Real Links integration for employee referrals: automate campaigns, LinkedIn matching, and AI resume screening

Real Links’ Greenhouse integration connects live job listings from your Greenhouse ATS into Real Links’ campaign builder, enabling targeted employee advocacy and structured referral campaigns without manual job copy-and-paste. Recruiters and employer brand teams can pull live roles, package employer-branding content, and launch referral drives to specific employee cohorts in minutes. This integration emphasizes automation: live jobs sync, content feeds from career sites, automated employee comms across email and collaboration tools, and a LinkedIn matching function that routes employees to first-degree connections who match open roles. The result is faster candidate attraction, improved referral relevance, and measurable increases in hires sourced through employee networks.

Key capabilities of the Real Links — Greenhouse integration

• Live jobs sync Automatically populates Real Links campaigns with active roles from Greenhouse so campaigns always reference current job data and links.
• LinkedIn matching Directs employees to their 1st-degree LinkedIn connections who match role criteria, improving referral accuracy and reducing noise.
• Automated content ingestion Pulls employer-brand content from your careers site via RSS or manual uploads for consistent messaging across campaigns.
• Omnichannel engagement Sends updates and nudges through Outlook, Gmail, Teams, Slack and mobile push for higher participation rates.
• Campaign segmentation Targets communications to specific employee groups (by function, location, tenure) to increase relevance and conversion.

Who benefits most from this integration

• Recruiting teams handling high-volume hiring Teams with frequent openings (tech, graduate programs, contingent workforce) gain speed and reach by turning employees into consistent sourcing channels.
• Employer brand and marketing leads Brand teams can amplify careers content, measure engagement, and create unified talent marketing campaigns tied to live roles.
• Talent acquisition leaders focused on passive sourcing LinkedIn matching and campaign targeting help surface passive talent through trusted employee introductions.
• Global organisations with multicountry hiring Support for many languages and regional integrations ensures campaigns scale across APAC, EMEA, and the Americas.

How it works technically: Real Links connects to Greenhouse via API to fetch live job listings and job metadata (location, function, hiring team). Those jobs appear in the Real Links campaign builder where recruiters select roles and attach content and rules for distribution. The integration maintains a live link back to Greenhouse so clicks and referral candidates can be tracked to the originating job. For employee outreach, Real Links leverages integration connectors (OAuth for email and messaging apps, and LinkedIn flow for connection matching) to automate notifications, push role links, and capture referral activity. Candidate submissions can be routed back into Greenhouse or tracked inside Real Links depending on your workflow preferences.

Feature-to-benefit snapshot

LinkedIn matching: why it matters and how to use it. The matching function compares role attributes (skills, location, function) to an employee’s 1st-degree LinkedIn network and takes the employee directly to the connections most likely to fit the role. This reduces referral friction—employees don’t need to search or guess who to contact—and increases the quality of referrals because matches are based on role-relevant signals rather than random outreach. Practical tip: configure matching filters (experience level, location radius, keyword boosts) before campaign launch. That small setup step dramatically increases the precision of suggestions employees see and improves conversion of suggested referrals into applicant submissions.

Automated engagement channels and typical use cases

• Email (Outlook, Gmail) Scheduled role nudges, weekly ‘hot roles’ digests, or targeted asks for specific teams.
• Collaboration tools (Teams, Slack) Real-time alerts, gamification updates, and team leaderboards embedded where employees collaborate.
• Mobile push notifications Immediate campaign calls-to-action for time-sensitive hiring drives or event-based referrals.
• LinkedIn flow Empowers employees to make direct referrals to relevant connections using a workflow that preserves LinkedIn interaction quality.

Campaign builder and content management: structure, templates, and automation. Real Links provides reusable templates for role campaigns, allowing recruiters to define content blocks (role synopsis, why it’s exciting, referral incentive, link to apply) and schedule communications. Content can be pulled live from your careers site via RSS to ensure the employer brand tone and job descriptions remain current. Use segmentation rules to limit campaign reach to employees who are most likely to participate (e.g., alumni networks or recent hires). Gamification elements (leaderboards, badges) can be toggled on to increase participation without extra operational overhead.

Core metrics to track after launch

• Employee engagement rate Clicks, shares, and referrals per campaign relative to the targeted employee cohort.
• Referral-to-hire conversion Percentage of referred applicants who become hires, useful to measure referral quality.
• Time-to-fill for campaigned roles Compare against baseline to quantify speed improvements from referral activity.
• Cost-per-hire Calculate cost delta when replacing paid channels with employee-driven sourcing.

Implementation timeline and practical costs. Real Links indicates no partner implementation fee for the standard connector, but your actual timeline depends on configuration complexity: a basic sync and campaign template can be live in 2–4 weeks; more complex segmentation, custom content feeds, or integrations with multiple messaging platforms can stretch to 6–8 weeks. Allocate time for security review, single sign-on testing, and employee pilot groups. Budget considerations: factor in internal resource time for campaign design, possible premium support or custom development if you require bespoke workflows, and minor licensing if you need advanced analytics beyond standard dashboards.

Recommended approach by company size

Common questions about Real Links + Greenhouse

Security, data flow and privacy considerations. Real Links publishes a privacy policy and integrates following standard ATS security practices; integration requires appropriate API permissions and typically uses OAuth or token-based authentication for connected apps. Before rolling out, review the Real Links privacy policy and your Greenhouse support guide to ensure candidate data handling, retention, and access controls meet your legal and internal compliance requirements. Recommendation: perform a short privacy impact assessment focused on referral tracking and data sync frequency. Confirm whether candidate consent flows are needed for markets with specific privacy rules, and document retention rules for referred candidate data.

Best practices to maximize campaign success. 1) Start with a clear hypothesis (e.g., increase graduate program hires by X%) and a short pilot. 2) Use tight segmentation and relevant content—employees respond better to specific asks than broad ‘share anything’ campaigns. 3) Schedule recurring touchpoints rather than one-off blasts; cadence keeps campaigns top of mind. 4) Measure both engagement and downstream hiring outcomes so you can iterate on messaging, incentives, and targeting.