How do you export your data from Recruit CRM and move to Vayora?
Recruit CRM's account owner can run a Data Export, which gives CSV files for candidates, contacts, jobs, companies and deals with their notes, meetings, tasks and hotlists, or a Full Export, which adds the files attached to records. The CSV export can be run once a day and the full export once every 90 days. Download promptly, then load the CSVs into Vayora, which maps columns, dedupes as it loads and lets you undo a run.
Written by the Vayora team. Updated 28 October 2026.
Recruit CRM has the most complete self-serve export of the four systems covered in this series. An account owner can ask for everything, including attachments, without a services request. The catch is who can run it and how quickly the download links expire.
This guide follows Recruit CRM's own help-centre article on exporting all data for account owners, read on 28 October 2026. It covers the two export types, what is awkward, how the fields land in Vayora and how to run the desk through the switch.
Because the export includes associations such as notes and hotlists, a Recruit CRM move can bring more history across than most. It still needs checking, as the files link records by identifiers that you must keep. Treat the identifiers as the most valuable column in the files and do not delete them while tidying.
For the general picture, read how long a recruitment CRM migration takes.
What can you export from Recruit CRM, and how?
The article says only account owners can run exports, from admin settings under Account, where you choose Data Export or Full Export. Exports are available on the paid Pro, Business and Enterprise plans and need an active subscription; unpaid invoices can block them.
A Data Export gives CSV files for candidates, contacts, jobs, companies and deals, including assignments and associations such as notes, meetings, tasks and hotlists. A Full Export adds the files attached to candidate, contact and company records, delivered as a separate attachments zip. Checked 28 October 2026.
CSV exports can be run once a day and the full export once every 90 days. You are emailed when the files are ready, which the article says takes a few minutes, or up to two days for large accounts. An export history is available under a clock icon.
What is usually missing or awkward?
Timing is the first catch. The article says download links expire after a short period, and the full export can be run only once every 90 days. If a download fails or is lost, you may wait. Download both zips the moment the email arrives and store a copy off the machine.
The second is permission. Only the account owner can run it, so if the owner is a former colleague or someone who rarely logs in, sort that out first. The third is reading the files. Associated records come as separate CSVs, so a note is a row in a notes file that points to a candidate by identifier, not a column on the candidate.
The article also notes that deactivating your account automatically triggers a full export, but recommends exporting manually beforehand to verify and secure your files. Do not rely on the automatic one. Recruit CRM's finance records, such as timesheets and invoices from its newer contract module, are not named in the article, so ask support what is included if you used them.
- Check the account owner can log in before you need them.
- Download both zips immediately and copy them somewhere safe.
- Ask support whether timesheet and invoice data is in the export if you used it.
- Join the notes and assignments files to the candidate file by identifier before you load, and keep a copy of the joined file.
How do Recruit CRM fields map to Vayora?
Vayora's importer already recognises Recruit CRM's export headings, such as Candidate Email, Contact Number, Current Organization and Current Designation, and proposes the mapping for you to confirm. Vayora's attachment importer is written with Recruit CRM's files zip in mind and matches files to candidates by filename, by a short filename-and-email list, or from file-name columns in a candidate CSV when one is present.
| Recruit CRM object | Recruit CRM export | Vayora object | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Data Export, candidates CSV | Candidate | Name, email, phone, location, title, company, LinkedIn, skills, tags, source and owner map directly |
| Candidate custom fields | Candidates CSV | Custom field | Proposed as new fields; you accept or skip each |
| Company | Data Export, companies CSV | Company | Name, website, industry, status, city, country, owner |
| Contact | Data Export, contacts CSV | Contact | Attached to the company by company name |
| Job | Data Export, jobs CSV | Role | Title, client, location, seniority, description |
| Candidate assignments to jobs | Associations files | Pipeline entry | Needs candidate email, job title, stage and date; not a placement record with fee |
| Notes | Associations files | Note on candidate | Matched by candidate email, with author and date if present; you may need to join the notes file to the candidate file first |
| Attached files | Full Export, attachments zip | Candidate files | Matched to candidates by filename or a manifest; contact and company attachments are not imported |
| Deals, meetings, tasks, hotlists | Data Export | Not imported | Not imported; keep an export |
| Timesheets and invoices | Ask support | Not imported | Not imported; keep an export |
How should you clean the data before importing?
