How does connecting an ATS to job boards work?
Connecting an ATS to job boards works in two directions, and it's essential not to confuse them. In the first direction, a posting is published from the ATS to the boards: you enter one posting in the ATS and tick where it should appear – on Indeed, LinkedIn and other boards, as well as your own career site. This is called multiposting. In the second direction, which turns out to be more important, candidate responses from those boards are automatically pulled back into the ATS so they're unified in one place. Unifying responses is the main reason to get an ATS.
Direction 1: publishing a posting from the ATS to boards (multiposting)
Multiposting means you write the text of a role once – in the ATS – and from there, in one step, publish it to several job boards at the same time, and optionally to your career site too. It removes re-typing the posting into each board separately, along with typos, diverging versions of the text, and forgotten roles left live somewhere after they were filled.
With multiposting, verify three things: how many boards the ATS publishes to, whether they include the ones you use, and whether a posting can be not only published from the ATS but also edited and closed. Publishing without the ability to take a posting down is a half-solution.
Related features in the catalog above: Multiposting · Job boards · Career site
Direction 2: pulling responses from boards back into the ATS
This direction is more important and often overlooked during selection. If the ATS can only broadcast postings but candidate responses keep coming to your email and to each board's admin panel, you've gained nothing – you've just moved the re-typing from postings to candidates.
A properly connected ATS pulls a candidate's response from the board automatically, including the resume and the application form, and creates it as a candidate card on the right role. This produces a unified database of all applicants regardless of where they came from. A side, but very valuable, effect: each candidate keeps a source, so for the first time you'll see which board actually brings you candidates.
Two things complicate this direction: duplicates (the same candidate responds from both Indeed and the career site) and LinkedIn, which has no standard response channel – you usually get candidates from it into the ATS via a browser plugin, not an automatic feed.
Related features in the catalog above: Detecting and merging duplicates · Response source overview · LinkedIn plugin · Custom application form · Webhooks
Why boards differ: API versus XML
There's no single universal way to connect to a job board. Every board offers a different interface, and that determines what the connection can do.
| Interface type | How it works |
|---|---|
| API | The ATS talks to the board directly through its programmatic interface. |
| XML | Data is passed to the board by sending an XML file with a list of roles. |
| Custom application-form URL |
A link to your own application form is inserted into the posting on the board. Very common on international job boards; it tends to be an alternative to sending responses by email. |
| Webhooks | The board sends a candidate's response in JSON to an address you specify. |
Ask the vendor whether their ATS supports exactly the boards you advertise on – and whether it can also pull responses from them.
Who pays for the connection
Ask the ATS vendor whether the connection is included in the price or charged for each board separately. But that's only half of it.
Also check with the job board operators themselves whether they charge for the connection – i.e. you, as their client. Companies are often caught off guard: the board asks for a fee to have roles from the ATS published to it automatically and candidates pulled back automatically.
There's a proven approach for this. Offer the job board that you'll buy a larger advertising subscription and automate publishing – in exchange for waiving the implementation fee. Boards usually go for it: they treat a larger commitment as compensation for setting up the connection, or provide it for free.
The complete list of questions for an ATS vendor →
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. For a complete picture, here's how our system handles the points above:
- Multiposting to 35+ job boards from a single job posting.
- Responses from job boards and career sites (Indeed, LinkedIn, niche boards and your own career site) are collected automatically, without re-typing.
- A career site can be built directly on the system and connected via REST API.
- LinkedIn has no response feed; you transfer candidates from it into Recruitis with a browser plugin in a few clicks. Automatically, this works by providing your own application-form URL where the candidate physically responds. If the ATS offers such a URL on the role, you can automate routing responses straight from LinkedIn ads into the role in the ATS.
- Users are included in the price with no limit on their number, and board connections aren't charged for each one separately.
The specific list of boards varies by market. Verify with us and with other vendors that yours are among them – it's the only thing that really matters on this point.
Frequently asked questions
What is multiposting and what is it for?
Multiposting is an ATS feature that lets you write the text of a role once and, in one step, publish it to several job boards at the same time, and optionally to your own career site. It removes re-typing the posting into each board separately, along with typos, diverging versions of the text, and forgotten roles left live after they were filled. With multiposting, verify how many boards the ATS publishes to, whether they include the ones you use, and whether a posting can be not only published from the ATS but also edited and closed.
What is the difference between connecting via API and via an XML feed?
Every job board has a different way of connecting. Some allow an API interface, where the ATS talks to the board directly through its programmatic interface. Others allow XML, i.e. sending data as a file with a list of roles. A third option is to enter your own application-form URL on the board: a link to your form is inserted into the posting and candidates respond through it. This variant is very common on international job boards and tends to be an alternative to sending responses by email. Some boards also offer webhooks, sending a candidate's response in JSON to an address you specify. So for every place you want to publish, you need to verify whether your ATS supports its interface type.