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A Glossary of Key Terms: Understanding Zapier vs. Make.com for HR Automation

For HR and recruiting professionals navigating the evolving landscape of automation, understanding the core terminology used by platforms like Zapier and Make.com is crucial. These tools promise to streamline workflows, reduce manual data entry, and free up valuable time for strategic initiatives. However, the unique language and concepts associated with each platform can sometimes create a barrier to adoption. This glossary aims to demystify these key terms, providing clear, actionable definitions tailored to how they apply in human resources and recruitment contexts, helping you leverage automation to its fullest potential.

Webhook

A webhook is an automated message sent from one application to another when a specific event occurs, essentially functioning as a real-time notification system. Instead of constantly polling for new data (which is inefficient), an application simply “hooks” into another, waiting to be pinged. In HR and recruiting, webhooks are incredibly powerful. For instance, when a candidate completes an application on your ATS, a webhook can instantly trigger a workflow to create a new record in your CRM, send a personalized acknowledgment email, or even initiate a background check process without any manual intervention. This immediate data transfer ensures seamless operations and rapid response times, critical for a positive candidate experience and efficient talent acquisition.

API (Application Programming Interface)

An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a set of defined rules that allows different software applications to communicate with each other. Think of it as a menu in a restaurant: you can order specific dishes (requests) and expect certain outcomes (responses) without needing to know how the kitchen (the application’s internal code) prepares them. In the context of HR automation, APIs are the backbone of how platforms like Zapier and Make.com connect your various tools—your ATS, HRIS, payroll system, email marketing, and communication platforms. For example, an API might allow your HRIS to pull new employee data from your ATS or push onboarding details to a payroll system, ensuring data consistency and eliminating the need for manual data transfer across disparate systems.

Trigger

A trigger is the initiating event that starts an automated workflow or “zap” (in Zapier) or “scenario” (in Make.com). It’s the “when this happens” part of an “if this, then that” statement. Triggers are always tied to a specific application and an event within that application. For HR professionals, common triggers could include “New Job Application Submitted” in an ATS, “Candidate Stage Changed to Hired” in a CRM, “New Employee Added” in an HRIS, or “New Response to Employee Survey” in a survey tool. Selecting the right trigger is fundamental to building effective automations, as it dictates precisely when your automated processes will begin, ensuring timely and relevant responses to critical HR events.

Action

An action is a specific task or operation that an automation platform performs in response to a trigger. It’s the “then do that” part of your automated workflow. Once a trigger event occurs, the automation platform executes one or more predefined actions in subsequent applications. For HR and recruiting, actions might include “Create New Candidate Record” in a CRM, “Send Welcome Email” via an email marketing tool, “Add Row to Google Sheet” for reporting, “Create Onboarding Task List” in a project management system, or “Update Employee Status” in an HRIS. Actions allow you to automate repetitive tasks, ensure consistent data entry, and orchestrate complex processes across multiple HR systems, drastically improving operational efficiency and reducing human error.

Task (Zapier)

In Zapier, a “Task” refers to a single successful action performed within a Zap. Every time a Zap successfully runs an action—for example, creating a new candidate profile, sending an email, or adding a row to a spreadsheet—it consumes one task. Zapier subscriptions are typically based on a monthly task limit, so understanding how tasks are counted is critical for managing costs and optimizing your automations. For HR teams using Zapier, being mindful of task usage involves designing Zaps efficiently, using filters to prevent unnecessary actions, and ensuring each automated step genuinely contributes to a valuable outcome, thereby maximizing the ROI of your automation efforts.

Operation (Make.com)

In Make.com (formerly Integromat), an “Operation” is counted each time a module performs an action or processes data. Similar to Zapier’s tasks, operations are how Make.com meters your usage, with subscription plans based on a monthly limit. However, Make.com’s counting can be more granular; a single scenario run might involve multiple operations if it processes several pieces of data or executes numerous modules. For HR professionals utilizing Make.com, optimizing operations means designing lean scenarios, using tools like aggregators and iterators efficiently, and understanding how data flow impacts operational costs. This granular control allows for highly sophisticated automations while requiring careful design to manage resource consumption effectively.

Zap (Zapier)

A “Zap” is Zapier’s term for an automated workflow that connects two or more applications. It consists of a single trigger and one or more actions. Essentially, a Zap is a complete automated process, from the initial event to the final outcome. For an HR team, a Zap might look like this: “When a new candidate applies in Workday (Trigger), then create a new contact in HubSpot CRM (Action 1), and send an internal notification to the hiring manager via Slack (Action 2).” Zaps are designed to be user-friendly, allowing HR professionals with little to no coding experience to build powerful integrations that automate routine tasks, improve candidate communication, and streamline internal processes, driving significant efficiency gains.

