Phase 0

Decide & Plan

Lock scope, edition, and constraints before any export job runs.

Pick the Crelate edition: Recruit or Hire. Crelate Recruit targets staffing agencies and bundles CRM with ATS; Crelate Hire targets in-house corporate hiring. The edition choice changes which standard entities exist (Submission, Job Order, Placement vs. simpler Job + Application flow) and which add-ons apply.
Risk if skipped: Selecting the wrong edition forces a re-platform mid-project because the Job Order, Submission, and Placement objects only exist in Recruit.
Document in-scope object types. Decide explicitly which of Talent (candidates), Contact (clients), Company, Job, Placement, Job Order, Submission, Activity, Email, SMS, Task, and Note are part of the migration. Record each as in or out of scope.
Risk if skipped: Mid-project scope additions force re-running mapping, sandbox tests, and workflow design from the start.
Define historical-data scope per object. Decide how many years of activities, emails, SMS, notes, and stage transitions move across. Capture cut-off dates per object before the export work begins.
Risk if skipped: Without an explicit cut-off the export expands into a multi-year activity dump that no one budgeted for transforming.
Pick the Crelate plan and required add-ons. Confirm the chosen Recruit, Hire, or Connector tier and which add-ons (SMS, email tracking) are included.
Capture GDPR, residency, and retention obligations. Document the candidate-consent basis, retention windows, and right-to-erasure handling that apply to EEOC, source, and resume data once it lives inside Crelate. Crelate is SOC 2 audited and its underlying providers carry ISO 27001 and SOC certifications.
Risk if skipped: Legal blocks the import on go-live day when retention or candidate-consent review was not completed earlier.
Assign a single accountable migration owner (DRI). Name one person responsible for go/no-go on cutover. Document an escalation chain that includes recruiting leadership, IT, and (for Recruit) sales operations.
Set the cutover date and source-system freeze window. Choose a date that avoids client interview pushes, end-of-quarter placement reporting, and active candidate offer negotiations. Define the freeze window during which the source ATS goes read-only.
Risk if skipped: A cutover during an active interview week strands in-flight scheduling threads between two systems with no reconciliation path.
Document the migration success criteria in writing. List the row counts, pipeline-stage reconciliations, and recruiter-acceptance checks that must pass before the project is closed. Include the source-system decommission date.
List explicitly out-of-scope items. Examples: deactivated source users, legacy email-campaign analytics, archived job boards, expired offers. Capture them so they do not silently re-enter scope mid-project.

Phase 1

Pre-Migration Prep

Source-system cleansing and Crelate tenant configuration before any export.

1a. Source-system audit and cleansing

Run dedup on source candidate records using primary email as match key. Resolve duplicates in the source before export so two candidate profiles do not land as one Talent record in Crelate.
Risk if skipped: Duplicate source rows merge into a single Talent record and historical activity rows attach to the wrong person.
Run dedup on source company records using domain as match key. Normalize company names (Inc., LLC, Ltd. variants) before export. Crelate Companies link to Contacts and Jobs, so company duplicates propagate.
Risk if skipped: Two source companies for the same client create two Crelate Companies and split the placement history.
Standardize email casing, phone formats, and country codes on every contact row. Lowercase emails. Convert phone numbers to E.164 format. Standardize country names to ISO codes.
Identify candidate records missing required fields. Crelate Talent records typically require first name, last name, and either email or phone. Flag rows missing these and decide per row: enrich, drop, or accept as partial.
Risk if skipped: Rows missing required fields fail silently on Import Data+ and skew the validation row counts at the end.
Audit source resume files for orphaned or zero-byte attachments. Resume files referenced in the source database but missing from storage will fail to upload. Quarantine and document them before export.
Risk if skipped: Orphaned attachment references trigger thousands of import errors that mask real failures.
Export current record counts per object as a baseline. Capture row counts for candidates, contacts, companies, jobs, placements, activities, notes, emails, and SMS. This becomes the reconciliation baseline in Phase 6.
Risk if skipped: Without a baseline, no one can prove whether the migration lost records.
Decide an External Primary Key value for every Talent, Contact, Company, and Job record. Crelate supports an External Primary Key on import to allow idempotent re-runs and avoid duplicates. Pick a stable identifier from the source system (e.g. source-system record ID) and stamp it on every export row.
Risk if skipped: Without an External Primary Key, every re-run of an import wizard creates duplicate Crelate records.

1c. People prep

Communicate the source-system freeze window to every recruiter and coordinator. Define the exact start time. Recruiters must stop creating or updating records in the source ATS from this moment.
Risk if skipped: Late edits in the source after the export create a silent delta that will never reach Crelate.
Schedule role-based training sessions on Crelate basics. Run separate sessions for recruiters, sourcers, coordinators, and account managers. Cover the Activity Stream, Smart Tags, candidate stage moves, and Bulk Operations.
Designate a first-responder team for the first 48 hours post-cutover. Name two recruiters plus the migration DRI as first responders. Publish the channel they monitor.

