Automated Applicant Tracking: Integrating Keap with External Systems via Make.com

In today’s competitive talent landscape, efficiency in recruitment isn’t just a goal—it’s a necessity. Manual processes are bottlenecks, prone to errors, and incapable of scaling with organizational growth. While dedicated Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are invaluable, many businesses, especially small to medium-sized enterprises, find themselves leveraging their existing CRM platforms, like Keap, to manage early-stage candidate interactions. Keap, with its robust automation and marketing capabilities, offers a powerful, albeit often underutilized, foundation for building a streamlined applicant tracking workflow. The true power, however, is unleashed when Keap is seamlessly integrated with the broader ecosystem of recruitment tools and external systems, a feat effortlessly achievable through an integration platform like Make.com.

The Strategic Imperative of Integration in Recruitment

Modern recruitment involves a complex interplay of job boards, assessment tools, HRIS, communication platforms, and internal databases. Without a centralized, interconnected system, data silos emerge, leading to disjointed candidate experiences, redundant data entry, and missed opportunities. Imagine a scenario where a new application on a job board doesn’t automatically trigger a candidate profile in Keap, or where interview notes taken in a separate system aren’t easily accessible to the hiring manager within their primary Keap contact record. These inefficiencies cost time and diminish the overall candidate experience. Integration, therefore, moves beyond mere convenience; it becomes a strategic imperative for attracting, engaging, and ultimately securing top talent.

Keap’s Role in a Dynamic Applicant Tracking Workflow

While Keap isn’t designed as a standalone ATS, its strength lies in its ability to manage contacts, track communication, and automate follow-ups. For many organizations, Keap serves as the initial touchpoint for potential candidates, allowing for structured data capture, automated nurturing sequences, and personalized outreach. A candidate’s journey can begin with a Keap form submission, and continue with automated email sequences, SMS updates, and internal task assignments. However, the limitation arises when the recruitment process extends beyond Keap’s native capabilities—into external ATS platforms, video interview tools, or background check services. This is precisely where Make.com steps in as the universal translator, bridging Keap with virtually any external system.

Make.com: The Bridge to Comprehensive Automation

Make.com (formerly Integromat) is a powerful no-code/low-code integration platform that allows users to connect apps and automate workflows without writing a single line of code. It operates on the principle of “scenarios,” where a trigger in one application initiates a series of actions across multiple other applications. For Keap-centric applicant tracking, Make.com can facilitate a multitude of transformative integrations:

Automating Candidate Data Ingestion

One of the most immediate benefits is automating the flow of candidate data from external sources into Keap. Whether an applicant submits their resume via a form on your website, applies through a third-party job board like Indeed or LinkedIn, or completes a preliminary assessment, Make.com can be configured to capture this information. It can then automatically create a new contact record in Keap, populate custom fields with relevant data (e.g., desired salary, earliest start date, position applied for), and even tag the contact for specific recruitment stages. This eliminates manual data entry, reduces errors, and ensures that all new applicants are immediately entered into your Keap-powered workflow.

Synchronizing Recruitment Stages and Statuses

As candidates progress through the hiring funnel, their status needs to be updated across all relevant systems. Make.com can create a two-way synchronization between Keap and your dedicated ATS. For instance, when a candidate is moved from “Interview Scheduled” to “Offer Extended” in your ATS, Make.com can automatically update a corresponding custom field in Keap, trigger an internal notification to the hiring team, or even initiate an automated email sequence to the candidate. Conversely, if a Keap-driven automation marks a candidate as “Disqualified,” Make.com can update the ATS accordingly, maintaining data consistency and accuracy across platforms.

Integrating with Assessment and Background Check Services

Many recruitment processes involve skills assessments, personality tests, or background checks. Instead of manually inviting candidates and logging results, Make.com can automate these steps. Once a candidate reaches a specific stage in Keap (e.g., “Ready for Assessment”), Make.com can trigger an invitation from your assessment platform (e.g., CodeSignal, Pymetrics). Upon completion, the results can be pulled back into Keap, perhaps as a note on the contact record or to update a specific score field, providing a consolidated view of the candidate’s profile.

Streamlining Communication and Onboarding

Keap excels at automated communication, and Make.com enhances this by connecting it to other critical communication channels or even onboarding systems. For successful candidates, Make.com can trigger the creation of a new employee record in an HRIS (e.g., Gusto, ADP), initiate onboarding tasks in a project management tool (e.g., Trello, Asana), or send a personalized welcome packet via email directly from Keap, ensuring a smooth transition from applicant to employee. The possibilities extend to sending automated SMS updates about interview schedules, feedback requests, or offer statuses, all orchestrated through Make.com scenarios.

Establishing Robust Integrations: Key Considerations

Building effective integrations with Make.com requires careful planning. Data mapping is paramount; clearly define which fields in Keap correspond to fields in external systems. Error handling should be considered to prevent workflow interruptions if an integration fails. Security and compliance, especially with sensitive applicant data, must be a top priority. Regularly review and test your Make.com scenarios to ensure they are performing as expected and adapting to any changes in API structures of connected applications. The investment in robust, automated applicant tracking via Keap and Make.com pays dividends in efficiency, candidate experience, and ultimately, your organization’s ability to secure the best talent.

If you would like to read more, we recommend this article: The Automated Recruiter’s Ultimate Guide to Supercharging Keap with Make.com