CATS Applicant Tracking System

Zapier is an awesome online service that lets you to connect hundreds of apps to one another, allowing them to interact in ways you define. Using Zapier, you can connect CATS to Google Docs, MailChimp, Twilio, Android notifications and many more!

What Can I Do?

These are just a few examples of what you can do:

• Add placed candidates to a spreadsheet in Google Docs.
• Trigger an IM from your Google Talk account when something happens in CATS.
• Create a contact in your Google contacts when you add a new contact in CATS.
• Create a new subscriber in your MailChimp list when you receive a new applicant in CATS.
• Text a candidate with Twilio upon a certain status change in CATS.
• And a whole lot more.

How Does It Work?

Zapier works by connecting applications through a shared API. To send data to Zapier from CATS, you create a WebHook, which is simply a way for CATS to send a blob of information to another service. You configure Zapier to take information from the WebHook and send it to another service that Zapier supports.

Workflow

The workflow is a powerful tool in CATS that allows you to automate actions. It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the workflow editor before hooking Zapier up to it.

Example

I’ve created a Zap that you can use to add candidate data to a spreadsheet in Google Docs at status change to help get you started.

Note: To set this up you’ll need to be an administrator on your CATS account.

Set up your spreadsheet

1. Login to Google Drive and create a new spreadsheet.
2. Give the spreadsheet a title.
3. Add your column headings in the first row.
   • This is something that is probably unique for everyone but I’ve set it up to collect the following:
     • First Name
     • Last Name
     • Email Address
     • Prior Status
     • Placed
     • Date Placed
     • Placed By
   • You can include any data you’d prefer, you don’t have to stick to the data I’ve listed above.
4. Add a row of fake data to your spreadsheet. For this you can just make up the information that corresponds with the column headings you’ve selected. I believe this is to help show Zapier what the data in the columns should look like.

Set up Zapier & CATS

1. Setup an account with Zapier. They have free and paid accounts that offer different options but a free one will work for our purposes in this example.

2. You can then use this Zap to get started.

3. Click the Continue button since this part of the Zap is already configured. It’s saying to catch a WebHook (in this case, from CATS) and create a spreadsheet row in Google Docs.

4. Step 2 in Zapier gives you a WebHook URL. Copy the URL and head into your CATS account.

5. In CATS, enable WebHooks. To do this you’ll go to Settings > Administration > Integrations > Enable WebHooks at the bottom.

6. Next you’ll want to add the trigger to any status in CATS. This is done at Settings > Administration > Workflow. On the trigger setup screen, choose WebHook in the Action drop down.

7. You can enter anything you’d like into the Description field. This is kept internally and lets you know what action is performed on this trigger.

8. In the WebHook URL field, paste the URL you copied from step 4.

9. Save the new trigger.

10. Head over to your candidates. Change the status of one of them to the status you added the trigger to. This is required in order for Zapier to get the WebHook data for the next steps.

11. Back in Zapier click the Continue button.

12. Connect your Google Docs account and then make sure it’s selected in the drop down list.

13. Click Continue.

14. We’re now at the Filter WebHook Triggers section. You can just click Continue in here as we don’t need to set anything.

15. In the Spreadsheet drop down you can choose the spreadsheet that you created for this Zap.

16. In the Worksheet drop down choose Sheet1, or whatever sheet your column headings are on.

17. You’ll now see the column headings appear with a text area under each. Choose the Insert fields option to the right of each of these to select the data from CATS.

• You can just click through the dialog steps that appear the first time you click the Insert Fields option as we took care of that in step 10.
• See the screenshot below to see how I’ve made the mappings.

18. You can now test your Zap with the Test this Zap section. Click the Test WebHook button and choose a sample. Take a look at your spreadsheet. You should see a new row of data in it.

19. Title your Zap and save it with the Turn Zap on button.

20. Done!

Now when you change a status to that which you added the trigger to in CATS, your spreadsheet will add a new row with the data you specified.

Endless Possibilities

With the many services Zapier already has, the configurations seem endless! We’d love to hear if you decide to take advantage of this and to hear how it has benefitted you. Sharing your Zaps below is a great way to help other CATS users.