Phase 2

Source Export

Phase 3

Transform & Map

Map every source field to Crelate, decide ATS-specific transforms, and produce destination-shaped files.

3a. Master mapping spreadsheet

Build a master mapping spreadsheet keyed by source field. For every source field record: destination Crelate entity, destination field, field type, transformation rule, nullability, and whether the field is required on import.
Risk if skipped: Without a centralized mapping document, each engineer interprets ambiguous fields differently and the data lands inconsistently.
Resolve every picklist value mismatch against Crelate Custom Picklists. List source picklist values, list destination picklist values, and decide a mapping for each. Where source has values the destination should not carry, decide drop vs. merge.
Risk if skipped: Unmapped picklist values silently drop on import or fall back to the destination default.
Pick the External Primary Key column per object. Crelate's Import Data+ supports an External Primary Key for idempotent upsert. Choose the source-system ID column for Talent, Contact, Company, and Job and document the choice.
Risk if skipped: Re-running an import without an External Primary Key set duplicates every record.
Decide per object the unmapped-field strategy. For source fields with no Crelate equivalent decide: drop, concatenate into a Note, or create a custom field. Document the choice per field.
Save the Import Data+ field map for repeated runs. Once mapping in Import Data+ is configured, save it via the cogwheel | Save Mappings. Name the saved map per object so sandbox and production runs reuse the same configuration.

3b. Data transformation

Convert every date and timestamp to the format Import Data+ accepts. Crelate's import expects ISO-style dates. Normalize US-format dates, locale variants, and Excel date serials before producing the import file.
Risk if skipped: Mixed date formats cause silent month/day swaps that are not discovered until reports run.
Re-encode every text field as UTF-8. Source exports from older systems often arrive as Latin-1 or Windows-1252. Re-encode to UTF-8 to avoid mojibake on candidate names, addresses, and notes.
Risk if skipped: Non-UTF-8 encoded names import as garbled characters and require row-level cleanup post-cutover.
Truncate or split fields that exceed Crelate's character limits. Long Answer fields accept significantly more text than Short Answer. Audit source string lengths, route long values to Long Answer fields, and split where the source exceeds even the long limit.
Strip or escape characters that break Import Data+ parsing. Quote characters, newlines inside cells, and stray commas in unquoted CSVs all break row alignment. Use proper CSV quoting and confirm a small sample parses cleanly before scaling.
Risk if skipped: A single mis-quoted row shifts every subsequent column for thousands of rows.
Normalize phone numbers and emails to one row per channel. Crelate stores multiple emails and phones per record. Decide which source column maps to Primary vs. additional, and prevent the same value from landing twice.
Confirm the file is saved as .xlsx, .xls, or .csv with no cell coloring or merged cells. Crelate's spreadsheet import troubleshooting calls out unsupported coloring, merged cells, and non-spreadsheet file types. Strip formatting before upload.
Risk if skipped: Formatted cells cause the entire upload to reject with a generic error.

3c. Relationship and audit-trail decisions

Decide and implement the historical-timestamp strategy per object. Crelate's import re-stamps Created and Modified to the import date. Where the original date matters, route it to a custom date field (e.g. 'Source Created On') so it survives. Document the choice for each object.
Risk if skipped: Without a custom date field, every record's true created-on is lost and reports look like all data is brand new.
Decide and implement the record-ownership strategy. Best-match owners by email to the provisioned Crelate users. Where the original owner has no Crelate user, route to a single migration service account and tag the record with a custom 'Original Owner' field.
Risk if skipped: Without an Original Owner backup field, recruiters lose visibility into who handled the candidate previously.
Decide the resume / file attachment strategy. Resumes upload through the bulk Importing Resumes wizard (up to 250 files per batch with parsing) or via parser-disabled attachment paths that bypass re-parsing. Decide per file category which path applies.
Risk if skipped: Routing pre-parsed resumes through the parsing wizard re-parses already-clean data and overwrites fields with parser output.

