Uploading files to Gem ATS can prove useful for lots of reasons, and you can upload files and attach them to candidates or applications in a variety of ways. In this article we will talk you through why you might want to upload files, what file types you can upload, and where you can attach files within Gem ATS.
Requirements: The Gem ATS feature must be enabled. If you do not have this feature but are interested in adding it, please contact your Gem Customer Success Manager.
Eligibility: All Gem ATS teams.
There are three main ways in which you can attach various files to candidates and applications:
- Resumes and cover letters via application forms: For resumes and/or cover letters that you want candidates to upload during their application.
- ‘File’ type questions on application forms: For any other accompanying documents that you want candidates to upload during their application.
- As manual uploads: For any useful documents that you want to attach to candidates’ profiles.
Some attachments, like resumes and cover letters, are essential for almost every candidate, and are standard parts of most applications. For other accompanying documents, you may have previously kept these in some kind of cloud storage - instead though, we recommend uploading them to Gem ATS so that you can keep all relevant documents about each candidate attached to their record for easy reference.
Let’s look at three types of attachments in Gem ATS, and what file types can be uploaded for each.
Resumes and cover letters
The most common types of files that you might want to attach to candidates’ records, resumes and cover letters are files that you’ll likely ask candidates to upload themselves.
Supported file types: .pdf, .doc, .docx
Both Resume and Cover letter are available as pre-built fields which you can include on any application form. Here’s how they look on the default application form when you’re setting up a new job:
Resume
This field is required by default, although admins can set it to optional if needed in the Default application questions in Admin settings.
Files uploaded via the Resume field are subsequently presented in full in the Resumes section of the candidate’s record, and are also listed in the Application attachments and Resumes sections of the candidate sidebar. Each candidate can have more than one resume attached to their record if needed.
NOTE: You can also manually upload resumes from the Resumes section of the candidate sidebar.
Cover letter
This field defaults to being hidden, as you may not require candidates to submit separate cover letters, however you can change this to either optional or required when creating a new job.
Files uploaded via the Cover letter field are subsequently listed in the Application attachments section of the candidate sidebar.
‘File’ type questions on application forms
Resumes and cover letters aren’t the only files that you might want candidates to upload - you could also ask candidates for a range of supporting documents, and for these you can create additional ‘File’ type questions to add to your application forms.
To create a File type application question:
- Go to the Templates section of your Gem ATS, then select Application questions.
- Click the + Add question button to open a Custom application question template popup.
- Select File from the dropdown on this popup, and the popup will adjust to show fields specific to this question type.
- At this point you can choose either Assessment or Other. Assessments are common for some interview types, so you can use this file type to denote an assessment when you upload. For everything else, use the Other type.
- Fill in the name of the question, and an internal description if needed, then click Publish.
- You can create as many File type questions as needed.
Once published, the question(s) will display on the application like this:
Supported file types: .pdf, .doc, .docx
Files uploaded via this method are subsequently listed in the Application attachments section of the candidate sidebar.
Manual uploads
As well as asking candidates to upload documents as part of their application process, you might also want to manually attach documents to candidates’ records. You can upload a wider variety of file types when done manually, so you can use this functionality to add a range of documents that you might otherwise keep in separate locations, helping you to keep everything in one place.
Supported file types: pdf, .csv, .doc, .docx, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .xls, .xlsx, and .zip.
You can upload files one at a time. To upload a file manually:
- Go to the candidate sidebar in the Application section of the candidate record.
- Click Upload attachment and a new popup will appear, giving you the option to choose the type of attachment you want to upload.
- From here you can also choose which application(s) you want to attach the file to.
- Note that resumes can be uploaded without being attached to a particular application, while all other file types must be attached to at least one application.
Files uploaded via this method are subsequently listed in the Application attachments section of the candidate sidebar.
- Resumes and cover letters
- ‘File’ type questions on application forms
- Manual uploads