Cord to Greenhouse Integration Guide: Automate Sourced Candidates, Preserve Context, and Accelerate Hiring

The Cord integration for Greenhouse connects proactive engineer sourcing with structured applicant tracking so hiring teams can move candidates from initial message to interview with fewer manual steps. This article explains how the integration works, who benefits most, and the measurable improvements teams typically see when they combine Cord’s messaging-driven sourcing with Greenhouse’s workflow and reporting. You’ll get practical implementation steps, troubleshooting tips, KPI recommendations, and real-world examples that hiring managers, sourcers, and recruiting operations teams can use to judge fit and plan rollout. Wherever possible the guidance is concrete: permissions to enable, fields to map, metrics to monitor, and quick fixes for common sync problems.

What the integration does at a high level: when a candidate engages via Cord, your team can automatically push that candidate into Greenhouse and associate them with the correct open role. This preserves conversation context, reduces duplicate data entry, and ensures Greenhouse remains the single source of truth for interview scheduling, scorecards, and pipeline reporting. Cord is built for hiring teams focused on engineering talent — often hiring remotely across Europe — and the product emphasizes speed (high candidate responsiveness), volume (thousands of engineers reachable), and cost predictability (flat subscription). Integrating with Greenhouse folds those active sourcing signals into established ATS workflows.

Core features of the Cord ↔ Greenhouse integration

• Automatic candidate push Candidates you source or identify in Cord can be sent to Greenhouse and pre-associated with a specific job, preserving message history and initial screening notes.
• Job mapping and distribution Map Cord roles to Greenhouse jobs so messages and replies attach to the correct requisition; enables consistent job distribution to job boards and internal trackers.
• Reduced manual entry Contact details, CVs, and message timestamps sync to Greenhouse fields, cutting duplication and human error when creating candidate profiles.
• Faster pipeline velocity High-responsiveness candidates from Cord move to interview more quickly; Cord reports ~56% of messages result in interviews, improving throughput.
• Subscription-based pricing benefit No per-hire fees for Cord; combined with Greenhouse avoids agency commissions and reduces cost-per-hire when sourcing internally.

Who should consider this integration

• Engineering hiring teams in tech companies Teams hiring multiple engineers concurrently who need a repeatable pipeline of proactive, responsive candidates.
• Recruiting operations and sourcers Teams looking to reduce manual ATS entry and improve attribution for sourced candidates.
• Startups and scale-ups High-growth companies that benefit from Cord’s faster candidate engagement and Greenhouse’s structured hiring workflows.
• Distributed teams hiring across regions Companies hiring remotely across Europe where conversational outreach simplifies initial contact and increases response rates.
• Companies focused on cost control Organisations that prefer subscription sourcing tools over agency spend and want predictable hiring budgets.

Before vs After: Typical outcomes

Setup checklist and implementation steps: 1) Confirm Greenhouse admin permissions and API key access; 2) In Cord, enable ATS integration and paste the Greenhouse API key; 3) Map Cord job identifiers to Greenhouse job IDs—this ensures candidates are attached to the correct requisition; 4) Configure which candidate fields (email, phone, resume link, tags, initial notes) sync to Greenhouse custom fields; 5) Test with a sandbox job to verify candidate creation, duplicate handling, and message history transfer; 6) Train sourcers and hiring managers on the new workflow and tagging conventions.

Common integration problems and fixes

• Permission errors when pushing candidates Ensure the Greenhouse API key used has Candidate Create and Job access scopes; regenerate the key if scopes are insufficient.
• Duplicate candidate records Enable deduplication rules in Greenhouse (email-based) and configure Cord to check for existing email addresses before creating a new profile.
• Custom field mismatches Map Cord fields to Greenhouse custom fields explicitly; if a field is missing, create it in Greenhouse before mapping.
• Missing message history Confirm that Cord is configured to attach conversation transcripts and that the mapped Greenhouse field accepts long text entries.

Which metrics to track after launch: monitor messages sent → replies, replies → interviews, and interviews → offers to measure funnel conversion. Track time-to-screen and time-to-offer to see pipeline velocity improvements. Use Greenhouse reporting to attribute hires to Cord as the source; calculate cost-per-hire changes compared with pre-integration baselines. For operational health, monitor sync error logs, API call volumes, and the frequency of manual corrections.

Best practices to maximize value

• Standardize job mapping and tags Use a consistent naming convention between Cord and Greenhouse to avoid mis-assigned candidates.
• Capture conversation context Always include the initial message snippet and timestamp in the Greenhouse profile so interviewers have outreach context.
• Prioritize responsive candidates Cord’s responsiveness metric (56% interview conversion reported) suggests weighting follow-ups toward candidates who reply quickly.
• Run small pilots Start with one team or function, measure conversions and operational friction, then expand once mapping and workflows are stable.
• Combine with resume screening Pair Cord+Greenhouse with a resume-screening layer to reduce manual CV review—use automated screening to highlight highest-fit candidates for interviews.

Cost & ROI considerations

Frequently asked questions

Security and compliance notes: the integration relies on API keys and field mappings; limit API key scope to the minimum required and rotate keys on a schedule. Confirm that consent for candidate contact is captured in Cord before pushing personal data to Greenhouse. For teams operating in Europe, document your lawful basis for processing and implement retention policies consistent with your privacy policy.

Example workflow (practical scenario): a sourcer messages 100 engineers on Cord over a week; 40 reply, 22 proceed to a screening call. With the integration enabled, each replying candidate is pushed into Greenhouse with message history and tagged to the correct job. Sourcers save hours by not recreating profiles; hiring managers open Greenhouse to view pre-populated profiles, schedule interviews, and use scorecards—closing the loop faster and generating accurate reporting on source performance.

Known limitations and practical workarounds

• Partial field support If certain Cord metadata can’t be mapped directly, create custom fields in Greenhouse and use summary notes to retain critical context.
• Delay in sync Small delays can occur due to API rate limits; batch pushes during low-usage windows or stagger candidate transfers when scaling.
• Requires cross-team alignment Integration benefits require coordinated tag and stage usage—run short alignment sessions with hiring managers before rollout.