{"id":75006,"date":"2022-04-13T09:20:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T23:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bullhorn.com\/au\/?post_type=customer_blog&p=75006"},"modified":"2022-04-12T17:19:15","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T07:19:15","slug":"automation-in-practice-how-to-update-tens-of-thousands-of-candidate-category-and-skill-fields-in-a-half-hour","status":"publish","type":"customer_blog","link":"https:\/\/www.bullhorn.com\/au\/customer-blog\/automation-in-practice-how-to-update-tens-of-thousands-of-candidate-category-and-skill-fields-in-a-half-hour\/","title":{"rendered":"Automation in Practice: How to Update Tens of Thousands of Candidate Category and Skill Fields in a Half Hour"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Automation in Practice features a client that updated tens of thousands of candidate category and skill fields within half an hour of setting up automations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how they achieved it:<\/b><\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. The client utilised a setting in Bullhorn Automation: <\/span>generate values from database values<\/b>, which populates your dropdown menus with values that already exist in your database, and not with what\u2019s listed in your system settings. This allows every value that exists in your database to be searchable in Bullhorn Automation list criteria.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Then, they created automations to <\/span>update all of the outdated values<\/b> to the new values. This is something that we commonly see if you have an old database, and have since made changes to any of your fields.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    With these automations, you can make sure that your database values are all on the same page.<\/span><\/p>\n

    This was very valuable for the client; here\u2019s what they had to say:<\/span><\/p>\n

    I\u2019ve been wanting to get this done forever but never had the time. I think it would have taken me months if I had to do it manually. Literally crossed off a to-do list item that was there for years in about half an hour of building automations. I\u2019m in love!<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Back in my recruiting days, before recruitment automation, I once had a project in which I updated 15,000 records, one click at a time. It took me 2+ weeks! With <\/span>Bullhorn Automation<\/span><\/a>, that could have been done in a matter of minutes, or even seconds.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s how you can do this yourself:<\/b><\/h3>\n

    In this first part, we\u2019ll go over how to do those mass updates for the outdated category or skill codes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. In the top right corner, select <\/span>Add Automation.<\/b><\/li>\n
    2. Select <\/span>blank automation.<\/b><\/li>\n
    3. Select <\/span>candidate-based.<\/b><\/li>\n
    4. Name your automation and keep the type of automation as <\/span>Standard.<\/b><\/li>\n
    5. Hit <\/span>save.<\/b><\/li>\n
    6. Under <\/span>Automation Enrollment<\/b>, select <\/span>Create New List.<\/b><\/li>\n
    7. Name your list. Under <\/span>Choose the type of list<\/b>, select <\/span>Always Updated.<\/b><\/li>\n
    8. Under <\/span>List Summary<\/b>, in the drop-down menus, select <\/span>Category Is<\/b>, and then select your old values, plus the correct value you\u2019d like those old ones to fall under.<\/span><\/li>\n
    9. Hit <\/span>save.<\/b><\/li>\n
    10. Under <\/span>Add New Step<\/b>, select <\/span>Update Candidate. <\/b>The basic idea in this step is to find and clear the old values in your system.<\/span><\/li>\n
    11. Under <\/span>How would you like to update records?<\/b>, select <\/span>Clear a field value.<\/b><\/li>\n
    12. Under <\/span>Choose field to update<\/b>, select <\/span>Candidate Categories.<\/b> Underneath, in response to <\/span>How should this field be updated?<\/b>, select <\/span>Remove from existing values.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n
    13. Under <\/span>Which values should be removed?<\/b>, select your old values.<\/span><\/li>\n
    14. Hit <\/span>save.<\/b><\/li>\n
    15. Now that those values are cleared, we\u2019ll be adding in the correct value. Under <\/span>Add New Step<\/b>, select <\/span>Update Candidate <\/b>once again.<\/span><\/li>\n
    16. Under <\/span>How would you like to update records?<\/b>, leave <\/span>Set a field value<\/b> as the selection.<\/span><\/li>\n
    17. Under <\/span>Choose field to update<\/b>, select <\/span>Candidate Categories.<\/b><\/li>\n
    18. Under <\/span>How should this field be updated?<\/b>, leave the selection as <\/span>Add to existing values.<\/b><\/li>\n
    19. Under <\/span>Select the new value<\/b>, simply select your correct value.<\/span><\/li>\n
    20. Hit <\/span>save.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Now, your old categories will be updated with the correct value.<\/span><\/p>\n

