> This is the markdown version of https://www.classet.ai/blog/ats-migration-guide > Learn more at https://www.classet.ai ![Low-poly illustration of a golden bridge connecting two geometric platforms](/_next/image?url=%2Fimages%2Fblog%2Fats-migration-guide.png&w=3840&q=75) # Migrating to a New ATS? How to Keep Hiring Through the Switch ATS implementations run 2-4 months, and hiring gets harder the whole way. How to keep screening, protect pipeline data, and reconnect fast at go-live. [![Paul Jones](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.basehub.com%2Fe0b5701f%2F6599306507912123f90f150a8bfaaf6c%2Fscreenshot-2026-01-28-at-10.53.16-am.png%3Fwidth%3D100%26height%3D100%26quality%3D100&w=96&q=75) Paul JonesHead of Growth at Classet ](/blog/authors/paul-jones) August 11, 2026 Guides & Insights, AI Recruiting Somewhere between signing with your new ATS and going live on it, there's a stretch of months where hiring doesn't stop, but it does get harder. IT owns the cutover timeline. Recruiters split attention between a system that's being turned off and one that isn't configured yet. Candidates who applied in the old system wait longer for answers because nobody wants to build process on a platform with a shutdown date. We talk to teams in this exact spot every month, mid-migration from one enterprise ATS to another, and the pattern is consistent enough that it deserves its own playbook. **TLDR:** - ATS implementations typically run 2-4 months, and hiring has to keep moving through a window where recruiters are split across two systems - The classic mistake is integrating hiring tools into the outgoing ATS, then throwing that work away at cutover - Classet runs standalone during the migration window: bring candidates over by CSV, keep screening via interview links, keep sourcing through your directly connected Indeed account - Interview data lives in Classet through the cutover, then writes into the new ATS once it's live - Modern cloud ATSes connect to Classet in 24-48 hours, so reconnecting is the easy part ## What Actually Gets Harder During a Migration An ATS migration is an IT project, but the friction lands on the talent team. [Whatfix's implementation research](https://whatfix.com/blog/ats-implementation/) puts a typical ATS rollout at two to four months, longer for enterprises juggling HRIS, job board, and assessment integrations. Through that whole window, three things compound: - **Attention splits.** Recruiters keep working requisitions in the old system while learning, testing, and cleaning data for the new one. Response times stretch, and candidates feel it first. - **Nobody wants to invest in the outgoing system.** New workflow improvements, integrations, and sometimes whole requisitions get deferred "until the new system is up," so the work piles up on the other side of go-live. - **Data is genuinely at risk.** In [Cloudficient's analysis of enterprise migrations](https://www.cloudficient.com/blog/10-common-data-migration-challenges-and-how-to-overcome-them), 23% of organizations experienced some data loss, and timeline estimates ran 40 to 60 percent off. In ATS terms that means candidate notes, screening results, and interview feedback arriving incomplete, duplicated, or flattened into records nobody can use. None of this stops hiring outright. It just makes every hire slower and every candidate interaction a little worse, for a quarter or more, which in a competitive labor market has the same cost as losing candidates on purpose. ## The Mistake: Building on the System You're Leaving The instinct when screening is drowning is to bolt tools onto the current ATS. Mid-migration, that instinct is expensive. Any integration you wire into the outgoing platform (screening, scheduling, assessments) gets thrown away at cutover, and integration projects into legacy enterprise systems can take weeks by themselves. Spending that effort on a system with a shutdown date is how migration budgets die. The better pattern inverts it: put the screening layer _outside_ both systems during the transition, then connect it to the new ATS once, when the new ATS is real. Here's how the three options during a migration window compare: Slow-roll hiring until go-live Integrate tools into the outgoing ATS Run screening standalone (bridge) Setup effort during migration None Weeks, on a system being retired Live in about a day, no ATS credentials Work thrown away at cutover None, but the backlog isn't All of it None; connect once to the new ATS Candidate experience during the window Slower responses, more ghosting Unchanged at best Screened within minutes, around the clock Screening data at cutover Stranded in the old ATS export Stranded with the old integration Held in Classet, written into the new ATS Day-one pipeline in the new ATS Empty, plus deferred backlog Rebuild integrations first Pre-screened candidates with full context ## The Bridge Pattern This is how teams run [Classet](/) through a migration window. It works because Classet doesn't need an ATS connection to operate. Screening, scheduling, and candidate tracking are built in. (Companies with no ATS at all run it this way [permanently](/blog/hiring-without-an-ats).) **1\. Bring over the candidates worth keeping, by CSV.** Export active candidates from the outgoing ATS and upload the list to Classet. Joy calls each of them for a structured screen, which does double duty: it re-engages people who've been sitting in silence, and it turns a stale resume dump into fresh screening data. CSV imports work for more than the initial handoff, too. Silver medalists from closed roles, job-fair lists, referral backlogs: any pile of names can be run through a screen during the window. And because everyone gets re-screened, by the time you plug into your new system you'll know exactly which candidates you want in it. One enterprise team we work with ran exactly this play while moving off SAP SuccessFactors, and screening continued the entire window while their new ATS was configured. **2\. Keep new applicants engaged with interview links.** Every job gets a shareable [interview link](/product/joy-ai-powered-ats) that works in emails, texts, and job postings. A candidate clicks, Joy calls, results land in your pipeline. No integration with either ATS required. Having an AI recruiter through the transition means candidates keep getting interviewed, answered, and moved forward while your team is heads-down on the cutover, instead of going quiet for a quarter. **3\. Keep sourcing.