What is an XML or JSON Feed?
Think of an XML or JSON feed as a specially formatted list of your job openings that your website or ATS (Applicant Tracking System) can generate. We can then "read" this list to automatically add new jobs to Scout and remove old or filled positions. This means you only have to manage your jobs in one place – your own system!
How Does it Work?
You provide us with a URL: You'll give us a single web address (URL) where your XML/JSON job feed is located. This feed should contain all your active job posts in one document, without pagination.
We regularly check your feed: Our system will periodically visit this URL to see if there are any new jobs to add or existing jobs that need to be removed.
Your jobs appear on Scout: We'll then automatically publish and manage your job listings on our site based on the information in your feed.
Please note: Our system supports adding new jobs and removing inactive ones based on your feed. We do not currently support updating job posts that are already published. If a job's details change, you would need to remove it from your feed (which will remove it from Scout) and then re-add it to your feed with the updated information. Or you can always manually update a job post directly on Scout.
What We Need From You: Your Job XML/JSON Feed URL
We will need the URL of your XML or JSON feed that contains all your job postings. We currently only support XML and JSON formats for your job feed. To get started, please contact hey@hound.vet to begin setting this up with us.
If you make any updates to your XML/JSON reader, please give us a week's notice in advance to make the technical updates on our end. This is to prevent any potential disruptions to your job posts.
Key Requirements for Your XML/JSON Feed Structure
Your XML feed should contain all the essential information about each job post.
Here's a quick overview of what we look for:
Job ID (or Reference Number): A unique identifier for each job. This helps us track and manage listings for adding and removing.
Job Title: The official title of the position.
Job Description: A detailed description of the role, responsibilities, and requirements.
Job Type: Type of job, full- or part-time.
Category: Position category (Veterinarian, Technician, Receptionist, etc.)
Salary: Offered pay.
Company (or Location) Name: Your practice or location name.
Application URL: A direct link where candidates can apply for the job on your website.
Any other fields we can use to fill in the job post on Hound
Key Takeaways
To get started, we need the following from you:
The URL of your XML/JSON jobs feed, which includes essential job information
We prefer an XML or JSON format with these requirements, but we are flexible and can work with different XML/JSON structures
Contact hey@hound.vet to start the process
Please note our current limitations of what's supported:
Only XML and JSON formats are supported
Only publishing and deleting functions are supported; editing job posts must be done by logging into your account
For Developers: Understanding the XML/JSON Structure
To help you structure your XML/JSON feed, you can refer to common job feed standards. For example, this XML feed documentation provides a comprehensive guide with examples of how to structure an XML file for job postings. While we are flexible and can work with different XML structures, reviewing such examples can give you a good starting point for including all the necessary elements like jobtitle, company, city, state, description, url, and referencenumber.
If your existing system generates an XML/JSON feed in a different structure, don't worry. We can discuss implementing support for your specific schema. Just provide us with an example of your XML/KSON feed, and we'll evaluate the effort required for mapping.
Next Steps
Once you have your XML/JSON feed URL ready and formatted, please provide it to us. We will then test the integration and let you know when your jobs are live on Hound!
We're excited to help you reach more qualified candidates through our platform. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at hey@hound.vet.
XML/JSON Feed FAQ
How often does Hound index the XMLJSON feed?
Hound refreshes the job data every 12 hours, starting from the time of the last request
Which metadata can I include in a feed?
The more data you include to XML/JSON, the better for us. We can use them to fill in as many fields as possible for the post.
How do I include an external application link in my jobs?
Just use
<url>element in XML/JSON to pass your Application URL.
How can I track applicants who applied through Hound?
You can add tracking UTM links at the end of your Application URL, which will be automatically added to the external application link field of your job post.
XML/JSON Feed Requirements from Common ATS
To help you get set up with Hound's XML/JSON job feed, review these requirements from ATS that we have worked with:
Greenhouse
Go to your job board and click on the 3 dots (Configure icon). Select "Edit Board Settings".
Go to the URL section of the page, and copy the the URL in the text field. This is usually something like
https://boards-api.greenhouse.io/v1/boards/YourCompanyName.Provide this URL to Hound so we can start setting up your XML/JSON job feed.
Jazz
An XML URL for Jazz can be found by going to Settings > Career Page > XML Feed. Click here to view the full instructions on their documentation.
Clear Company
To set up your job board with an XML feed, you need to contact ClearCompany directly, and then send Hound your XML URL. You can send them this article for more details.
Workday
An XML URL for Workday can be generated by creating a custom report, under the Reporting & Analytics section. You will need to define the report columns and fields to include the necessary fields that correspond to our key requirements.