Boomerang is an alumni relationship management platform. It connects to an employer's HRIS and ATS, builds a continuously-updated database of that employer's former employees, scores and matches those alumni against currently-open requisitions, and runs the email campaigns, referral programs, and branded alumni portal that bring the right ones back — as boomerang hires, referrers, or contractors. Talent teams use Boomerang to turn a company's own alumni into its highest-converting, lowest-cost sourcing channel.
Boomerang's integration with Greenhouse Recruiting automatically matches your alumni against your open Greenhouse jobs, engages those alumni with targeted outreach linking directly to the Greenhouse job post, and reports the resulting applications and hires back to you — without adding any steps to your recruiters' existing workflow.
Before you begin
- Greenhouse user permissions: You must be a Site Admin.
- Boomerang: An active Boomerang subscription and an assigned Boomerang implementation contact.
Boomerang primarily reads data from Greenhouse Recruiting. It can also write back a limited, optional set of information: candidate tags, notes, and application stage moves. This is turned off by default and enabled for your organization at your request. Boomerang never deletes anything in your Greenhouse Recruiting account. See Data Boomerang reads and writes below for the exact fields.
Configure the Boomerang integration
Open the connection link from Boomerang
Your Boomerang implementation contact sends you a secure connection link for your organization. The link expires after 7 days, so open it soon after you receive it. If it has expired, ask your contact for a new one.
Open the link and select Greenhouse from the list of applicant tracking systems.
On the following screen, click Use my credentials (recommended).
On the following screen, confirm that you are an administrator within Greenhouse. You must be an administrator to successfully complete this connection.
On the following screen there is a list of fields Boomerang will have access to once the connection has been made. Information on what the fields are used for can be found further below. Click Next to continue.
On the following screen, you'll be able to make the connection. Click the Open window button to begin. You'll be sent to Greenhouse Recruiting to authorize the connection.
Review the requested permissions
Greenhouse displays the specific actions Boomerang is requesting permission to perform with your organization's data. Boomerang requests read access to jobs, job posts, candidates, applications, offers, attachments, departments, offices, users, EEOC data, interview stages, and rejection reasons, plus permission to add candidate tags, add notes, and move applications between stages for the optional write-back features described below. Review the list, enter the email you use to log into Greenhouse, then continue.
Log in to Greenhouse Recruiting
Enter your Greenhouse credentials to continue the authorization.
Choose how the integration is authorized
Greenhouse gives you a checkbox to Authorize using a service account:
Boomerang highly recommends checking the Authorize using a service account box. Because Boomerang runs on a recurring schedule rather than in response to anything a person does, this option prevents unexpected disruptions. See Greenhouse's Connect to Harvest v3 partner integrations article for more detail on this option.
Confirm the connection
After you authorize, Greenhouse returns you to the connection window.
Once the account is set up, you may be presented with the option to set up field mappings. Skip that.
The next screen confirms that Greenhouse Recruiting is linked. That's the end of your setup — you can close the window.
Boomerang runs its first sync shortly afterwards, then syncs on a recurring schedule. Your Boomerang implementation contact confirms that jobs, candidates, and applications have landed, and invites you to the dashboard where you can follow results.
Data Boomerang reads and writes
Fields Boomerang reads from Greenhouse Recruiting
| Greenhouse object | Fields Boomerang reads | Used in Boomerang for |
| Job | Name, status, requisition ID, created/updated dates, department, office | The set of open roles alumni are matched against |
| Job post | Title, status, internal/external flag, post URL, updated date | The apply link used in alumni outreach |
| Candidate | First name, last name, email addresses, phone numbers, current company, current title, locations, URLs, tags, created/updated dates, last interaction date | Recognizing that an alum already exists in the ATS and de-duplicating against the alumni record |
| Application | Job, candidate, current interview stage, source, credited-to user, applied date, rejected date, rejection reason | Attribution: identifying which applications came from alumni and tracking them through the funnel |
| Offer | Status, start date, sent date, closed date, creator | Measuring alumni-sourced hires |
| Attachment | Resume | Enriching the alumni profile used for matching |
| Department | Name | Audience segmentation and filtering |
| Office | Name | Matching alumni in close proximity to a job |
| User | First name, last name, email | Sending updates to the recruiter on a role |
| EEOC | EEOC responses attached to an application | Compliance-aware reporting |
| Interview stage | Stage name and order | Funnel reporting for alumni-sourced applications |
| Rejection reason | Name | Understanding why alumni-sourced applications did not progress |
Fields Boomerang writes to Greenhouse Recruiting
All write-back is disabled by default. Each capability below is enabled per organization, at your request, by your Boomerang contact. Boomerang only ever adds information — it does not overwrite or remove existing tags, notes, or candidate data, and it never deletes Greenhouse records.
