Preparing the File

PCRecruiter allows you to import Company, Name and Position (limited) data from a .zip, .mdb, .txt, or .csv file. The import utility will allow you to add a group of records to your database and place them all on a Rollup List at the time of import.

The “Data Transfer” security option on your User Record must include ‘Import’ to be able to import files.

The Generic Mapper/Importer is a utility for importing data from Comma Separated Values (.csv), Tab Delimited (.txt), or Microsoft Access Database (.mdb) files into the PCRecruiter Web application. If your data is in Excel (.xls) format, open the file and use the “Save As” option from the File menu to save the data in Comma Delimited (.csv) or Tab Delimited (.txt) format.

If your data is stored in an .mdb file (which may contain several tables), you must create one column to serve as the primary key column containing a unique value. You will then link this column to the Key field when mapping between tables.

When importing a file containing company and name data (i.e. a list of companies with contacts), MST recommends importing the company data to a Company Rollup then import the name data to a Name Rollup. This will allow you to map your data to the appropriate fields to create detailed company records, avoid creating duplicate records, and associate the names to the appropriate company record.

To further explain, when you import the company information to a Company Rollup, you will be presented fields for Company records to which you can map the data, such as address, phone number, keywords, notes, industry, etc. Once the companies are imported, you then import the name related columns to a Name Rollup and you will be presented fields for Name record to which you can map the data, such as First Name, Last Name, Title, Email Address, etc. Additionally, you will have options for mapping to #Company Name, “Company City, #Company State, and #Company Phone, which allows PCRecruiter to associate the incoming names to the appropriate company record.

When importing names with limited company information, you can accomplish the import by a one-time import to a Name Rollup if the company information is limited to Company Name, Company City, Company State, and Company Phone. You will then map to these fields in the Name Mapping Screen. Any new companies created from the import will be placed on the Rollup when opened from a Companies view, and the names will be associated with the company. However, MST does recommend importing the company information first to a Company Rollup and then importing the name information to a Name Rollup as it allows you to create company records with more detail.

PCRecruiter’s Generic Mapper/Import will allow for you to specify duplicate check options of ‘No Duplicate Check’, ‘Skip if Duplicate Found’, and ‘Update if Duplicate Found’. Please note that any newly created records or existing records matching the duplicate check option are placed on the Rollup.

If your data file contains a list of names to import and some provide the company name while others did not, create two separate import files, or fill in empty company name cells with the name of your database’s default company.

• Map to #Company Name if you want the name linked to a company record based on Company Name only (being sure that there is only one company with this name). If a matching record is not found, a new Company record will be created with only the Company Name field populated with the value mapped to this field.
• Map to #Company Name, #Company City, and #Company State if you want the name linked to a Company record based on company name and the city/state. If a matching record is not found, a new Company record will be created with the Company Name, City and State fields populated with the value that was mapped to the corresponding field.
• Map to #Company Name and #Company Phone if you want the name linked to a company record based on company name and the phone number. If a matching record is not found, a new Company record will be created with the Company Name and Phone fields populated with the value that was mapped to the corresponding field.
• Map to #Company Phone if you want the name linked to a Company record based on Phone only (being sure that there is only one company with this phone number). This option should be used with caution as it could result in the creation of a Company record with only the phone number populated if a match is not found.

Mapping to #Company City and #Company State should be used with caution as the name will be associated with a random company since based on a match of city and state.

All records imported into the database will inherit an ‘Import’ activity, even those that were already in the database and skipped or updated based on a duplicate check. If the record was in the database, the Activity Text will also include the name of the fields modified.

Text areas such as Notes, Resume, Job Description, Keywords have a 255 character limit when importing using the Generic Mapper, unless the source file is an MS Access file (.mdb).

When importing names, you may map to the Status field of the Name record, however you must use the single-letter code for the desired status as noted below. Additionally, the data file must
specify this code using a capital letter. Using full descriptions or lowercase will not allow PCRecruiter to populate the Status field correctly.

• U = Unverified
• C = Candidate
• E = Employee
• M = Manager
• H = Hiring Authority
• I = Internal
• P = Placed
• T = Contractor/Temp
• X = Not Available
• A = On Assignment
• F = Reference
• D = Developed/Qualified
• O = Offer Accepted
• S = Submitted

The importer will reference any Custom Fields by column name. If you import to a ‘Custom Field’, PCRecruiter will create a new custom field based on the column name of the data file. If you wish to import to an existing custom field, ensure that the column name in the data file is an exact match to the custom field name in the database. For example, if you have a person’s LinkedIn URL, name the column Social_LinkedIn, and then map that column to Custom Field 1.

