Nobody stays on a bad ATS because they like it. They stay because switching feels like it risks five years of candidate history.
That fear is half right. Some of your data will not survive the move, and the mistake is finding out which half after you cancel the old contract.
Here is what actually breaks, and how to run the switch in two weeks.
What exports cleanly, and what does not
Almost every ATS gives you a CSV export. What it contains is narrower than people expect.
Usually fine:
- Candidate name, email, phone
- Role applied for and application date
- Current stage
- Tags and simple custom fields
Usually a problem:
- Resume and portfolio files. Often a separate bulk export, sometimes a support ticket, occasionally not available at all in one operation. Ask about this first, because it is the single most common surprise.
- Email threads. Correspondence stored inside the old ATS generally does not move. If it matters, it needs to live in your actual mail system.
- Interview scorecards and feedback. Structured differently in every product. They rarely map field to field.
- Stage history and timestamps. You may keep the current stage but lose the path that got there, which is what your time-to-hire reporting is built on.
- Notes. Frequently exported as one merged text blob per candidate rather than dated entries.
Ask your current vendor two questions in writing before you sign anywhere else: can I export resume files in bulk, and what fields are included in the candidate export? The answers decide your plan.
Do not migrate everything
The instinct is to move five years of records. Resist it.
Most historical candidate data is stale contact details attached to roles you will not run again. It clutters search, it slows the new system, and under GDPR you need a lawful basis and a retention period to hold applicant data at all.
Migrate three things:
- Active pipelines. Anyone currently in a live process. Non negotiable.
- Genuine silver medallists. People you would call today for the right role. In practice this is a small number, often under fifty.
- The last 12 months of hires. Useful for reporting continuity and referrals.
Everything else goes to a dated CSV plus a resume archive in your own storage. You keep it. It is just not in the way.
The two-week parallel run
Cutting over on a Friday and hoping is how migrations fail. Run both systems briefly instead.
Week one: new roles only.
Set up the new ATS and point every new job at it. Old roles finish where they started. Nothing in flight is at risk, and your team learns the tool on low-stakes work.
Build your careers page, connect job boards, and get one role live. If setup takes more than an afternoon, that is a signal about the next two years.
Week two: move the live pipelines.
Import active candidates. Tell them once, briefly, that your process moved and their application came with it. Most candidates never notice.
Then archive the old system to read-only and stop paying for it at the end of the term.
The 48-hour implementation guide covers the setup order in more detail.
The step everyone skips
Rebuild your screening criteria before you import anyone.
Migration is the one moment when your team is paying attention to how hiring works. If you copy the old stages and the old vague requirements into a new tool, you have bought a new login screen and nothing else.
Write down what disqualifies a candidate for each open role. Put it in the system as an actual rule, not as a note in someone’s head. In Canvider that is CriteriaMatch, which holds up to five hard criteria per job and returns a pass or fail with a confidence level for every applicant.
This is also the moment to fix the thing that made you switch in the first place. It was probably not a missing feature. It was probably that managers stopped logging in.
What to check on day 15
Three questions tell you whether the switch worked:
- Did every active candidate arrive with a resume attached? Spot check ten records, not one.
- Did hiring managers leave feedback without being chased? This is the whole reason you moved.
- Can you still answer why you rejected someone in June? If not, your decision history did not survive, and that is worth fixing now rather than during a dispute.
Switching to Canvider
Setup takes under ten minutes and the free Simple plan needs no credit card, which means you can run week one before you have committed to anything. Five listings per year and ten users is enough to test a real role properly.
If it works, Pro is €80/month for up to 25 listings a month and 25 users, and TalentPool becomes your searchable home for the silver medallists you brought across.
Still choosing? Start with the best ATS for small business in 2026, or compare directly against what you are on now.
Frequently asked questions
Will I lose candidate data if I switch ATS?
You will lose some, and you should plan for which. Structured fields like name, email, role, stage and applied date export cleanly to CSV. Resume files, email threads, interview scorecards and stage history usually do not survive the move intact. Decide what you actually need before you start, rather than discovering the gap afterwards.
How long does an ATS migration take for a small team?
For a team of 10 to 300 people, two weeks is realistic if you run the old and new system in parallel rather than cutting over. Week one is setup and new roles only. Week two is moving live candidates. Historical archives can follow later, or never.
Should I migrate my entire candidate history?
Usually not. Most old candidate records are stale contact details attached to roles you are not hiring for again. GDPR also limits how long you can keep applicant data without a lawful basis. Migrate active pipelines and genuinely re-contactable people, then export the rest to cold storage.
What is the safest time to switch ATS?
During a hiring lull, with at least one live role still running. A completely quiet period means nobody tests the new system properly and adoption never happens. One real role forces the team to actually use it while the stakes are still low.