3d. ATS-specific transforms

Build Talent records and resume-file pairings using the 250-file bulk wizard for parser-driven loads and parser-disabled attachment paths for already-clean data. Crelate's bulk resume importer accepts up to 250 resumes per batch and creates Talent records via the parser. For pre-cleaned data where the source already has parsed fields, attach the binary with the parser disabled so existing field values are not overwritten.
Risk if skipped: Mixing parser-driven and parser-disabled loads on the same Talent batch overwrites mapped fields with re-parsed values and silently corrupts clean source data.
Map the source Job-to-Stage-to-Placement pipeline to Crelate's Job → Workflow Stage → Placement structure within the 20-stage cap. List every source pipeline stage. Group them into the 20-stage Crelate workflow per job category. Where the source has more than 20 stages, decide which stages collapse and document the merge. Reserve a final stage for Placement creation.
Risk if skipped: Skipping the 20-stage planning step forces a last-minute stage collapse that destroys time-in-stage reporting.
Populate the candidate Source field plus Smart Tags from source source-tracking fields. Crelate's Source field is a picklist on the Talent record. Smart Tags layer on top for folksonomic categorization. Decide which source attributes map to Source (single-value), which map to Smart Tags (multi-value), and pre-create Smart Tags before import.
Risk if skipped: Pushing free-text source values straight into the Source picklist creates dozens of one-off picklist entries that the Past Activity filter cannot meaningfully query.
Create EEOC custom fields under Settings | Custom Fields with restricted role-level access and an explicit retention note. Self-identification, veteran status, disability, race/ethnicity, and gender each get their own custom picklist on the Talent record. Restrict edit access to compliance-eligible roles. Document the retention window per field aligned to GDPR and local rules.
Risk if skipped: Loading EEOC values into open custom fields exposes self-identification data to every Crelate user and creates a compliance incident.
Configure Interview Loops & Templates plus Scorecards, and route unmapped scorecard fields to a Long Answer fallback. Interview Loops & Templates carry the interview sequence per job. Scorecards capture per-interviewer ratings against question categories. Source scorecard data without a clean equivalent in Crelate's Interview Form Questions schema lands in a Long Answer custom field on the candidate-on-job record so the history survives.
Risk if skipped: Dropping unmappable scorecard answers loses the interview-decision audit trail and forces hiring teams to relitigate prior decisions.
Replay application stage-transition history in chronological order. Crelate's Activity Stream records stage moves as activities. Replay each historical transition from oldest to newest, using the External Primary Key so the move attaches to the right candidate-on-job record. Filter out internal-only stage hops if the team agrees they pollute the stream.
Risk if skipped: Bulk-loading current stages without replaying transitions strips the Past Activity filter of any candidate history and breaks time-to-hire reporting from day one.
Decide handling for client-portal candidate submissions. The Crelate Client Portal lets clients review submitted candidates in real time. Decide whether historical client decisions move across as Activity Stream entries, as Notes, or are left in the source archive.

Phase 4

Sandbox Test Migration

Catch every problem in the test tenant before production.

Phase 5

Production Cutover

The tightly-sequenced execution window.

Phase 6

Validate

Prove the migration was correct before any user works in production.

6a. Reconciliation

Compare total record count per object against the Phase 1 baseline. Talent, Contact, Company, Job, Job Order, Placement, Submission, Activity, Email, SMS, Note, and resume-attachment counts. Investigate any unexplained delta.
Risk if skipped: An unexplained delta on Talent count usually masks a duplicate-merge bug or a silently dropped picklist value.
Compare active-candidate count (the ATS-relevant aggregate) by stage. For each Workflow Stage compare the source count and the Crelate count. Stages with deltas reveal stage-mapping errors.
Compare active-job count by workflow. Confirm open job count matches source. A missing job leaves candidates orphaned.
Cross-check 25–50 random Talent records field-by-field against the source. Cover every custom field, every Smart Tag, the Source picklist, and the resume attachment.
Risk if skipped: Sample-based validation catches systematic mapping errors that aggregate counts miss.
Verify every Custom Picklist value present on imported records exists in Settings | Custom Picklists. Any picklist value not in the official list silently drops. Confirm none did.

6b. Relationship validation

Verify Talent→Job pipeline associations on a sample of 25 candidates. Each candidate should appear on the correct job(s) in the correct workflow stage.
Risk if skipped: Mis-linked candidate-on-job records show up to recruiters as 'where did this candidate go?' on day one.
Verify Contact→Company links on a sample of 25 contacts. Each contact should appear under the correct Company.
Verify Job→Hiring Manager Contact links. Each open job should resolve to a hiring-manager Contact via the correct Company.
Verify Activity Stream entries attach to the correct Talent, Job, Contact, and Company. Spot-check 20 candidates with rich activity history. Confirm activities, emails, and SMS render in the correct context with the correct historical timestamps.
Risk if skipped: Activities attached to the wrong record produce confusing recruiter experiences and false 'last-contacted' dates.
Verify resume files are accessible and linked to the correct Talent record. Download a sample of 25 resumes and confirm the file matches the expected candidate.
Verify Placement records link the correct Talent, Job, and Company with the correct fee and dates. Spot-check 20 Placements. This is the highest-revenue object in Recruit; errors here distort commission calculations.
Risk if skipped: Placement-mapping errors silently distort commission and revenue reports for months.

