Learn how ATS integrations connect your applicant tracking system with HRIS, job boards, assessments, calendars, and other recruiting tools, and what to evaluate.
Every time a recruiter has to copy candidate details into another system, chase an assessment result, or manually pass new hire information to HR, there's another opportunity for delays and mistakes.
Multiply those handoffs across hundreds of applications, multiple hiring teams, and different locations, and the administrative work adds up quickly.
ATS integrations connect your applicant tracking system with the other recruiting and HR tools your organization uses. They allow applications, candidate records, assessment results, and hiring information to move between platforms, helping teams keep recruitment moving without constantly transferring data themselves.
The way each integration works affects how much time it saves and how well it supports your hiring process. Some transfer information at a specific point in recruitment. Others keep records updated across systems as information changes.
This guide explains how ATS integrations work, the different types available, and what to check before choosing them. You can also explore Pinpoint's integrations to see which platforms are supported.
An ATS integration is a connection that allows your applicant tracking system to exchange information with another software platform.
Your ATS holds the information your team needs to manage recruitment, including candidate applications, interview feedback, and hiring decisions. As candidates move through the process, other systems become involved. Job boards bring in applications, assessment providers help evaluate skills, and HR platforms take over employee records once someone joins.
An applicant tracking system integration keeps the relevant information moving as responsibility passes between those tools. Someone applying through a job board can have their details added directly to the ATS, ready for the recruiter to review. Their assessment results can appear against the same application, and once they're hired, the information collected during recruitment can be passed to HR.
The scope of each connection depends on the work it's designed to support. An assessment integration may handle test invitations and results, while a connection with an HR platform can involve employee records and requisitions that change throughout the year.
You'll want to understand those differences before deciding how well an ATS fits into your existing hiring process.
An ATS integration transfers information between two systems using a connection configured to handle particular records or events.
Take an application submitted through a job board. The integration passes the candidate's details to the ATS, where they're matched to the relevant fields and attached to the correct vacancy. The recruiter can then review the application alongside candidates who applied through other channels.
That same process supports other hiring activities. Assessment results can be returned to the candidate's record, while an HRIS integration can use information from a completed hire to create an employee record.
Behind the scenes, there are four main steps:
Several connections can support a single hire. You might publish a vacancy to job boards from your ATS, collect applications centrally, arrange assessments through a specialist provider, and use connected calendars to coordinate interviews. Once you've hired someone, their details can move into your HR system to support onboarding.
The technology handles the exchange of information, while your hiring process determines when those exchanges need to happen.
The direction in which information moves shapes what an integration can do.
A one-way integration sends data from one system to another. This is useful when the receiving platform takes responsibility for the information after it's been transferred.
With Pinpoint's Rippling integration, recruiters can send new hire details, employment information, and relevant documents into Rippling. The handoff gives HR the information it needs to set up the employee record without having to collect it again.
A two-way integration allows information to move in both directions, supporting workflows where records need to be shared and updated across systems.
Pinpoint's Workday integration provides a good illustration. Requisitions can move between Pinpoint and Workday, and new hire information passes into Workday when someone joins. Employee records and organizational changes can also flow back into Pinpoint, helping teams manage internal recruitment using current information.
A two-way connection doesn't necessarily exchange every available field. You should check which records are supported, where updates originate, and how changes are handled when information exists in both systems.
The timing of an update can affect how smoothly your team works.
Assessment results are most useful when recruiters can access them as soon as they're available. Organizational data, such as department structures, may only need to be refreshed periodically.
ATS integrations commonly use three approaches:
You should consider how quickly your team needs the information and what happens if an update is delayed. A scheduled transfer may suit your HR reporting process, while interview availability needs to be current when someone books a meeting.
The connections you need will depend on the tools already involved in your hiring process. Some bring candidates into the ATS, while others support the work that happens during recruitment or after someone accepts an offer.
A candidate accepts an offer, and the recruitment team marks them as hired. HR still needs their details to prepare for their first day.
Without an integration, that often means another round of data entry. Names and addresses need transferring, start dates have to be checked, and compensation details must match the agreed offer. Mistakes at this stage can cause problems long after recruitment has finished.
HRIS ATS integrations help make this handoff more reliable by transferring new hire information into the systems responsible for employee records and payroll.
The information usually includes contact details, job title, department, location, compensation, start date, and supporting documents. Your HR platform can then use those details to create an employee record and begin onboarding.
If your organization uses a human capital management (HCM) platform to manage positions and workforce structures, you may need information to travel in both directions. Approved requisitions might originate in the HR system, while hiring decisions and new employee details are recorded in the ATS.
Pinpoint's Oracle HCM integration supports this kind of process. Open positions in Oracle can generate requisitions in Pinpoint, and successful candidates can be created as pending workers in Oracle.
This allows the HR platform to remain the system of record for employees while recruitment happens in a dedicated ATS.
If you're hiring across multiple countries or business units, it's worth checking how the integration handles differences in required fields and organizational structures. You'll also want to understand which information your HR team can update after the initial transfer.
