Sync ATS Fields into Sense with Field Sync

Overview

Field Sync brings data from your ATS (applicant tracking system) into Sense as usable fields, so you can reference them in audiences, journeys, personalized content, and reports. Most fields, including calculated ("derived") fields that once required a request to the Sense team, are now self-serve: describe what you need, preview it against your real data, and turn it on.

In short:

• Start from Sense IQ (a conversation) or the Fields page at app.sensehq.com/fields/variables — both lead to the same setup.
• Fields are either simple (a straight copy of an ATS field) or derived (a value Sense calculates, like "the date of the last interview note"). Either way, every new field is previewed against real records before it goes live.
• A handful of things still need your Sense contact: bulk note writeback, fields outside Sense's sync scope, and data that needs a new API (like resumes).

Before you start

• Your ATS must already be connected to Sense. Field Sync works through that existing connection.
• This is written for Sense admins. If Sense IQ or the Fields page isn't visible to you, check with your Sense admin.
• There's nothing to prep for a single field — describe it when the need comes up. If you're planning to add several fields at once (ahead of a launch, or during onboarding), list them out first so you're not repeating the same conversation.

How Field Sync works

Simple vs. derived fields

Your ATS stores far more than Sense uses by default. Field Sync is how a specific piece of that data becomes a usable Sense field — in one of two ways.

A simple field is a one-to-one copy of an ATS field. For example, an ATS field called customText16 might hold a candidate's "Last Placement Status" — a simple sync copies that value across unchanged.

A derived field is a value Sense works out rather than copies, because no single ATS field already holds it. "The date of the most recent NPS follow-up note on a contact" is derived: Sense scans the notes, filters to the right type, and returns the latest date.

Simple syncs have always been self-serve. What's new is that derived fields are too — work that used to mean a one-off request to the Sense team.

Where a synced field shows up

A synced, backfilled field behaves like any other field in Sense: it's available wherever fields are used — workflows and journeys, audience building and segmentation, content and personalization variables, and reporting and exports.

Two ways to start a field sync

Either path leads to the same setup, the same preview step, and the same result. Use whichever fits the moment.

Ask Sense IQ

Tell Sense IQ what you want — for example, "do a field sync" — and it asks a few quick questions (which entity, what to call the field, how to work out the value) and builds it from there.

This works mid-task, too. Reference a field that isn't synced yet while you're building a list, setting up a journey, or configuring content, and Sense IQ can set it up on the spot, then hand you back to what you were doing.

Use the Fields page

The Fields page — app.sensehq.com/fields/variables — is where field syncs live. It has two tabs:

• Variables — every field currently synced into Sense, filterable by entity.
• Field Sync Audit — the status and history of each sync job: Job ID, field name, entity, status, progress, last sync activity, type, and who started it.

Click Sync Field in the top right to start one; it opens the same guided setup. Use this page when you know ahead of time that you need to configure one or more fields before a launch, or during onboarding. Use Sense IQ when the need comes up mid-task.

Set up a field sync

The flow is the same regardless of where you start it:

1. Choose the entity. Candidate, Contact, Placement, Job, and so on — which record does this field belong to?

2. Name the field. Enter the exact ATS API field name to sync an existing field, or choose a name of your own for a new custom field (for example, lastName or last_nps_follow_up_date).
3. Describe how the value should be worked out. Say what the field should contain and which existing data to use. (See Write a clear field description, below — it's the biggest factor in getting this right the first time.)
4. Answer a few clarifying questions. Sense IQ asks only what it needs — for example, a date or the note text, where the source data lives, which record to use if there are several, what to show when there's nothing to return.
5. Preview against real records. Before anything goes live, Sense IQ runs the field against a sample of your actual records and shows you the output row by row — similar to sending a test email before turning on a journey.
6. Approve. If the preview looks right, approve it and the sync queues up and backfills across your records. If something's off, adjust your description and preview again.
7. Track it in the audit. The finished sync appears on the Field Sync Audit tab, tagged with how it was created, where you can watch progress and find it later.

Write a clear field description

A derived field is only as good as the description behind it. Sense IQ will ask follow-up questions either way, but covering these six things upfront gets you an accurate field faster — often on the first try:

1. The entity. Which record the field lives on (Candidate, Contact, Placement, Job…).
2. What to call it. The exact ATS API field name for an existing field, or a clear name for a new one.
3. Where the source data lives. Which entity or record type Sense should look at — and for notes or activities, the specific note type (for example, "Interview" or "NPS Follow Up").
4. Exactly what value you want. The date of the note? The text inside it? A score? "The note and its date" is ambiguous — say which one, or that you want both.
5. Which record to use if there are several. Almost always "the most recent by date," but say so. It could also be the first, a count, or all values.
6. What to show when there's nothing. Blank, "No," or zero? This matters a lot for audience logic.

Vague: "last followup date from candidate entity" — this is ambiguous on nearly every point above, so Sense IQ has to ask where SMS lives, whether you want the date or the message text, which message, and what to show when there's none.

Clear: "On the Candidate, I want the date of the most recent SMS. SMS messages are stored as Tasks/activities. If a candidate has several, use the latest by date. If they've never been sent an SMS, leave it blank." This answers the entity, the value, the source, the tie-breaker, and the empty case — so Sense IQ can build it and go straight to preview.

Rule of thumb: describe the field the way you'd explain it to a new teammate who knows recruiting but not your ATS's field names.

Expected result

Once a sync finishes, its status on the Field Sync Audit tab turns to Ready to use (shown in green). At that point the field is populated across your existing records — not just new activity — so it's ready to use anywhere fields are used.

The Field Sync Audit tab

After you approve a sync, it appears on the Field Sync Audit tab so you can watch it finish and find it again later. Each row shows:

Supported field patterns

Field Sync covers the full range of common setups. Here are the patterns it handles today, each with a real example.

