Shutting down an ATS subscription: data preservation checklist

What an ATS holds that a basic export can miss#

An ATS holds far more than a candidate list, and a basic export can miss the parts that explain what happened. The core objects are candidates, applications, jobs or requisitions, pipeline stages, interviews, scorecards and offers, but much of the history sits in activity logs, notes, email threads and attachments.

Standard exports in many systems produce one file per object with current values only. Stage changes over time, who moved a candidate and why, interview feedback and resumes may need separate exports, API extracts or a vendor-provided backup. Check your plan and the vendor's documentation, since export options differ between products such as Greenhouse, Lever, Bullhorn, Workable and JazzHR.

Firms that used the ATS as their CRM, which is common in agency recruiting, also hold client companies, contacts, job orders and placements in the same system. Those records follow client contracts as well as candidate privacy rules.

Pre-cancellation checklist#

Work through the pre-cancellation checklist in order, and do not give notice of cancellation until the verification step is complete. Each step is quick on its own; skipping one is what causes losses.

• 1Read the contract: notice period, renewal date, post-termination access and data deletion terms.
• 2Confirm who holds admin rights and move them to someone who will stay through the wind-down.
• 3List every object and custom field in use, including client and contact records.
• 4Request or run a full export with stage history, notes, scorecards, emails and attachments.
• 5Export audit logs and user lists, which show who did what and when.
• 6Capture data held in integrations, such as job board postings, calendar invites and background check statuses.
• 7Verify: match totals for each object against the live system, spot-check the earliest and latest candidates, and confirm attachments open.
• 8Store the archive encrypted, with access limited to named people.
• 9Assign retention classes and deletion dates before cancelling.
• 10Give notice and get written confirmation of the end date and of how the vendor will delete your data.

Archive format choices#

Archive format choices decide whether the history survives in a usable form. Most firms keep more than one format: a structured extract for search and review, and attachments in their original files.

Whatever the format, keep a short readme with the archive that names the source system, the export date, what each file contains and any known gaps. Without it, the archive becomes hard to use once the people who made it have left.

Retention duties and the deletion schedule#

Retention duties for candidate records come from federal and state employment rules, client contracts and privacy laws, and they differ by record type. Applicant records, voluntary demographic survey responses and records kept by federal contractors can carry specific requirements, so confirm each period with employment counsel rather than assuming one rule fits all.

Privacy laws may also give candidates rights to request access or deletion, depending on where they live and which laws apply to the firm. GDPR can apply to candidates in the EU, and some US state privacy laws cover job applicants. A written schedule listing each record class, its retention reason and its deletion date shows that the firm kept only what it needed.

Delete on the schedule rather than all at once on cancellation day, and keep a log of what was deleted and when.

Could any of the ATS archive be licensable?#

Only a narrow, de-identified slice of an ATS archive is ever likely to be licensable, and it is the recruiting workflow rather than the people in it. Resumes, contact details, identity documents, background checks, demographic survey responses and pay tied to named candidates are excluded.

For a closing firm, the practical point is that the export decides whether that slice survives at all. A CSV of current candidate fields cannot show how a requisition moved from intake to offer; an extract that keeps record IDs, timestamps, stage changes and the links between jobs, applications and interviews can, even after names are replaced with tokens. Whether any license is appropriate then depends on client contracts, candidate notices and privacy law, assessed with counsel.

• 1Stable record IDs for candidates, jobs, applications and clients, so links survive de-identification.
• 2Timestamps for every stage change, interview and offer event.
• 3Who acted, recorded by role, so names can later be replaced with role labels.
• 4Free-text notes kept in their original fields, so they can be reviewed and redacted rather than lost.

Common ATS shutdown mistakes#

Common ATS shutdown mistakes share one cause: treating cancellation as an administrative task rather than a records decision. Each of the following is avoidable if the export and the retention schedule come first.

• 1Exporting only the candidate table and assuming the history came with it.
• 2Letting the recruiter who knew the custom fields leave before the export was checked.
• 3Disconnecting the email integration before synced messages were captured.
• 4Downloading resumes without a file map, leaving a folder of unlabeled documents.
• 5Keeping every candidate record indefinitely because nobody set deletion dates.
• 6Assuming the vendor will hand over data after the contract ends.

Illustrative: a search firm closes its ATS#

Illustrative: a fictional executive search firm with a long history in industrial markets is closing after its founding partners retire. It used Bullhorn for candidates, clients and placements, synced email through an integration, and stored resumes and reference notes as attachments.

The wind-down officer moves admin rights to herself, requests a full data export from the vendor and runs an API extract of activity history in parallel. A contractor checks counts by object and opens samples from the earliest and latest years. Attachments arrive as a separate bundle mapped to candidate IDs.

Before cancelling, the firm sets retention classes: placement and billing records kept on the accountant's advice, unsuccessful candidate files scheduled for deletion, and client job order histories flagged for a licensing review with names removed. The subscription ends with written confirmation of the date.

How SourceX looks at ATS archives#

SourceX treats ATS archives as high-care records. The fit check works from a description of the ATS, the kinds of records it holds, how far back they go and the restrictions already known; no candidate files are shared at that stage.

If a recruiting workflow package proceeds, it moves through the SourceX five-step transaction (Supply, Rights, Preparation, Approval, Delivery), with candidate personal data removed in Preparation and the firm approving the prepared records. The SourceX Evidence Packet records the privacy record and permitted use for that package.