Gem allows you to upload candidate lists to Gem using our project import functionality. The article outlines:
Best Practices for uploading CSVs to Gem
Here are a few best practices for uploading candidate CSVs to Gem:
-
If uploading large batches of candidates (10,000 rows+), split your CSV into smaller batches. Organizing based on candidate details like role or department can provide good structure. If taking this approach, think about creating a project for every role or spreadsheet.
-
If uploading from a LinkedIn project, download all relevant LI candidate dumps and organize them in your spreadsheet prior to uploading so you reduce your time uploading to Gem.
-
Make sure to mirror the Gem field names as closely as possible so Gem auto-matches spreadsheet column names to Gem info fields. This will reduce the possibility of a bad import that is missing data. (use this spreadsheet as a template).
-
Create all custom fields you have in your spreadsheet in Gem prior to uploading a CSV. Pro tip: Select "allow anyone to add options" to capture any values you may miss when initially creating the custom field.
-
Connect with your Gem CSM or Gem support if uploading more than 10,000 records.
Uploading a CSV to Gem
Prior to uploading your spreadsheet into Gem, make sure that your spreadsheet is formatted correctly so that all of your prospect data tracks into Gem properly. To get a sample spreadsheet template for Gem, copy this sheet. Make sure to add an additional column for every custom field that you want to use in Gem.
Once the data is properly formatted, to upload your spreadsheet into Gem, make sure that your spreadsheet is in .csv format (if exporting from Excel, you'll need to change the file format from .xlsx to .csv).
Once you have your spreadsheet in .csv format, navigate to the project you want to upload the list to or create a new one. Select "Options" >"Upload CSV" and select the CSV you want to upload.
From there, Gem will show you a preview of the import and you can map the spreadsheet columns to Gem fields. Gem will try to automatically match the columns in your sheet to Gem fields automatically if the title matches exactly. Note: Make sure to see if there are fields like "Email Address" in your spreadsheet that Gem does not map automatically so that those are not left off during the import.
-
Overwrite fields for existing people. Checking this option will overwrite candidate fields (e.g. Name / Company / School) with the values from your CSV if the candidate already exists in Gem. Otherwise, Gem will only fill those in if the fields are blank or the candidate does not exist.
-
Autofill email addresses for each recipient. If you check this option, Gem will search and attach any email addresses Gem can find to each candidate you upload as long as they have a public LinkedIn URL.
-
The first row contains column names. Checking this option lets Gem know to skip the first row of your CSV because it contains column headers.
Once you feel good about the mapping, click upload (Don't leave or refresh the page until you get taken back to the Project screen otherwise the import will fail!). Once successful, Gem will show a banner at the top of the project telling you how many candidates were successfully imported.
De-duping imported candidates in Gem
Gem automatically merges candidates from spreadsheets that you import with your existing Gem prospect database so you don't create duplicate prospect records. Gem will automatically merge candidates with the same email or LinkedIn URL together. If we cannot find an email or LinkedIn URL match, we will do a name match and flag those candidates as potential duplicates, but we will not auto-merge them.
Have any issues or questions on this topic? Please feel free to contact your dedicated Gem Customer Success Manager directly or our Support team at support@gem.com.