      If you have a lot of old categories to change and move around, this is where you can utilise branching. Instead of having lots of separate automations to perform the same function, you can simply add additional groups of old categories.<\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Under <\/span>Add New Step<\/b>, select <\/span>Add Branch.<\/b><\/li>\n
      2. Under <\/span>Branch Settings<\/b>, name your branch.<\/span><\/li>\n
      3. While adding your conditions, select <\/span>Category Is<\/b>, and then select additional values (that is, old values, plus the correct one you\u2019d like them to update to).<\/span><\/li>\n
      4. Hit <\/span>save<\/b>, then hit <\/span>done.<\/b><\/li>\n
      5. Then, replicate steps 10-20 from part one to update those categories.<\/span><\/li>\n
      6. In these branches, you can add additional branches with additional categories, by replicating steps 1-6 from this part, and simply selecting further additional values to be replaced.<\/span><\/li>\n
      7. Just make sure that underneath your <\/span>Automation Enrollment<\/b>, you have all the values listed under <\/span>List Summary.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        You don\u2019t have to include branching \u2013 it\u2019s just a way to save some space and contain the entire category or skill update within one automation. If you\u2019re updating skill codes and candidate category automations, I would recommend setting those up as two separate automations, rather than as branches under the same one.<\/span><\/p>\n

        Bonus automation:<\/b><\/h3>\n

        Here\u2019s an automation to get your data to update itself:<\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Select <\/span>Add New Automation.<\/b><\/li>\n
        2. Select <\/span>Submission-based.<\/b><\/li>\n
        3. Name your automation. Keep the automation type as <\/span>Standard.<\/b><\/li>\n
        4. Hit <\/span>save.<\/b><\/li>\n
        5. Leave <\/span>Automation Enrollment<\/b> alone for now. For now, we\u2019ll go right to <\/span>Add New Step.<\/b><\/li>\n
        6. Select <\/span>Update Candidate.<\/b><\/li>\n
        7. Under <\/span>How would you like to update records?<\/b>, select <\/span>Copy a field value.<\/b><\/li>\n
        8. Under <\/span>Choose field to update<\/b>, you can select whichever field you like from the submission job. This way, your candidate field automatically updates with the field from that job they\u2019re in, like their pay rate or position. So, if you\u2019d like to update their <\/span>Candidate Position<\/b>, you can select that under <\/span>Choose field to update<\/b>, and then <\/span>Submission Job Title<\/b> from <\/span>Choose the field you want to copy values from.<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
        9. Hit <\/span>save.<\/b><\/li>\n
        10. Here, you can pull in from submission skill category codes. Go back up to <\/span>Automation Enrollment<\/b>, and select <\/span>Create New List.<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
        11. Name your list, and under <\/span>Choose the type of list<\/b>, select <\/span>Always Updated.<\/b><\/li>\n
        12. Under <\/span>List Summary<\/b>, select <\/span>Job Category Is<\/b>, and then whichever category you\u2019d like to pull in from.<\/span><\/li>\n
        13. From here, you can also add a branch, where you select <\/span>Update Candidate<\/b>, and <\/span>Choose field to update<\/b> to whichever <\/span>Candidate Category<\/b> you like that corresponds with the <\/span>Job Category.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          See this Automation in Practice:<\/b><\/h3>\n

          Watch the video below to see Billy Davis put this automation into practice:<\/span><\/p>\n