Data files up to 5MB in size can be uploaded. You may want to zip the file or break the file into smaller pieces to keep with the size limitations. Contact your Main Sequence Technologies representative to arrange for a larger data import.

Importing the Data

You may initiate the Generic Importer from the Add Wizard found under the lightning bolt icon at the top right corner of PCRecruiter, or via the action menu at the top of the Rollup List you wish to import the records into. The instructions below are for using the latter method, but the same principles apply when using the Wizard.

1. Click Rollups on the main toolbar and create or open the Rollup to which you will import the records. It is important to note that if you are importing Companies, you must open the Rollup in a Company view. If you are
   importing Names, you must open from a Name view. If importing jobs, open from a Position view.
   
   
2. Click the Import action icon.
   
3. Select Generic File Mapper/Importer.
   
4. Click the Select File button at the top of the window, browse to and double click on the file to import.
5. Click the Fill Empty City/State or Zipcode Fields box if your file contains City and State but Not Zip (or Zip but not City and State). The import utility will attempt to populate the missing data.
6. If you have saved a mapping template from a previous import, click the Browse button in the ‘Mapping Template’ area to select the mapping template file.
7. Click the First Row Contains Headers box if your file’s first row contains header information. If this box is not checked, the Generic Mapper/Importer will treat the first row as data to be imported.
8. Select the appropriate radio button to indicate the type of file (i.e., Comma Delimited, Tab Delimited, Pipe Delimited).
9. Click Next. If you get an error message at this step, the cause is most likely that your import file has an extra space at the end of at least one column heading (i.e., ‘First Name_’ where _ is a space. Remove the space
   from the column heading then repeat the import process again.
   
10. The ‘Field Mapping’ screen is displayed. The upper area lists the PCRecruiter fields to which you can map data, and the lower displays the data from the file you selected to import. Click in the middle column for the
    PCRecruiter field to which you want to populate, and a dropdown appears providing the ability to select the column from your data file that should be mapped to the field.
    • If you are importing Name records, you must map First Name and Last Name. If your data file includes Full Name, map to the First Name field (leaving the Last Name blank) and PCRecruiter will split the name into First and Last for you.
    • If you are importing Name records and you wish to associate the records to companies, map the individual’s Company Name and Work Phone, Work City, or Work State to #Company Name, #Company Phone, #Company City, # Company State. PCRecruiter will use this mapping to determine the company record to which the record will be linked. If a company name is not available or mapped, the names will be associated with the database’s default company.
    • If you select the wrong field, click in the middle column then select the ‘Clear Field’ option in the dropdown to remove the mapping specified for this field.
    • The Generic Mapper allows you save the mapping as a template, expediting future imports of data from the same original source. To save the mapping for future imports. Click the Save Template link at the bottom of the Field Mapping screen. The ‘File Download’ window will display. Click Save. In the ‘Save As’ window, select where to store the file and provide a name for the mapping template. MST recommends naming the file to indicate the data source and type of mapping (i.e. Hoovers Name Data Mapping). The ‘File Type’ will default to ‘.pcr Document’. Do not to change the file type.
    • Once ‘Save In’ and ‘Save As’ are specified, click Save then click Close in the ‘Download Complete’ window. The file will be saved to your computer, which will allow you to select the file in Step 7
      when performing a future import.

    

11. Once all data columns are mapped to PCRecruiter fields, click Next.
12. Select the duplicate check preference for the import. Predefined options are available, or you may use the last option to duplicate check based on a field from your source file. The options include:
    • No Duplicate Check: PCRecruiter will simply load all data and not check for duplicates.
    • Skip if Duplicate Found: PCRecruiter will check for duplicates based on the duplicate check option selected below. If a duplicate is found, the original record is maintained without modification and a new record
      is not created.
    • Update if Duplicate Found: PCRecruiter will check for duplicates based on the duplicate check option selected below. If a duplicate is found, the original record is modified (existing fields will be modified
      based on imported data but not cleared) and a new record is not created.

    

13. Click Import. You will be alerted when the import process is complete. Click the X in the upper right corner to exit. You can then refresh your rollup to view the records.