Migrate from Applicant Starter to BambooHR

Applicant Starter Candidates map directly to BambooHR Candidates. The core fields (first name, last name, email, phone, address) transfer via the BambooHR ATS API using POST to the applications endpoint. Resume and cover letter attachments export as binary blobs from Applicant Starter and upload as Candidate File attachments in BambooHR. We preserve the original Applicant Starter candidate ID as a custom field ast_candidate_id__c for cross-system reference.

Applicant Starter Job Requisitions map to BambooHR Job Openings. Job title, department, location, employment status, and open/closed status transfer cleanly. The original job ID is stored as a custom field ast_job_id__c on the BambooHR Job Opening for reconciliation. If the job was posted to specific boards (Indeed, LinkedIn), those distribution records migrate to BambooHR's job distribution history if recorded; otherwise they are flagged as unmapped.

Applicant Starter's user-defined pipeline stages (e.g., Applied/Screening/Interview/Offer) do not have a native equivalent in BambooHR's flat candidate structure. We create a custom dropdown field in BambooHR named ast_original_stage__c on the Candidate object and map each Applicant Starter stage value to the matching dropdown option. During migration, every candidate receives the stage value it held at the time of extraction. If a stage name does not exist in the BambooHR dropdown options, we add it to the picklist during schema setup.

Applicant Starter activity logs (emails, call notes, interview notes, and general activity entries) migrate as timestamped Activity entries on the corresponding BambooHR Candidate. Email content migrates as activity body text; call duration and disposition migrate to custom fields ast_call_duration__c and ast_call_disposition__c. Some older activity entries may lack valid timestamps; we set the Activity date to the candidate creation date in those cases and flag the record during reconciliation.

Applicant Starter custom candidate fields are extracted from the account schema during scoping. We create matching custom fields in BambooHR for each field type that the API supports (text, number, date, dropdown). Fields that do not map directly (e.g., multi-checkbox lists with no BambooHR equivalent) are converted to comma-separated text fields or surfaced in the unmapped inventory for manual handling. Boolean fields map cleanly to BambooHR's Yes/No field type.

Applicant Starter custom fields on Job Requisitions map to custom fields on BambooHR Job Openings using the same type-mapping logic as candidate custom fields. Internal-only fields are flagged and not migrated if they reference Applicant Starter-specific data that has no equivalent in BambooHR's job model.

Resume files and attachments export from Applicant Starter as binary downloads. We preserve the original filename and file extension, add the applicant name as a prefix for clarity, and upload the file to the corresponding BambooHR Candidate record as an attached file. Binary integrity is verified via MD5 checksum before and after upload. Any attachments exceeding BambooHR's file size limit are flagged for the customer's admin to handle manually.

Job distribution records (which job boards a requisition was posted to) are exported from Applicant Starter if available. They map to BambooHR's job posting history on the Job Opening record. Distribution records are inconsistently recorded across Applicant Starter accounts; we export what exists and flag missing distribution data as a known gap in the migration scope.

Scorecard data and evaluation forms stored in Applicant Starter are held in a proprietary format not accessible via the export API. We notify the customer during scoping and advise a manual export from the Applicant Starter UI before the migration window. Scorecards do not transfer automatically.

Applicant Starter owners and hiring managers referenced on job requisitions and candidates are resolved by email against the BambooHR destination User table. Any owner without a matching BambooHR User is held in a reconciliation queue; the customer's admin provisions the missing users before the record import phase begins. This step must complete before candidate records can reference the correct hiring manager in BambooHR.