Recruit CRM reviewers cited in our comparison mention duplicates that were not detected accurately, so assume yours has some. Do not fix them by hand in the CSV. Let the load match on email and LinkedIn profile, then work through the review list. Duplicate candidate records explains why name-only matches are never merged.
Cut what you cannot justify holding. The ICO's storage limitation guidance says you should not keep personal data longer than you need it, and should be able to explain your retention period. Records with no contact details and no activity in years are the obvious cut.
Keep consent, source and do-not-contact columns on each person. Vayora switches off email and text for a do-not-contact status when the column is in the file.
What is a sensible cutover plan for a working desk?
Run the Full Export first, since it can only be repeated every 90 days. Open both zips before you do anything else. Check your notice period in your agreement and do not cancel until you have both exports and have looked inside them.
Load a trial set into Vayora and have consultants check people they know. Settle the mapping, then pick a cutover day. Run a fresh Data Export at close of play (you can repeat it daily), load it, and start the desk in Vayora the next morning. Keep any overlap short, so records do not split across two systems.
Switch live work first: open jobs and their pipelines, then active clients, then the rest of the book. Keep Recruit CRM available for reference until your first-week checks are done.
Tell consultants the exact day the old system stops taking new records, in writing, and name one person who answers every question about where something lives. Most split records come from one consultant who did not hear.
What should you check in the first week?
Compare ten known candidates with Recruit CRM: owner, contact details, notes and files. Check that the notes landed on the right people, since they came from a separate file. Open each live job and confirm candidates are on the right stage.
Check the Potential duplicates list and work through it, test that a do-not-contact person cannot be messaged, and confirm that deals, meetings, tasks and finance records that were not imported are saved and have an owner.
Where Vayora fits
Vayora imports CSV and Excel files (.xlsx), proposes the column mapping for you to confirm, and handles candidates, companies, contacts, roles, notes and pipeline history. CVs come across as a zipped bundle. Candidates are matched on email and LinkedIn profile as rows load, with a shared phone number queued for review afterwards, and a run of up to 5,000 rows can be undone as a whole. A free migration service can connect to a supported old system through an authorised connection.
Not imported: deals, meetings, tasks, fees, rates, timesheets and invoices, and files attached to contacts or companies. Keep those exports. For the wider picture, read the Vayora and Recruit CRM comparison or Recruit CRM alternatives. To test the move, start a free trial and load a real export.
Common questions
- Who can export everything from Recruit CRM?
- Only the account owner. Recruit CRM's help article says exports are run from admin settings under Account, are available on the paid plans and need an active subscription. Unpaid invoices can block the export. Check the owner can log in before you plan around the date. Checked 28 October 2026.
- How often can I run a Recruit CRM export?
- The article says CSV exports can be run once a day and the full export, which includes attached files, once every 90 days. Run the full export first and open both zips straight away, because download links expire after a few days.
- Are attachments in the Recruit CRM CSV export?
- No. Attached files come only with the Full Export, as a separate attachments zip covering candidate, contact and company records. Vayora can attach CVs to candidates from a zipped bundle; files on contacts and companies are not imported, so keep that zip.
- Will Recruit CRM notes and hotlists come across?
- The data export includes notes, meetings, tasks and hotlists as associations. Vayora imports notes, attaching them to candidates by email, but not meetings, tasks or hotlists. Keep the original files for those, and tag people in Vayora if you want a hotlist re-created.
Sources
Checked 28 October 2026