Bring your data in

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1. Choose how your data gets in

There are two routes, and most firms use both. Do it yourself when your data is a spreadsheet or a folder of CVs. Everything in sections 2 to 4 is self-serve, and you can run it today. Let our team run it when you are moving a full ATS across, with jobs, applications, notes, placements, and history attached to each record. Your data is first migrated into a separate validation environment, where you review it together with our team to confirm everything came across correctly. Only once you are happy with the result do we complete the migration to production.

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2. Bring in your candidates

You have five self-serve routes into the candidate database. Pick whichever matches the shape of the data you are holding.

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2.1 Import a CSV or Excel file

The import wizard bulk adds records to Spott, for example when migrating from another system or uploading a sourcing list. Each row becomes one record. You can import up to 1,000 records per import, from CSV or Excel (.xlsx) files. When you upload a file, you choose what the rows represent: The wizard then guides you through mapping your columns onto Spott fields, and runs the import. Under Actions you can also Add to list or Add to job, which applies to every record in the import.

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2.2 Upload CVs in batches of 1,000

If your data lives as CV files rather than a spreadsheet, upload them and let Spott parse each one into a candidate record. You can upload up to 1,000 CVs at once. Above 20 CVs there is no preview step, so the records are created directly. Duplicate records are flagged in red and you decide whether to create them anyway or skip them.

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2.3 Forward CVs by email

Forward a CV to cv@spott.io and Spott parses it into a candidate record, with the CV attached to the profile.

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2.4 Import from LinkedIn with the extension

Use the browser extension to import candidates from LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, or Recruiter, one profile at a time or from a search result list. This is the route that brings the profile content across, not just the link.

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2.5 Push candidates in from other tools

Connected sourcing tools such as Juicebox push candidates straight into Spott, and the API inserts them programmatically.

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3. Bring in your clients

Companies and contacts use the same wizard as candidates, with one useful shortcut.

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3.1 Import your contacts, and get companies for free

Run the import wizard and pick Contacts, or Any if your file mixes people and organisations. Companies need no file of their own: whenever a row has a company on it, Spott matches it to an existing company or creates a new company record, and links the person to it.

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3.2 Add clients from LinkedIn or by hand

Use the extension to create a company or contact straight from a LinkedIn page, or add either manually from the Companies and Contacts views when you only have a handful.

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4. Bring in your jobs

Jobs work differently from people: there is no CSV route for jobs. You have three ways in.

• Import from URL. In the Add New Job dialog, paste a public job-posting link and Spott fills the job fields from the posting. Review or edit before saving.
• The browser extension. Import the posting from the vacancy page you are looking at.
• Manually. Click Add Job and enter the title, company, and status, plus any details you have.

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5. Bring in the rest

Some things cannot be self-imported, and it is worth knowing that before you plan your first week:

• Applications, the link between a candidate and a job, with its stage and history
• Notes and files attached to existing records
• Placements and historical revenue
• Activity history from your old system: emails, calls, and meetings

All of these come across through the managed migration, into the validation environment, where you sign them off before go-live.

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6. Check what landed

Before your team starts working in the data, spot-check it.

• Duplicates. Spott deduplicates on email address, phone number, and LinkedIn URL, so re-adding someone enriches the existing profile rather than creating a copy. Anything that slipped through can be merged.
• Custom fields. Open a record you know had custom data in the source file and confirm what is empty, since custom fields do not come through a CSV import.
• Company links. Check that imported contacts are attached to the right company, and merge any near-duplicate companies the import created.
• Job and list membership. If you imported into a job, set the application stages in the pipeline.