A Glossary of Key Terms: Make (formerly Integromat) Essentials for Workflow Automation

In today’s fast-paced HR and recruiting landscape, leveraging automation is no longer a luxury but a necessity for efficiency, accuracy, and competitive advantage. Workflow automation platforms like Make (formerly Integromat) empower HR professionals to streamline tedious tasks, integrate disparate systems, and create seamless candidate and employee experiences. To help you navigate this powerful world, we’ve compiled a glossary of essential terms. Understanding these concepts is the first step toward transforming your HR operations, freeing up valuable time, and focusing on strategic initiatives rather than manual data entry and repetitive processes.

Make (formerly Integromat)

Make, previously known as Integromat, is a visual platform for building and automating workflows. It allows users to connect apps and services without coding, enabling them to transfer and transform data between various systems automatically. For HR and recruiting professionals, Make is a game-changer, facilitating everything from applicant tracking system (ATS) data synchronization with HRIS platforms to automated onboarding document generation via tools like PandaDoc, significantly reducing manual effort and potential for human error. It acts as the central nervous system for your digital ecosystem, ensuring data flows efficiently and tasks are completed autonomously.

Scenario

In Make, a “Scenario” refers to an automated workflow designed to perform a specific series of tasks. It’s the core building block where you define what should happen, when it should happen, and to which data. For example, an HR scenario might be triggered when a new candidate applies (event), then parse their resume, enrich their profile with publicly available data, and finally add them to a candidate pipeline in a CRM (actions). Each scenario is a complete, self-contained automation that can be scheduled, triggered by events, or run manually, offering immense flexibility for HR process optimization.

Module

A “Module” is a specific function or operation within a Make scenario, representing an action or a trigger for a particular app or service. For instance, a “Google Sheets – Add a Row” module would add data to a spreadsheet, while an “Email – Send an Email” module would dispatch a message. In an HR context, modules allow you to interact with your ATS, HRIS, communication platforms, and document management systems. You might use an “Applicant Tracking System – New Applicant” module as a trigger, followed by “PandaDoc – Create Document” and “Slack – Send Message” modules to automate candidate screening and internal notifications.

Webhook

A “Webhook” is a powerful mechanism for real-time communication between web applications. Essentially, it’s an automated message sent from an app when a specific event occurs, delivering data to a predefined URL. In Make, webhooks are frequently used as “instant triggers,” meaning a scenario can start immediately when an event happens in an external system. For recruiting, this could be invaluable: imagine a new job application submitted on your career page (event), which instantly sends a webhook to Make, kicking off a scenario that creates a candidate profile and initiates an automated screening process without any delay.

API (Application Programming Interface)

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate and interact with each other. It defines the methods and data formats that applications can use to request and exchange information. Make leverages APIs to connect to thousands of services, acting as an intermediary to send requests and receive data. For HR, understanding APIs means recognizing the potential to connect virtually any system—from payroll and benefits platforms to learning management systems—enabling a truly integrated and automated HR tech stack without manual data transfers.

Automation

Automation in the context of workflow platforms refers to the use of technology to perform tasks or processes with minimal human intervention. It involves setting up rules and sequences of actions that execute automatically based on predefined triggers and conditions. In HR, automation transforms repetitive, low-value tasks like data entry, scheduling interviews, sending follow-up emails, and generating offer letters into hands-off processes. This not only significantly reduces administrative burden and costs but also improves accuracy, consistency, and the speed of critical HR functions, ultimately enhancing the candidate and employee experience.

Integration

Integration is the process of connecting different software applications or systems so they can work together and share data seamlessly. For HR and recruiting, integration is vital for creating a unified view of candidates and employees across the entire lifecycle, from initial application to offboarding. Platforms like Make specialize in facilitating these integrations, allowing your ATS to talk to your HRIS, your CRM to update your communication tools, and your document generation software to pull data from multiple sources. Effective integration eliminates data silos, improves data accuracy, and provides a comprehensive operational overview.

