues or questions on this topic? Please feel free to contact your dedicated Gem Customer Success Manager directly or our Support team at support@gem.com.