| Greenhouse object | Field Boomerang writes | When | Why |
| Candidate | Adds a candidate tag | When a candidate is identified as one of your alumni, or as a member of a Boomerang audience you've configured | So your recruiters can see at a glance in Greenhouse that an applicant is a returning alum, and can filter on it |
| Candidate | Adds a note | When Boomerang has contacted an alum, or when an applicant is matched to an alumni record | So the recruiter has the alumni context without leaving Greenhouse: prior role, tenure, departure |
| Application | Moves the application to a stage you designate | When an application is identified as alumni-sourced, if you have configured a target stage | So alumni applicants can be routed into a dedicated stage in your existing pipeline |
You control which audiences produce tags, the exact tag value used, the target stage, and which stages are eligible to be moved. Applications already in a stage you've excluded are never moved.
Use the Boomerang integration with Greenhouse Recruiting
Boomerang's processes happen asynchronously and invisibly. There is no Boomerang UI application that users log into. Once your Greenhouse Recruiting integration and your separate HRIS integration are linked, the resulting effect is automatic intelligent outreach, which leads to an increase in alumni applications and hires. This is intentional, so as not to add any additional steps to your existing processes. There is no Boomerang panel inside Greenhouse Recruiting, and your Greenhouse credentials are not used to sign in to Boomerang. You can track results in a dashboard that your Boomerang implementation contact will invite you to.
How Boomerang matches alumni to your Greenhouse jobs
Matching runs automatically — there is nothing to review or approve.
Boomerang scores every alum in your database against each open Greenhouse requisition using their alumni profile, combining the requisition data read from Greenhouse with the employment history read from your HRIS. The strongest matches are the ones that receive outreach. Matching re-runs on every newly opened requisition and newly departed employee without anyone doing anything.
Engage alumni and bring them back into your Greenhouse pipeline
Boomerang brings alumni into your Greenhouse pipeline through your live job posts. It does not create candidate or application records in Greenhouse.
- Boomerang sends the outreach automatically. Matched alumni receive targeted email campaigns for new roles as they open.
- Every role links to your Greenhouse job post. Boomerang uses the published, external job post URL it read from your Greenhouse account, so the alum lands on your real, live job post. If a requisition has no published external post.
- The alum applies in Greenhouse. They complete your standard Greenhouse application, so your existing job post settings, application questions, EEOC collection, and approval workflows all apply unchanged. The alum arrives as a normal candidate on the specific job they applied to.
- Boomerang reads the application back and attributes it. Boomerang ingests the new application, matches the candidate to the alumni record it engaged, and reports the application as alumni-sourced.
From your recruiters' point of view, nothing changes: alumni simply start arriving as candidates on their existing Greenhouse jobs, through the same application flow as any other applicant.
Track results in your Boomerang dashboard
Your Boomerang implementation contact invites you to a dashboard where you can follow what the integration is producing. It uses the application and offer data read from Greenhouse to show, per role and per campaign, how many alumni were engaged, how many applied, how far they progressed through your Greenhouse interview stages, and how many were hired.
Because everything upstream of that is automatic, the dashboard is the only Boomerang surface your team needs — there is no configuration screen to visit and no queue to work through.
Additional resources
For additional information not covered here, reach out to your Boomerang implementation contact or cs@hiboomerang.com.
Frequently asked questions
How often does Boomerang sync with Greenhouse Recruiting?
Boomerang runs a full sync on a recurring daily schedule on business days. Your Boomerang contact can trigger an on-demand sync if you need data refreshed sooner.
Can Boomerang change anything in our Greenhouse account?
Only if you ask. Write-back is off by default. When enabled, Boomerang can add a candidate tag, add a note, and move an alumni-sourced application to a stage you designate — nothing else. It never overwrites existing data and never deletes Greenhouse records. See Data Boomerang reads and writes above.
How do we turn write-back on or off?
Contact your Boomerang implementation contact or cs@hiboomerang.com.
Should we use service account or individual user authorization?
Service account. Boomerang runs on a daily schedule rather than in response to anything a person does, so tying the connection to an individual's account creates an unnecessary point of failure if that person leaves or changes roles.
Does anyone on our team need to log in to Boomerang?
No. Once the integration is connected, matching and outreach run automatically. There is nothing for your recruiters to open, review, or approve, and no change to how they work in Greenhouse Recruiting. Your implementation contact invites you to a dashboard if you want to follow results.