Migrate from OpenCATS to BambooHR

OpenCATS Candidates are the primary ATS record and include resume file paths, Skills tags, and source information. In BambooHR's ATS module, a candidate becomes an Applicant tied to a specific Job posting; in the HRIS module, the same person becomes an Employee record. We preserve the OpenCATS candidate_name, email, phone, address, source, and date_added fields and map Skills to BambooHR tags on the Applicant record. If the customer uses BambooHR's ATS module only, candidates map to Applicants; if HRIS is in scope, we create both Applicant and Employee records and link them post-hire using the shared email address as the dedupe key.

OpenCATS Job Orders map directly to BambooHR Job postings within the ATS module. The job_order_title maps to jobTitle, job_order_description maps to jobDescription, and status maps to BambooHR's open/closed Job status. The OpenCATS assigned Recruiter field maps to the BambooHR Hiring Manager field on the Job. We preserve the OpenCATS job_order_id as an external reference field for reconciliation. If BambooHR's ATS module is not in the customer's subscription, Job Orders do not have a direct native object and require the customer to decide whether to recreate them manually or use BambooHR's HRIS with a custom field workaround.

OpenCATS Companies are client organizations tracked independently from Job Orders, with multiple Contacts per Company record. BambooHR does not have a native Company or client-organization object in the HRIS core; hiring company names are stored as a plain-text field on the Job record only. We flag this schema difference during scoping. Options include: (1) using the BambooHR Company Directory add-on if available, (2) storing client company data in a custom Employee field or a custom ATS field, or (3) accepting that the hierarchical Company-Contact relationship flattens to individual Employee records. The customer chooses the strategy before migration begins.

OpenCATS Contacts (hiring managers and client representatives) map to BambooHR Employee records with a role designation. The contact_first_name, contact_last_name, contact_email, contact_phone, and contact_title fields map to the corresponding BambooHR Employee fields. We set the Employee status to Active for hiring managers and flag the record type in a custom field so the customer can distinguish them from actual employees post-migration.

OpenCATS Skill tags are stored as a comma-separated field on the Candidate record. We extract each distinct Skill value, create a corresponding BambooHR Tag, and associate the Tag with the mapped Applicant record. BambooHR's tag system uses a flat list rather than a hierarchy, so multi-level skill taxonomies from OpenCATS are flattened. Tags created during migration are prefixed with opencats_ to distinguish them from any manually created BambooHR tags.

OpenCATS Activity records (calls, emails, notes, status changes) attached to Candidates and Job Orders map to BambooHR Employee File entries on the corresponding Applicant record. The activity_type, activity_date, and activity_notes fields migrate as a BambooHR Note entry. The full activity timeline is preserved in date order, though OpenCATS activity subtypes (cold call, interview, offer) are stored as plain-text tags in BambooHR rather than structured fields. If the candidate is also an Employee record in BambooHR HRIS, Activity records attach to the Employee File for that record.

OpenCATS Saved Lists are user-curated Candidate collections used for pipeline segmentation and outreach. BambooHR has no Saved List equivalent. We extract the list membership (Candidate ID plus list name) and recreate the grouping as a Tag on each Applicant record, prefixed with the list name. List ordering and ranking within a list do not transfer — BambooHR tags are unordered sets. If the customer relies heavily on Saved Lists for workflow segmentation, we document the list names and member counts during scoping and recommend a BambooHR tag-based alternative.

OpenCATS Users and Recruiters map to BambooHR Users by email match. The opencats user_first_name, user_last_name, and user_email fields map to the BambooHR user name and email. OpenCATS role assignments (Admin, Recruiter, Limited) are preserved in a custom field opencats_role__c on the BambooHR User for reference. Owner assignments on OpenCATS Candidate and Job Order records resolve to the matching BambooHR User by email lookup. Users without a match enter a reconciliation queue for the customer's admin to provision in BambooHR before record import continues.

OpenCATS stores resume files as file paths on the server filesystem (PDF, DOC, RTF), not as BLOBs in the database. We flag the file path for each Candidate record and provide a separate SFTP or file-share transfer step to move resume files to BambooHR. Post-transfer, we relink each resume file to the corresponding Applicant record in BambooHR using the Employee Files feature. The customer must ensure the file path structure is preserved when copying and that BambooHR's file size limits (typically 20 MB per attachment) are not exceeded.

OpenCATS Calendar Events (interview schedules, internal meetings) map partially to BambooHR. If the event is an interview linked to a Candidate and a Job Order, we create a Note on the Applicant record with the event title, date, and location. If the event is an internal company event (all-hands, HR deadline), it maps to a BambooHR Time Off Request with a custom note. Recurrence patterns and meeting attendee lists from OpenCATS do not transfer — these require manual recreation in BambooHR's calendar or scheduling tool.