A Glossary of Core Automation Concepts for HR & Recruiting Professionals

In today’s fast-paced HR and recruiting landscape, leveraging automation isn’t just an advantage—it’s a necessity. Understanding the foundational concepts behind tools like Make (formerly Integromat) and Zapier is crucial for HR leaders, recruiters, and operations professionals looking to streamline processes, eliminate manual errors, and reclaim valuable time. This glossary provides clear, actionable definitions of key automation terms, explaining how each applies directly to enhancing efficiency in talent acquisition and human resources.

Scenario (Make.com)

In Make.com, a ‘Scenario’ is the core building block of an automation workflow. It represents an automated process that connects various apps and services to perform a specific series of tasks. For HR professionals, a scenario might automate the entire candidate onboarding journey, from parsing a resume and adding data to a CRM, to triggering background checks and sending welcome emails. Each scenario is designed to achieve a defined outcome, ensuring consistent execution and freeing up your team from repetitive manual interventions. Understanding scenarios is key to designing robust, scalable HR automation solutions.

Zap (Zapier)

A ‘Zap’ is the equivalent of a Scenario in Zapier, defining an automated workflow that connects two or more apps. Zaps consist of a Trigger and one or more Actions. For a recruiter, a Zap could automatically create a new candidate profile in your ATS (Applicant Tracking System) whenever a new lead is added to your CRM, ensuring no potential talent slips through the cracks. It’s about creating seamless data flow between disparate HR tools, eliminating data entry, and allowing your team to focus on high-value interactions rather than manual data synchronization.

Module

A ‘Module’ is a specific block within a Make.com scenario or Zapier Zap that performs a single task with an application or service. Modules come in various types: triggers, actions, and search functions. For instance, in an HR automation workflow, a “Gmail – Watch Emails” module could be your trigger, while a “Google Sheets – Add a Row” module or a “DocuSign – Send Envelope” module could be an action. Each module is configured to interact with a specific app’s API, enabling your automation to send data, retrieve information, or perform operations within that application. They are the granular components that build complex, multi-step automations.

Trigger

A ‘Trigger’ is the starting point of any automation workflow, initiating a Scenario or Zap based on a specific event. It’s the “when” in “When X happens, do Y.” For HR and recruiting, common triggers could include a new resume uploaded to a shared drive, a candidate status updated in the ATS, a new form submission on your careers page, or a new employee record created in an HRIS. Triggers are designed to react to real-time events, ensuring your automated processes begin immediately and consistently, without human intervention or delay.

Action

An ‘Action’ is a specific task performed by a module within an automation workflow, executed after a trigger event or a preceding action. It’s the “do Y” in “When X happens, do Y.” In HR automation, actions might involve sending an automated interview scheduling link, updating a candidate’s status in an ATS, creating a task in a project management tool for the hiring manager, or generating a personalized offer letter using a document automation platform. Actions are the operational steps that bring your automated HR processes to life, ensuring every necessary step is completed accurately and on time.

Iterator

An ‘Iterator’ is a specialized module in Make.com that processes a collection of items (like a list or an array) one by one. If your HR system returns a list of 10 candidates from a search query, an iterator can process each candidate individually, allowing subsequent modules to perform actions for each candidate separately—such as sending a personalized email, updating their individual records, or adding them to a separate spreadsheet. This is particularly powerful for handling bulk data, ensuring that every item in a list receives the intended treatment without requiring separate workflows for each.

Router

A ‘Router’ in Make.com allows you to branch an automation workflow into multiple paths based on different conditions, enabling sophisticated decision-making within your scenarios. For instance, if a new job application comes in, a router could direct candidates with specific keywords in their resume to one pathway (e.g., immediate manager review), while others follow a standard path (e.g., automated screening questions). This provides dynamic control over your HR processes, ensuring that different types of data or events are handled appropriately, making your automations more intelligent and responsive to varying conditions.

