How to Import a Spreadsheet of Candidates into Beamery

If you have a list of candidates stored in another system that you would like to add to Beamery in bulk, you can use Beamery’s Import Contacts feature to upload a CSV or XLS file and easily create Beamery profiles in bulk. 

For information on using Beamery's new contact importer tool, check out this article.

Table of Contents

How to Import Contacts from a Spreadsheet into Beamery
How to Export your Network from LinkedIn
Troubleshooting CSV Imports

How to Import Contacts from a Spreadsheet Into Beamery

1. Navigate to Settings by clicking the gear icon in the left hand sidebar, and then select Import Contacts from the settings sidebar. 
2. On the import contacts page, you will find links to import templates for CSV and XLS files. Download the file type you would like to use, and use this template to organize the information that you would like to import into Beamery.
   
   

   
   The standard fields mapped in CSV upload are:

   • Full Name
   • Latest Role
   • Latest Company
   • Social Link*
   • Email Address*
   • Phone Number*
   • City
   • Country
   • Profile Tag*
   • Notes

   * Multiple values per contact can be imported with a comma delimiter.

3. If you are importing information into custom fields within Beamery, ensure that the column header in your spreadsheet for the custom field is an exact, case-sensitive match for the field title in Beamery. Single select, short text and date fields (formatted YYYY-MM-DD) are the only custom field types able to be imported via a spreadsheet. Multi select fields are not supported. 
4. You should also ensure that your spreadsheet contains either a social link or email address for each profile that you are importing. This allows Beamery’s deduplication system to check the CRM for contacts that already exist with this information, and if a contact already exists it will be updated by your import. This prevents the erroneous creation of duplicate profiles. 
5. Finally, check that there are no blank columns in your spreadsheet. 
6. On the Import Contacts page in Settings, use the dropdown menus to select whether you would like to add all of the contacts in your spreadsheet to a Pool or Vacancy, or apply a global tag upon import.
   

7. Then, once you have your spreadsheet in good shape, save the file and drag and drop it onto the file upload area of the Import Contacts page in Settings.

8. Beamery will automatically map the columns in your spreadsheet to the matching standard profile field. You can review and update this using the dropdown menus next to each field name, as below. Every field identified in your spreadsheet will be available in each dropdown menu.
   

9. Below the General Fields, you may see a warning letting you know that Your company has set a lock on importing Extra Fields. This simply means that you will not be able to create new custom fields with your import, but you will still be able to import information into existing free-text or single-select custom fields by ensuring the column header in your spreadsheet exactly matches the field name in Beamery.

10. Once you are satisfied with your field mapping and any selections you have made for Pool, Vacancy or Global Tags, click the Confirm Import button at the bottom of the screen.

11. You will then be taken to your Notifications feed, where you will see two notifications. The first notification will let you know that your import has started, and the second notification will let you know when your import has finished and how many contacts were successfully imported. The length of time an import will take can depend on the number of profiles in the spreadsheet, as well as the number of columns you have included.
    

How to Export your Network from LinkedIn

A great use of Beamery’s Contact Import functionality is to quickly and easily add your entire LinkedIn network to Beamery. Follow the below steps to export your network from LinkedIn so it is ready to import into Beamery. 

1. 1. 1. Head to Beamery Settings, and then click on Import Contacts from the Settings sidebar. 
      2. On this page, you will see a link to Import your Contacts from a LinkedIn Export. Click on this link to be taken to the data privacy area of your LinkedIn account.
      3. On this page, select the option to download something in particular, then select Connections from the list of options.
         
      4. Click Request Archive, and enter your LinkedIn password if requested. LinkedIn will send you an email once your spreadsheet is ready for download.
      5. You will receive a CSV file from LinkedIn containing the information you need to import your network into Beamery. Then, follow the above steps to complete your contact import. 

Troubleshooting CSV Imports

Common errors:

When exporting list of contacts and reimporting them to include updates, one common issue is contacts imported this way without email addresses will result in duplicate contacts. This can be jarring as you may export a pool, reimport to update and see the number of contacts in the pool change or updates not carry through on certain contacts that have a duplicate banner.

Possible Troubleshooting Tips:

Ensure you are using the provided Beamery Template to import contacts. Other formats may contain artifacts, improper formatting or other errors.

Keep an eye out for empty columns and ensure that headers are in the first row.

In Summary… 

Beamery offers a simple and efficient Contact Import feature, allowing you to quickly add contacts to Beamery in bulk from other systems. A great example of this is quickly importing your entire LinkedIn network to Beamery. 

Additional Resources: 

An Overview of the Beamery Profile