1. Direct copy (simple)

You have an ATS field that already holds the value you want, and you just want it available in Sense.

You: "On Candidate, sync customText16 — we use it for Last Placement Status."

Sense IQ: "Got it. Here's what that field holds on a few candidates: 'Placed', 'Ended', 'Redeployed'. I'll copy it across as 'Last Placement Status.'"

2. Look up a value from a related record

Your ATS field holds an internal ID that points to another record, not a value a person can read. Sense follows the ID and pulls out the fields you actually want.

You: "On Placement, I want the Account Manager's name and email. The field just has a number in it."

Sense IQ: "That number is an ID pointing to another record. I can pull the name and email from the related rep record. For example: 'Sarah Johnson / sarah@agency.com', 'Marcus Lee / marcus@agency.com'. Does that look right?"

3. Flatten a multi-value list

Some ATS fields hold several values at once (a list). Sense can bring these in as a single readable text field you can filter on.

You: "I need the candidate's specialties for audience filtering."

Sense IQ: "This field holds multiple values. I can bring it in as one text field with the values separated by commas — for example, 'Nursing, ICU', 'Sales, SaaS, Enterprise'. Do you want all values comma-separated, the first value only, or a count?"

Note: a multi-value list field like this is read-only in Sense — you can filter and segment on it, but Sense can't write values back into that field type in your ATS.

4. Most recent note or activity of a specific type

You want information from the latest note of a certain type — an interview note, an NPS follow-up, a submission, and so on.

You: "I want the date of the last NPS Follow Up note on the contact."

Sense IQ: "I'll look through all notes on the contact and take the most recent one of type 'NPS Follow Up.' Do you want the date it was created, or a field from inside the note like a score? … Here are 5 sample contacts: 2026-03-14, 2026-01-07, 2025-11-22, blank, 2026-02-01. The blank one has no NPS Follow Up notes. Does this look right?"

5. Date of the last note (the most common request)

A short version of the pattern above, and the single most-requested derived field: "the date of the last [note type] on [entity]."

You: "Date of the last interview note on the candidate."

Sense IQ: "Here are 5 candidates — the most recent interview note date for each: 2026-04-01, 2025-12-15, blank (no interview notes), 2026-03-20, 2026-04-10. Look right?"

6. A Yes/No flag from a condition

A true/false field derived from whether something is true across related records — useful for clean audience rules.

You: "A yes/no field for whether a candidate has any open tasks."

Sense IQ: "I'll set this to 'Yes' if the candidate has any task that isn't completed, otherwise 'No.' One thing to note: candidates with no tasks at all will be 'No' (not blank), so audience rules treat them correctly. Sample of 5: Yes, No, Yes, No, No. Does that match what you expect?"

Important notes and limitations

Field Sync covers the large majority of everyday needs. A few things still sit outside self-serve and should go through your Sense contact (CSM or Customer Engineering) — worth knowing upfront so you don't hit a dead end mid-setup.

Bulk note writeback isn't supported

Field Sync doesn't push multiple notes back into your ATS at once. It's built to bring field data into Sense — and, for supported cases, write a single field value back — not to sync many notes out to the ATS in bulk. If your goal is to write a batch of notes or activity records back to the ATS in one operation, raise it with your Sense contact.

Some fields fall outside Sense's sync scope

Sense syncs a defined set of entities and field types. A field that exists in your ATS but sits outside that scope can't be pulled in through self-serve Field Sync. Sense IQ will tell you when a field is out of scope rather than setting up something that won't work — your Sense contact can then review whether it can be brought into scope.

Some fields need a new API (for example, resumes)

Some data isn't a standard field read at all — it needs a dedicated API (application programming interface) endpoint or a new integration to retrieve. Resumes and other document or file data are the clearest example: they aren't a simple field value, so they can't be self-served through Field Sync. The same applies to certain entities or custom objects Sense doesn't yet have a read path for. These need engineering to add the integration first, so start them with your Sense contact.

Writeback limits

For multi-value list fields and custom-object fields, Sense can read the data into Sense but can't write values back into those field types in your ATS. That's a limit of the field type, not a setting.

Troubleshooting: when to loop in your Sense contact

Most fields are self-serve. Reach out to your CSM or Customer Engineering contact when you hit one of these:

• You need bulk note writeback (many notes pushed to the ATS at once).
• Sense IQ tells you a field is outside Sense's sync scope.
• You need resumes, documents, or another data type that requires a new API or endpoint.
• A preview keeps failing and adjusting the description doesn't fix it — there may be an underlying data or configuration issue worth a second set of eyes.
• You need several fields added on one entity at the same time — for example, syncing 10 different "last note date" fields on the Candidate entity at once.
• Sense IQ blocks a request because it looks like a duplicate of a field that already exists with the same logic. If you do need a duplicate field synced, ask your CSM.

FAQ

Do I need to know my ATS's API field names?

For a simple copy, yes — enter the exact API field name. For a derived field, no — describe what you want in plain language and Sense IQ works out the underlying logic.

Will this change anything in my ATS?

Creating a field sync brings data into Sense; it doesn't modify your ATS. Writeback — sending values back to the ATS — is a separate, supported action for specific field types, and never happens as a side effect of setting up a read.

Can I see the result before it's live?

Yes. Every sync is previewed against your real records before you approve it, so there are no silent surprises.

Where do I manage everything I've synced?

The Fields page: app.sensehq.com/fields/variables — the Variables tab for current fields, the Field Sync Audit tab for status and history.

How long does a sync take?

For common patterns, setup to approval is usually a few minutes. Backfill time after approval depends on how many records you have and can range from a few hours to a few days.