6c. Audit and compliance

Confirm the historical-timestamp strategy worked. Open 20 records and confirm the original created/modified date lives in the documented custom date field (per Phase 3c).
Risk if skipped: If the original timestamps did not land, the Past Activity filter cannot date-range historical engagement.
Confirm EEOC fields are populated and visibility is restricted to compliance roles. Open a non-compliance-role test account and confirm EEOC fields do not render.
Risk if skipped: EEOC visibility leaks are a regulator-reportable incident in many jurisdictions.
Capture a SOC 2 / GDPR evidence pack of the migration run. Snapshot import job logs, error summaries, retention configuration, and access-control settings to a controlled folder.

6d. Recruiter and stakeholder acceptance

Have 3–5 power-user recruiters validate their day-to-day workflows. Cover sourcing through Bulk Operations, candidate stage moves, interview scheduling via Interview Loops, scorecard logging, and submittal to client (Recruit edition).
Risk if skipped: Skipping power-user validation lets day-to-day workflow gaps surface post-launch when there is no time to fix them.
Have an account manager (Recruit) or hiring manager (Hire) validate the client-facing flow. Recruit: walk a real candidate through Bulk Submit to Job and confirm the Client Portal renders correctly. Hire: walk an open requisition through an interview loop end-to-end.
Run the Advanced Search Past Activity filter against the migrated dataset. Confirm a query for 'candidates contacted in the last 12 months' returns the expected count when timestamps are preserved per Phase 3c.
Document every data issue raised during user-acceptance. Capture severity (blocker / cosmetic), affected count, owner, and remediation date.

6e. Sign-off

Get written sign-off from the migration sponsor before Phase 7 begins. Capture the sponsor's signature, the residual-issue list, and the agreed remediation timeline.

Phase 7

Post-Migration Cleanup

Watch list

Risks to track throughout

These risks live across multiple phases — keep an eye on them from kickoff through cutover.

20-Stage Workflow cap drives irreversible pipeline collapse

Crelate caps Workflow Stages at 20 per workflow. Source ATS pipelines frequently exceed that, and the collapse decisions affect time-in-stage reporting, candidate-stage history, and recruiter muscle memory. Track stage-mapping decisions from Phase 0 through Phase 5 and confirm the collapse is approved by recruiting leadership before the production stage replay runs.
Resume-parser double-processing corrupts already-clean data

Crelate's bulk Importing Resumes wizard parses every file by default. Routing pre-cleaned source data through the parser overwrites mapped Talent fields with re-parsed text. Track the parser-enabled vs. parser-disabled routing decision from Phase 3 transformations through every sandbox and production load to keep clean data clean.
External Primary Key discipline determines re-run safety

Crelate's Import Data+ supports an External Primary Key for idempotent upsert. Without it, every re-run duplicates records and there is no clean rollback path beyond Bulk Operations. Track the External Primary Key value, column name, and saved field map across every object load from Phase 1 baseline through Phase 5 cutover.
Activity Stream and Past Activity filter depend on timestamp fidelity

Crelate re-stamps Created and Modified on import. The Past Activity filter and every time-based candidate-engagement report query the imported timestamps. If the historical-date custom field strategy from Phase 3c is not implemented uniformly, Advanced Search Past Activity returns blank results and the team loses years of candidate history overnight. Track the original-timestamp field on every object from Phase 3 through Phase 6 validation.

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Migration Checklist: Moving to Crelate

Decide & Plan

Pre-Migration Prep

1a. Source-system audit and cleansing

1b. Crelate tenant configuration

1c. People prep

Source Export

Transform & Map

3a. Master mapping spreadsheet

3b. Data transformation

3c. Relationship and audit-trail decisions

3d. ATS-specific transforms

Sandbox Test Migration

Production Cutover

Validate

6a. Reconciliation

6b. Relationship validation

6c. Audit and compliance

6d. Recruiter and stakeholder acceptance

6e. Sign-off

Post-Migration Cleanup

Risks to track throughout

The complete Crelate migration guide

Migration Checklist: Moving to Crelate

Decide & Plan

Pre-Migration Prep

1a. Source-system audit and cleansing

1b. Crelate tenant configuration

1c. People prep

Source Export

Transform & Map

3a. Master mapping spreadsheet

3b. Data transformation

3c. Relationship and audit-trail decisions

3d. ATS-specific transforms

Sandbox Test Migration

Production Cutover

Validate

6a. Reconciliation

6b. Relationship validation

6c. Audit and compliance

6d. Recruiter and stakeholder acceptance

6e. Sign-off

Post-Migration Cleanup

Risks to track throughout

Common migrations to Crelate

The complete Crelate migration guide