Add candidates to your database

Add candidates to your database in four ways: create one manually, import a resume with AI parsing, save someone straight from a LinkedIn profile with the Happlicant Mini Chrome extension, or import a CSV or Excel file in bulk. All candidates appear in the Candidates section at https://app.happlicant.com/candidates.

Add a candidate manually

Use manual creation for a single candidate you already have the details for. Only three fields are required to get started.

1. Open the Candidates section and click the + button in the sidebar, or click Add New Candidate.

2. Fill in First Name, Last Name, and Email. These three are required to create the candidate; every other field is optional.

3. Add any optional details you have, then save the candidate.

Import a resume with AI parsing

AI parsing fills a candidate profile from their resume instead of you typing the details. You can start it when creating a candidate, or upload a resume to an existing candidate profile. It extracts the candidate's name, contact details, work history, education, and skills, and you can edit the profile afterwards.

1. Start creating a candidate, or open an existing candidate profile.

2. Upload the resume file. PDF, DOC, DOCX, and image files such as JPEG are supported.

3. Check the parsed details on the profile and edit anything the parser got wrong.

Resumes with selectable text give the best parsing results.

Save a candidate from LinkedIn

The Happlicant Mini Chrome extension saves a LinkedIn profile into your database in one click. It only works on individual person or company profile pages, not on LinkedIn search results or general LinkedIn pages, so open the person's full profile first.

1. Install Happlicant Mini from the Chrome Web Store and pin Happlicant from the extensions menu. You are automatically logged in to your Happlicant account.

2. Open the LinkedIn profile of the person you want to save. The extension works on individual profile pages only, not on search results or general pages.

3. Click Save Candidate to add them as a candidate. You can also add notes, tags, and job assignments from the extension.

4. Use Add Contact to save someone as a contact, or Add Company to save a company instead.

The extension extracts only publicly available page data. If information is missing, refresh the LinkedIn profile, or edit the candidate record afterwards.

Import candidates in bulk

Bulk import moves a spreadsheet of candidates into Happlicant in one go, which is how most recruiters migrating from another system get started. Imports accept CSV or Excel files.

1. In the Candidates section, open the add new candidate flow and choose Bulk Import.

2. Upload your CSV or Excel file. Your file needs a header row, with one candidate per row, and the columns First Name, Last Name, and Email are mandatory.

3. Match your spreadsheet columns to the Happlicant fields. Where it can, the system assigns your columns to standardized Happlicant fields automatically; confirm the rest yourself.

4. Review the candidates and save to complete the import.

If two rows share an email address, you get a notice and the option to review and merge the duplicates.