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Switch from Workable
Switching from Workable to Yardstick
Getting your data out
Getting your data out of Workable
The exact steps to get your candidates, jobs, and applications out of Workable — including what your plan gates and what needs a support ticket. Every step links to Workable’s own documentation.
- 1
Export your candidate fields yourself. Workable's Candidate Details report (available on every plan, including Free) exports to CSV — click Download CSV and it's emailed to you. Note what it doesn't include: resumes and other files are left out of this export. Source
Self-serve · fields only
- 2
To get resumes and the complete data set, request a full data export from Workable — it isn't self-serve, so you contact them (Workable suggests doing it once your jobs are archived). You get a .zip with a CSV for each data area (candidates, comments, emails, events, interviews, jobs, members, ratings, and more) plus resumes organized into job folders. Source
Support request · all-or-nothing
- 3
For a bulk export with resumes without waiting on a ticket, Workable points you to its API — list candidates and fetch each record (including the resume) from the /candidates endpoints. That takes developer resources, or a coding agent that can call the API for you. Source
API · developer or agent
Watch the deadlines
- When you cancel, Workable keeps your candidate data but switches it to read-only, and 45 days later archives it — so pull your export while the account is still active, before you downgrade. Source
What survives the move
The pipeline moves — people, roles, and the history connecting them.
Yardstick imports the three things every ATS actually holds: your candidates, the jobs they were attached to, and the applications that record who stood where in which role. Applying the import also creates the job postings and starter interview plans that give each role a working home — so you land in a system that’s ready to run interviews, not an empty shell.
Your Workable candidate CSV maps straight into the dry run as candidates, jobs, and applications; the resumes come across from the full-export .zip or the API, and your agent converts either one to the importer's structured rows.
Hand it to your agent
Your coding agent can run the whole move.
The importer is part of Yardstick’s public API and the yardstick CLI, available on every account. So instead of working the exports by hand, you can hand them to a coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, or similar): it converts each export into structured rows, runs the dry run, and brings you a row-by-row preview of exactly what will be created. You read it and approve; the agent applies it — and the apply writes exactly what the preview showed, nothing more.
That’s the same division of labor Yardstick is built on everywhere: agents prepare the work, and humans approve it. An import never emails a candidate, never merges people, and never deletes anything.
The right fit
Who should move — and who shouldn’t.
If Workable still fits how your team hires, there's no reason to move. Teams switch to Yardstick when they've felt their Workable bill grow with the company's headcount rather than with their hiring, and when they want deeper structured interviews — job-specific plans and scorecards, AI decision briefs under human approval, and an ATS a coding agent can operate. Export while your account is active: the self-serve CSV covers fields, and the resumes come from the support export or the API.
FAQ
Common questions about leaving Workable.
How do I export my candidates from Workable?
Workable's Candidate Details report exports your candidate fields to CSV on any plan (including Free) — you click Download CSV and it's emailed to you. That report leaves out resumes and files; to get those you request a full data export from Workable, or pull them through the API.
Can I get my resumes and attachments out of Workable?
Not through the self-serve Candidate Details CSV — that's fields only. Resumes come in a full data export you request from Workable (a .zip with a CSV per data area plus resumes in job folders), or via the /candidates API endpoints if you'd rather not wait on a ticket. It's an all-or-nothing export, so plan for the whole account.
Can an AI agent migrate my Workable data to Yardstick?
Yes. Yardstick's importer is part of its public API and the yardstick CLI on every account, so a coding agent can pull your Workable export (or call Workable's own API), convert it into structured rows, run the dry-run, and show you the preview. You approve it; the agent applies it. The agent does the work; the approval stays with you.
What happens to my Workable data when I cancel?
Your account moves to Workable's Free plan: candidate data is kept but becomes read-only (you can view but not act on it), and 45 days later candidates are archived. Export everything while your account is still active, before you cancel or downgrade.
Bring your Workable pipeline with you.
Create your account and dry-run your first import — see the row-by-row preview of exactly what will be created before anything is written.
Want the full picture first? See how importing into Yardstick works.