Applications arriving from five different job boards shouldn't mean five different places for recruiters to check.
Job board integrations bring applications into the ATS, keeping candidate information and application sources together. They also help teams manage where vacancies appear, whether that's through direct posting connections or job feeds.
With LinkedIn Apply Connect, candidates can apply without leaving LinkedIn, and their application details, resumes, and screening answers flow into Pinpoint. Recruiters can review them alongside applications from other sources without having to collect everything manually.
Sourcing integrations can support the earlier stages of recruitment, allowing candidate profiles to move from sourcing platforms into your ATS.
There's also the question of keeping advertised roles accurate. If you've changed the requirements for a role or closed a vacancy, you'll want those changes reflected across the boards you're using.
You should check how the integration handles updates to live jobs and whether application source information carries through accurately. This matters when you're reviewing advertising performance or trying to understand which channels are producing successful hires.
Pinpoint's job board advertising tools cover the wider job distribution process.
Assessment results are easier to use when they're available alongside the candidate's application.
Recruiters often need to review skills tests or screening outcomes before deciding whether someone should progress. When those results sit in another platform, someone has to retrieve them and make sure the hiring team has the latest information.
Assessment integrations help you manage that process from the ATS. A recruiter can invite someone to complete a test, and the provider can return the results to the candidate's record.
Pinpoint's TestGorilla integration supports skills assessments within the recruiting workflow, allowing hiring teams to access the information alongside other candidate details.
Background checks introduce additional considerations because of the personal information involved.
Through Pinpoint's HireRight integration, recruiters can initiate checks from a candidate's application and view adjudication results within Pinpoint.
You'll need to establish how consent is collected and which members of your team can access the information. It's also important to understand where screening reports are stored and how long they're retained.
These details can have a significant impact on your recruitment process, especially if you're hiring for roles with specific compliance requirements.
Trying to find an interview slot that works for a candidate and several hiring managers can take longer than the meeting itself.
Calendar integrations make scheduling easier by connecting the ATS with the tools interviewers already use. Depending on the connection, recruiters can check availability, send invitations, and arrange video meetings without managing every step separately.
If someone needs to reschedule, connected calendars can help keep the relevant meeting details up to date.
Pinpoint includes interview scheduling and connects with services such as Cronofy to support calendar-related workflows.
Communication integrations help with the coordination that happens around interviews. A connection with Slack, for instance, can bring recruitment notifications into a platform your hiring managers already use.
It's worth thinking about where your team currently handles interview arrangements. If hiring managers spend their working day in their calendars and messaging tools, connecting those platforms can make it easier for them to stay involved without constantly returning to the ATS.
Recruitment data becomes more valuable when you can connect it with the information your organization uses to make workforce decisions.
Your ATS might show how many roles are open and how long they're taking to fill. Finance may be working with hiring budgets, while HR has a separate view of employee headcount. Bringing that information together helps teams work from a more complete picture.
Analytics integrations allow recruitment data to be shared with business intelligence (BI) platforms or data warehouses. Information about jobs, applications, candidate sources, hiring stages, and outcomes can then be used alongside data from other parts of the business.
Pinpoint includes its own recruitment reporting functionality, and organizations can also connect recruiting information with external reporting tools.
The Power BI integration supports teams that want to analyze hiring information in their existing BI environment. Fivetran's Pinpoint connector can also help move recruitment data into a data warehouse for further analysis.
If you're planning to combine data from several sources, you'll want to establish which fields are available and how frequently they're refreshed. Consistent definitions also matter, particularly when different teams are using the same information to report on hiring performance.
ATS integrations can support other activities, including e-signatures, single sign-on, and employer branding. You can explore the available connections in Pinpoint's integrations hub.
An ATS can connect with other systems in several ways. The approach you choose affects how much work is involved in setting up the connection and who'll be responsible for maintaining it.
A pre-built integration is a connection that already exists between two software platforms. It may have been developed by the ATS provider, the other software vendor, or both.
These connections come with defined capabilities and an established setup process, although the amount of configuration involved can vary.
Connecting a messaging tool may be straightforward, while integrating a large HR platform often requires more planning. Your organization may need to agree on which fields are exchanged, how records are matched, and what should happen at different stages of the hiring process.
Pinpoint's Workday integration illustrates the level of detail involved in some enterprise connections. Pinpoint's integrations team works with customers to map the required information and test the connection before it's used in production.
You can usually avoid building the integration yourself, although you'll still need to make sure its existing capabilities meet your requirements.
If your organization uses an internal system or has requirements that aren't covered by an existing connector, a custom integration may be appropriate.
An application programming interface (API) gives developers a way to exchange information with the ATS. Through an ATS API integration, another system can request information or make supported changes to records.
Your organization might use an API to pull recruitment data into an internal reporting platform or connect the ATS with a custom workforce planning system.
Webhooks serve a related purpose by notifying another system when an event occurs. When someone applies for a job or moves to a new hiring stage, the ATS can send a notification to a connected application.