** Classet connects directly to your Indeed account, sponsored jobs included, so applicants keep flowing and getting screened without depending on either ATS's job-distribution setup being alive. Your recruiters get one place to see screened, qualified candidates through the whole window, no matter which side of the cutover a candidate arrived on. ## Don't Lose the Data Twice The quiet casualty of most migrations is screening history. The bridge pattern fixes that as a side effect: transcripts, structured summaries, and knockout results live in Classet through the cutover, unaffected by either ATS's timeline. When the new system goes live, that data flows into it: summaries written to candidate notes, transcripts and recordings attached to records, candidates placed at the right pipeline stage. Your day-one pipeline in the new ATS starts populated with screened candidates and their full interview context, instead of starting from zero while the backlog crashes in. ## Reconnecting Is the Easy Part Teams assume the integration at the end of the tunnel is another IT project. Usually it isn't. Modern cloud ATSes ([SmartRecruiters](/integrations/smartrecruiters), Greenhouse, Lever, and most of their generation) connect to Classet in 24 to 48 hours using OAuth or an API key, with configuration handled during onboarding. Legacy enterprise platforms take longer, closer to two weeks. Either way, you connect once, to the system that's staying. We keep guides for each platform in the [integrations directory](/integrations), including a full breakdown of [what the SmartRecruiters connection supports](/blog/best-smartrecruiters-integrations). ## A Migration Checklist for the Talent Team The IT project plan won't cover these, so put them on yours: - Export active candidates from the old ATS early, while reporting still works, and decide which stages are worth carrying forward - Map old pipeline stages to new ones before cutover, so screened candidates land somewhere sensible - Tell in-flight candidates something. A two-line update beats the silence that reads as rejection - Stand up the standalone screening bridge early in the window, before the two-systems juggling act slows response times - Schedule the new-ATS connection for the week your instance is stable, and validate with a handful of test candidates before turning on volume ## FAQ Can I import candidates from my old ATS into Classet? Yes. Export candidates from the outgoing system to CSV, upload the list, and Joy calls each candidate for a structured phone screen. Teams use this to re-engage pipelines that went quiet during the migration and to arrive at the new ATS with fresh screening data. Will I lose interview data when I switch ATS systems? Not if the screening layer sits outside the ATS. Interview transcripts, summaries, and results are stored in Classet through the cutover, then written into the new ATS once it's connected: notes on the candidate record, transcripts attached, stage set. How long does it take to connect Classet to a new ATS? Modern cloud platforms like SmartRecruiters, Greenhouse, and Lever typically connect in 24 to 48 hours. Older enterprise systems run closer to two weeks. Classet handles configuration during onboarding either way. Can Classet really operate with no ATS connected? Yes. Candidate management is built in: a direct Indeed connection, AI phone screening, knockout filtering, candidate import, and a Kanban pipeline all work standalone. The ATS connection adds automatic sync but isn't required to run hiring. Should I wait until the migration is done to add AI screening? That's usually backwards. The migration window is when screening help matters most, because recruiters are splitting time between two systems and response times stretch. Starting standalone during the window means the tool is proven and tuned before the deferred work lands on the new ATS. What happens to candidates who apply during the cutover weekend? If they come through Classet interview links or connected candidate sources, nothing changes. Joy keeps calling within about 60 seconds around the clock, and roughly half of interviews happen outside business hours anyway. The cutover only affects systems the candidate flow doesn't touch. How do I decide which candidates to bring over from the old ATS? Most teams carry forward anyone active in the last 60-90 days who reached at least a screening stage, plus silver-medalist finalists from recently closed roles. Since Joy re-screens the candidates you import, it's cheap to be generous: stale candidates get a fresh conversation instead of a guess. We're moving to SmartRecruiters specifically. What does the integration cover? OAuth connection, webhook-driven real-time updates, automatic stage advancement, summaries to candidate notes, transcripts and recordings attached, tagging by outcome, and configurable interview triggers. The full rundown is in our SmartRecruiters integrations guide. Does running standalone during a migration lock us into Classet's pipeline long-term? No. Standalone mode is the same product with the ATS sync switched off. When your new system is live, the connection turns on and Classet goes back to being the screening layer inside your ATS workflow. [![Paul Jones](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.basehub.com%2Fe0b5701f%2F6599306507912123f90f150a8bfaaf6c%2Fscreenshot-2026-01-28-at-10.53.16-am.png%3Fwidth%3D100%26height%3D100%26quality%3D100&w=128&q=75) Paul Jones Head of Growth at Classet Paul comes from an operator background running an Alpine-owned company, and brings firsthand experience with the hiring challenges Classet was built to solve. He's driven by a belief that the right technology can make meaningful work more accessible. ](/blog/authors/paul-jones) Follow Classet in Google Add classet.ai as a preferred source and our hiring research is more likely to show up in your Top Stories and AI Overviews. [Add as preferred source →](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=classet.ai) ## Explore More ### Use Cases - [RPO / BPO Recruiting](/use-cases/call-centers-bpo) - [Healthcare Recruiting](/use-cases/healthcare) - [Hospitality Recruiting](/use-cases/hospitality) ### Integrations - [Greenhouse](/integrations/greenhouse) - [Bullhorn](/integrations/bullhorn) - [Lever](/integrations/lever)