Workflow

A “Workflow” is a sequence of tasks or steps required to complete a specific process. In HR, examples include the candidate hiring workflow, employee onboarding workflow, performance review workflow, or benefits enrollment workflow. Workflow automation platforms like Make allow organizations to map out these sequences digitally and then automate the execution of each step. This ensures consistency, reduces delays, and provides transparency into the status of each process, leading to more predictable outcomes and a better experience for all stakeholders involved in the HR lifecycle.

Data Mapping

Data mapping is the process of matching data fields from one system to corresponding data fields in another system during an integration. For example, when transferring candidate data from an ATS to an HRIS, you might map the “Applicant Name” field in the ATS to the “Employee Name” field in the HRIS. Make provides a visual interface for data mapping, allowing users to easily connect source fields to destination fields. Accurate data mapping is crucial for ensuring that information is transferred correctly and consistently between systems, preventing errors and maintaining data integrity across your HR tech stack.

Scheduled Trigger

A “Scheduled Trigger” is a type of trigger in Make that initiates a scenario at a predefined time or on a recurring schedule. Unlike instant triggers (like webhooks), scheduled triggers are time-based. For HR, this could mean running a scenario every morning to check for new resumes in a specific email inbox, or once a week to generate a report on interview feedback. Scheduled triggers are ideal for tasks that don’t require real-time processing but benefit from regular, automated execution, ensuring that routine administrative duties are never missed and data is consistently updated.

Instant Trigger

An “Instant Trigger” immediately starts a Make scenario as soon as a specific event occurs in an connected application. This is typically achieved using webhooks or by direct API subscriptions from the service provider. For recruiting teams, instant triggers are invaluable for real-time responsiveness: when a candidate accepts an offer in your ATS, an instant trigger can immediately kick off the onboarding process by sending a welcome email, creating an employee profile in the HRIS, and generating necessary contracts via PandaDoc. This immediacy significantly improves the candidate experience and operational efficiency.

Error Handling

“Error Handling” refers to the strategies and mechanisms within a Make scenario designed to anticipate, detect, and respond to errors or exceptions that may occur during execution. This includes actions like retrying failed operations, sending notifications to administrators, or logging errors for later review. Robust error handling is critical for HR automations, as data accuracy and process reliability are paramount. For instance, if a scenario fails to update an employee record due to a temporary API issue, proper error handling can prevent data loss and ensure the process is eventually completed, maintaining operational integrity.

Filters

“Filters” in Make are conditions placed between modules in a scenario that determine whether data should proceed to the next module. They allow you to process only the data that meets specific criteria, ensuring that your automations are precise and efficient. In HR, a filter could be used to process only job applications from candidates with a specific keyword in their resume, or to send onboarding documents only to new hires in a particular department. Filters prevent unnecessary actions, reduce operational costs by saving on task usage, and ensure that only relevant information triggers subsequent steps in a workflow.

Router

A “Router” in Make is a flow control module that allows a single incoming bundle of data to be split and processed along multiple paths (routes) simultaneously or conditionally. This enables you to create complex scenarios where different actions are taken based on the initial data. For example, after a new hire is added to your HRIS, a router could send an email to the IT department for equipment provisioning, send a welcome kit request to HR, and update a hiring progress dashboard, all at the same time. Routers provide immense flexibility for managing multifaceted HR processes from a single trigger event.

PandaDoc Integration

PandaDoc integration, especially through platforms like Make, refers to the ability to connect PandaDoc’s document automation capabilities with other HR and recruiting systems. This allows for the automated creation, sending, tracking, and e-signing of critical documents such as offer letters, employment contracts, onboarding forms, and policy agreements. By integrating PandaDoc with your ATS or HRIS via Make, HR teams can automatically populate document templates with candidate or employee data, eliminating manual data entry, reducing errors, and dramatically speeding up the document lifecycle, from generation to legally binding signature.

If you would like to read more, we recommend this article: Mastering HR Automation: PandaDoc and Make for the Automated Recruiter