First of all, let’s explain what an XML feed is!

In short, XML is an information file that continuously retrieves specific data from Visma Recruit. In this case, the specific data being retrieved is information about the ads published on your account.

Well, it’s used to display information about published ads! It’s a way to transfer your published ads to, for example, your website or intranet to make the ads as accessible as possible for potential candidates.

Whether you should use an XML feed to display your published ads on your website and/or intranet or not is entirely up to you and what works best for your website. There’s no right or wrong here, just different needs based on the solutions you already have in place 😊

The advantage of using an XML feed is that you can design the appearance and functionality of the ad list yourself. You have complete freedom over the design because the feed only contains raw data, and you can display it exactly how you want. This gives you the ability to fully integrate the job list into your website.

The increased freedom and control over design and functionality means that how you choose to format the raw data in the feed is entirely up to you, and we will not be able to provide support or assistance with that.

Okay, you're sold on the idea and want to order an XML feed to use on your website. How do you go about it?

You get in touch with your Customer Success Manager! 😄 They will want to know the following information:

That's all!

An XML feed contains data about your published ads in a structured format. Check the image below to see an example of the content in an XML feed.

An XML feed is structured as a text file with a hierarchical order, similar to a folder structure. The information is organized into so-called "elements" that are enclosed by tags, for example:

<AssignmentTitle>

The name of the element in the XML feed. This element refers to, for example, the job title.

We are looking for an experienced Controller!

After the name of the element, the information you have entered in Recruit is displayed.

</AssignmentTitle>

Finally, the element is closed with the tag </. You can think of this as a period in a sentence.

Each element can contain data or other elements. For example, an XML feed from Visma Recruit has a main element for a job ad, <Assignment>, and within it, there are elements for title, description, location, and so on.

It is with the help of these elements that the person responsible for your website can build a fully customized solution, tailored to your needs.

In the general XML feed you received, you can find basic information about your published ads. However, not all ad information is included in the general feed. To get detailed information about a specific ad (e.g., application method, qualifications, etc.), you need to modify the XML feed link.

Here’s how you can do it:

Example:

<Assignment AssignmentId="313319">

<Guid>9BBD5BB3-A681-4E9E-AC55-4C976F6BCEFB</Guid>

<AccountId>489</AccountId>

<AccountName>Company</AccountName>

<PublishStartDate>2023-02-04T00:00:00</PublishStartDate>

So, the link changes from: https://recruit.visma.com/External/Feeds/AssignmentList.ashx?guidGroup=83a811b3-8f39-4871-8ce5-08f8167e1d48

To: https://recruit.visma.com/External/Feeds/AssignmentItem.ashx?guidGroup=83a811b3-8f39-4871-8ce5-08f8167e1d48&guidAssignment=9BBD5BB3-A681-4E9E-AC55-4C976F6BCEFB

In the detailed XML feed for an individual ad, you will find the <ApplicationMethods> element. This element contains information about the application methods for the job. Clicking on the application link will take you directly to the login page/application form.

On the application page, there are two tabs: "Job description," which contains the ad text, and "Application," where you can submit your application.

If you want users to land on the "Job description" tab when they click the application link, you can add &description=true or &description=1 to the end of the link.

For example: https://recruit.visma.com/spa/public/apply?guidAssignment=9bbd5bb3-a681-4e9e-ac55-4c976f6bcefb&description=true

If you use the "Simplified ad form"/"Formatting ad text content" (combined ad fields) setting, you need to adjust which element in the XML feed you use to pull information, as it changes when you activate the new ad field.

When the setting is not activated, the following elements are used in the XML:

The element for the combined ad field will still appear in the XML. but as self-closing <AdDescription/>.

When you activate the setting, you need to use the following elements to fetch the ad text:

The elements for the old ad fields will still appear in the XML feed but will be self-closing, e.g., <WorkDescr/>.

If you have ads published on your website when you activate this setting, you need to implement support for fetching the new elements. Old ads will still need to be retrieved from <WorkDescr>, etc., while new ads will come from <AdDescription>. Therefore, support needs to be implemented on your website to fetch ad texts based on which elements in the XML contain the ad text.