Developers can use APIs and webhooks together to create workflows that respond to recruitment activity and exchange the information required.
The flexibility is useful, particularly when you're working with specialized systems. You'll need the technical resources to build the connection and keep it working as your software or business processes change.
Middleware provides another way to connect systems, using a separate platform to manage the flow of information between them.
Tools such as Zapier can automate tasks across different applications. An action in the ATS can trigger a corresponding action elsewhere, using rules configured in the integration platform.
Larger organizations may use enterprise middleware to coordinate information across several HR and business systems, especially when they already manage a substantial integration infrastructure.
This can provide more flexibility when a direct connection isn't available, although the additional platform needs to be maintained.
You'll want to consider licensing costs, how errors are handled, and who'll manage the workflows when something changes.
Across all three approaches, the important consideration is whether the connection supports your existing processes. A pre-built integration, API, or middleware platform should make the work easier to manage and maintain over time.
When your recruiting tools share information, your team spends less time managing the gaps between them.
A recruiter who can send an assessment from the candidate's record and access the results in the same place doesn't have to manage a separate exchange of emails or documents. Once someone is hired, their details can reach HR without another round of data entry.
These changes are particularly useful when you're recruiting at scale. Small manual tasks quickly become significant when they're repeated across hundreds of applications and several hiring teams.
More consistent records make a difference, too. If a candidate's start date changes after they've accepted an offer, connected workflows can help ensure the relevant information reaches the systems that need it. That reduces the risk of HR working from outdated details.
Integrations can also make collaboration easier. Hiring managers have better access to relevant candidate information, and recruiters can spend less time collecting updates from separate platforms.
The effect carries through to reporting. When applications and hiring outcomes are connected to the same records, it's easier to track recruitment activity and understand which sources contribute to successful hires.
Your organization also has more flexibility in the software it uses. You can continue working with an established HRIS, retain specialist assessment providers, and use existing job board contracts while improving how those platforms work with your ATS.
The value of these benefits depends on the information each integration supports. You'll get the clearest picture by looking at the workflows your team uses most often and identifying where connected systems can remove unnecessary work.
An integration listed on a vendor's website tells you that a connection is available. You'll need more detail to understand how well it supports your hiring process.
Start with the systems your organization already uses. If your HR team relies on a particular HCM platform or your recruiters depend on a specialist assessment provider, those connections should be part of your evaluation from the beginning.
You'll then want to look at what each integration does and how much work is involved in using it.
A vendor demonstration becomes much more useful when it reflects what happens in your organization.
Imagine you're hiring someone into a role in another country. Their employee record needs the correct location, department, and compensation information. HR also needs the documents required to prepare for their arrival.
You can ask the vendor to demonstrate how that information moves from the ATS into your HR system.
Follow the process from the point where the candidate is hired. You should check which details transfer automatically and whether anyone needs to approve or complete the handoff, paying particular attention to what happens if a required field is missing or the receiving system rejects an update.
It's worth involving the people who'll use the connection after implementation. Your HR team may have requirements that aren't immediately obvious to recruiters, while IT may need to review permissions and the way information is transferred.
If you're switching ATS providers, include your most important integrations in the implementation plan and test them before going live. That gives you time to identify any changes to existing workflows and prepare the people affected.
For a broader look at what to consider when choosing recruitment software, see Pinpoint's guide to applicant tracking system features.
Pinpoint is designed to work with the recruiting and HR systems organizations already use, so teams can manage hiring in a dedicated ATS while keeping their existing technology.
Its integrations cover HRIS and HCM platforms, job boards, assessment providers, screening tools, and other recruiting software. Pinpoint also offers an open API and webhooks for organizations with additional connection requirements.
The way each connection works reflects the system involved.
Pinpoint's Workday integration supports two-way data exchange, allowing requisitions and employee information to move between the platforms. Workday remains the system of record for HR while recruiting teams manage hiring in Pinpoint.
With Paycom, the integration focuses on transferring new hire information into the HR and payroll platform. Pinpoint also connects with systems such as ADP Workforce Now and UKG Pro, supporting organizations with different HR technology requirements.
Recruiting platform connections include LinkedIn, helping teams manage candidate activity alongside their wider hiring process.
Pinpoint's developer documentation explains the available API and integration capabilities, including options for more specialized requirements. Exact data flows and setup processes depend on the individual connection.
Pinpoint also includes features such as interview scheduling, reporting, and screening functionality within the ATS, allowing teams to manage more of their recruiting activity in one place.
If your organization has complex technology or implementation requirements, you can learn more about Pinpoint's enterprise applicant tracking software.
You can browse the full range of supported platforms in Pinpoint's integrations hub or book a demo to discuss how Pinpoint would fit into your existing hiring technology.
With over seven years in B2B SaaS, Alice creates data-driven content that makes complex topics simple and engaging. She believes every good story (no matter how dry or technical) should feel human, useful, and built on insight.
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