Webhook

A ‘Webhook’ is a powerful mechanism for real-time communication between different web applications. Essentially, it’s an automated message sent from one app to another when a specific event occurs. For HR, a webhook might be used when an external job board receives a new application, immediately notifying your Make.com or Zapier workflow. This instant notification eliminates the need for constant polling, making your integrations faster and more efficient. Webhooks are critical for creating highly responsive and real-time HR automation systems, especially when connecting bespoke or less common HR tools.

API Call

An ‘API Call’ (Application Programming Interface Call) allows your automation workflow to directly interact with the backend of an application. When pre-built modules for a specific app don’t offer the exact functionality you need, an API call provides the flexibility to send custom requests. For an HR professional, this might mean querying a niche background check service for a specific data point not covered by standard integrations, or updating a very particular field in an HRIS. Mastering API calls extends the reach of your automation beyond standard connectors, enabling highly customized and powerful integrations for unique HR challenges.

Task

In Zapier, a ‘Task’ represents each successful action performed within a Zap. For example, if your Zap is set up to add new job applications from a website form to your ATS, each time a new application is successfully added, it counts as one task. This metric is crucial for managing your Zapier plan usage and understanding the volume of automated work being processed. For HR teams, monitoring tasks helps quantify the efficiency gains from automation, demonstrating how many manual efforts have been eliminated and providing insights into the scale of your automated operations.

Operation

Similar to Zapier’s ‘Task,’ an ‘Operation’ in Make.com refers to the execution of a module within a scenario. Every time a module processes data, it consumes an operation. If your scenario has five modules and runs once, it consumes five operations. For HR professionals, understanding operations is key to managing Make.com usage and optimizing scenario design. By carefully planning your scenarios to minimize unnecessary module executions, you can create efficient automations that maximize your operational capacity, ensuring your HR processes run smoothly without exceeding platform limits.

Connection

A ‘Connection’ in automation platforms like Make.com and Zapier refers to the authenticated link established between the automation platform and a specific third-party application (e.g., your ATS, CRM, or HRIS). Before you can use modules or actions for an app, you need to provide your login credentials or an API key once to create a secure connection. This ensures that the automation platform has the necessary permissions to access and manipulate data within that application on your behalf, establishing a trusted bridge for your automated HR workflows.

Data Store

A ‘Data Store’ (or Storage by Zapier) provides a simple way to temporarily or permanently store and retrieve small pieces of information directly within your automation platform, without needing an external database. For HR professionals, a data store could hold a running count of new applicants for a specific role, store a list of active job IDs, or keep track of the last processed record to prevent duplicates. It’s a handy internal database for maintaining state or custom variables within your automations, enabling more intelligent and context-aware HR workflows.

Filter

A ‘Filter’ is a conditional step within an automation workflow that allows data to proceed only if specific criteria are met. This acts as a gatekeeper, ensuring that only relevant information triggers subsequent actions. For example, an HR automation might use a filter to process new job applications only if the candidate’s resume includes specific keywords like “senior management” or “data science,” or if their desired salary falls within a certain range. Filters are essential for refining your automations, preventing unnecessary actions, and ensuring resources are focused on the most promising leads or relevant data points.

Schedule

A ‘Schedule’ determines how often an automation workflow (Scenario or Zap) checks for new data or initiates its process. Instead of reacting to real-time triggers, scheduled automations run at predefined intervals—e.g., every 15 minutes, daily, or weekly. For HR, a schedule might be used to generate a weekly report of open positions, send out automated follow-up emails to candidates who haven’t responded within 48 hours, or synchronize employee data between an HRIS and a benefits platform every night. Scheduling ensures that time-sensitive but not real-time processes are handled consistently and without manual oversight.

Error Handling

‘Error Handling’ refers to the strategies and configurations within an automation workflow designed to gracefully manage unexpected issues or failures. This includes mechanisms to log errors, retry failed steps, or notify relevant personnel when an automation doesn’t run as expected. For HR automation, robust error handling is critical: if an attempt to add a new employee to payroll fails, you need to know immediately to prevent delays. Implementing proper error handling ensures the reliability and resilience of your HR automations, minimizing disruptions and maintaining data integrity even when unforeseen problems arise.

If you would like to read more, we recommend this article: Make.com vs. Zapier: The Automated Recruiter’s Blueprint for AI-Powered HR