Scenario (Make.com)

A “Scenario” is Make.com’s term for an automated workflow, similar to Zapier’s Zap but often designed for more complex, multi-step processes. Scenarios are built on a visual canvas where you connect “modules” (app actions or functions) with lines representing data flow, allowing for highly intricate and conditional logic. An HR scenario might involve: “When a new employee is added to BambooHR (Trigger), then search for their profile in Active Directory, create an account in Microsoft Teams, enroll them in a mandatory training program in your LMS, and send a welcome email from their manager.” Make.com scenarios provide immense flexibility for HR departments to automate end-to-end onboarding, offboarding, and other complex operational procedures, offering granular control over every step of the process.

Module (Make.com)

In Make.com, a “Module” is a building block within a scenario that represents a specific action or function within an application, or a utility function like data transformation. Each app integration (e.g., Google Sheets, Salesforce, Slack) will have various modules available to perform tasks like “Create a Row,” “Search for Records,” or “Send a Message.” There are also generic modules for HTTP requests, email parsing, and data manipulation. For HR teams, modules are the individual steps you orchestrate within a scenario to achieve a complete automated workflow. Understanding the specific modules available for your HR tech stack allows you to design precise and powerful automations, from fetching candidate data to updating payroll records, offering a high degree of customization and control over your processes.

Filter

A filter is a conditional step within an automated workflow that allows you to specify criteria that data must meet before proceeding to subsequent actions. It acts as a gatekeeper, ensuring that only relevant data triggers further steps, preventing unnecessary actions and saving resources (tasks/operations). In HR and recruiting, filters are invaluable. For example, you might set a filter in your automation to “only proceed if the applicant’s experience level is ‘Senior'” or “only send a notification if the candidate’s stage is ‘Interview Scheduled.'” This ensures that your automations are precise, targeting specific situations and avoiding irrelevant communications or data entries, leading to cleaner data and more focused processes.

Router (Make.com)

A Router in Make.com is a powerful module that allows a single trigger to initiate multiple, parallel workflows based on different conditions. It effectively splits a scenario into several independent paths, each with its own filters and actions. For HR professionals, a router can handle complex conditional logic for onboarding: “When a new employee is hired (Trigger), if they are a salaried employee, route to Path A (payroll setup, benefits enrollment); if they are an hourly employee, route to Path B (time clock setup, different benefits); and if they are a contractor, route to Path C (contract agreement, vendor setup).” Routers enable HR teams to build highly sophisticated, multi-pronged automations from a single starting point, significantly streamlining diverse internal processes based on specific employee types or job roles.

Iterator (Make.com)

An Iterator in Make.com is a module that takes an array (a list of items) from a previous module and processes each item individually. If your automation receives data with multiple sub-items—for example, a form submission containing multiple attachments or a list of skills for a candidate—the iterator will process each attachment or skill one by one through subsequent modules. In an HR context, an iterator could be used to process multiple resumes attached to a single application, parse each skill from a candidate’s LinkedIn profile, or handle a list of new hires from a single weekly report. This ensures that every individual data point within a collection is acted upon, allowing for comprehensive processing of complex data structures crucial for detailed record-keeping and personalized outreach.

Data Transformer/Formatter

A data transformer (often called a Formatter in Zapier or Data Stores/Tools in Make.com) is a utility module or function that manipulates and reconfigures data from one format to another within an automated workflow. This is crucial because data often arrives in an unusable format for the next application in the sequence. Examples in HR include converting a date format (e.g., from “DD/MM/YYYY” to “YYYY-MM-DD”), extracting specific text from a larger string (e.g., pulling a candidate’s last name from their full name), or combining multiple fields into a single, standardized output. Data transformers ensure that all your HR systems “speak the same language,” preventing errors, maintaining data integrity, and enabling seamless integration across your tech stack.

Integration

Integration refers to the process of connecting two or more disparate software applications or systems so they can share data and functionality. In HR, effective integration means your ATS can seamlessly communicate with your HRIS, your payroll system, and your learning management system without manual data entry or duplicate efforts. Platforms like Zapier and Make.com are specifically designed to facilitate these integrations, acting as the “glue” that binds your HR tech ecosystem together. By integrating various tools, HR and recruiting professionals can create holistic, automated workflows that improve efficiency, reduce errors, provide a single source of truth for employee data, and ultimately enhance the overall employee and candidate experience.

No-Code/Low-Code Automation

No-code and low-code automation refer to platforms and approaches that enable users to build complex software applications and automated workflows with little to no traditional programming knowledge. No-code tools provide a visual drag-and-drop interface, while low-code tools offer a similar visual approach but also allow developers to inject custom code for more advanced functionality. Zapier is a prime example of a no-code platform, while Make.com leans towards low-code due to its visual complexity and advanced features. For HR and recruiting, these platforms democratize automation, empowering non-technical professionals to design and implement solutions that streamline operations, improve data management, and enhance strategic initiatives without relying solely on IT departments, fostering agility and innovation within the department.

If you would like to read more, we recommend this article: Key Differences: Zapier vs. Make.com Terminology

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