This article explains how to use the Eightfold Chrome extension with LinkedIn to update and add candidates to your talent pool. You can use this extension with both the Basic (free) account and with the Premium Subscription.

Audience

This article is directed toward users of the Eightfold TA product, specifically recruiters and sourcers, as well as Eightfold employees.

Other relevant articles

For an overview of how the Eightfold Chrome extension works, read the Eightfold Chrome extension guidelines article.

Before you begin

Check that you have given Eightfold the right permissions for your Chrome browser. If your default permission is set to Block third-party cookies, use the following steps:

1. Go to Chrome Browser settings.
2. Navigate to Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
3. If the Block third-party cookies configuration is enabled, add https://app.eightfold.ai under Allow.

The extension is designed to only read the profile HTML in the browser.

Note:

• All actions performed on the Chrome extension, such as viewing or acting with respect to positions or communities, are governed by the permissions of the currently logged-in user.
• Additional actions, including correlating with existing Eightfold profiles, adding to positions or communities, or managing tags, are based on permissions configured by the Eightfold admin.

Installing the extension

To install the extension, take the following steps:

1. Using the Chrome browser, log into your Eightfold account.
2. From the header menu, click on your user icon to open your Account page.
3. Select the Plugins & Extensions tab.
4. Next to the Chrome Extension option, select Install Extension.

If you encounter installation errors, such as "You don’t have permission to install this extension", reach out to your Internal IT team to help you install the Chrome extension.

The extension supports a broad range of URL patterns, including various sites such as:

• Indeed.com
• GitHub.com
• Angel.co
• Hired.com
• Naukri.com
• Monsterindia.com
• Dice.com
• Careerbuilder.com

Changing the server for the extension

If you’re working in Europe, use the following steps to specify the app-eu server.

1. Select the Eightfold extension.
2. Select Options.
3. In the Server field, specify app-eu.
4. Select Save.

Using the extension on LinkedIn

This section describes how to use the extension on LinkedIn. The extension only activates when viewing a candidate profile.

Initiating the extension

1. Log in to your LinkedIn account.
2. Open a candidate profile. 
3. Select the Eightfold extension icon to the right of the address bar as shown below.

Once you open a candidate profile, the extension will now open with the following information:

• The candidate’s information card
• Personal information
• Any recruiting activity
• Add note
• Your open positions

Saving a candidate

In the open Chrome extension sidebar from a candidate's LinkedIn profile, you'll see several options for each open position, such as Save and Contact. To save the candidate to an open position, select the Save button for that position.

Most of the features have been moved and integrated into the interface itself, thereby reducing friction and improving the user experience. It allows users to complete core actions & have access to necessary primary information without having to navigate to the Eightfold platform.

To view the saved candidate in your Eightfold account, go to Talent Acquisition > Positions. Select the position you saved the candidate to, and then go to Leads > Saved. A saved candidate profile from the extension is always in the context of a position.

Note:

• If there's no existing profile for the candidate, Eightfold creates a new profile in the talent network. This profile, whether new or existing, is then tagged against the position in the 'Lead stage'.
• The extension determines if two profiles refer to the same person based on specific conditions: an Email Match; a Loose Name Match combined with a LinkedIn URL Match; or a LinkedIn URL Profile Match combined with either a Loose Name Match or another LinkedIn URL Match, plus an Education/Experience Match.
• For experiences or education, similarity is determined if all the following conditions match: the Company Name and Employment type (for experiences) or School Name (for education), Start time comparison, and End time comparison (if it isn't a current position).

Viewing positions on the extension

This section describes the visibility of a position on the extension.

To control which positions are displayed, specific ATS statuses can be excluded from the Chrome extension using an extension configuration. This can be done by adding statuses like "Filled," "Closed," "Cancelled," "Deleted," and "Not Accessible in ATS" to the excludedatsstatus list in the configuration.

Syncing profile changes

There are two ways that information syncing happens:

• Updated information on a LinkedIn profile syncs to that candidate’s Eightfold profile when you have the extension open on a LinkedIn profile.
• For updated data from a public source for profiles with a public URL, Eightfold automatically refreshes the data and you do not need to use LinkedIn or the Eightfold Chrome extension.

As a best practice, we recommend using the extension to update profiles with their current information available on LinkedIn or other supported publicly available websites.

Note:

• If LinkedIn alters an experience type (for example, from "Full time employee" to "Full time"), Eightfold interprets this as a new experience and adds an additional entry.
• If a LinkedIn profile lacks experiences, a new experience is created based on the profile's title.
• For comprehensive parsing of skills from a LinkedIn profile, the Skills section must be expanded.
• If a candidate changes their name, the parser creates a new profile.
• If a candidate modifies existing information in their profile, this change will not override the existing entry in the Eightfold database. Instead, a new entry is created to preserve historical data, which might result in duplicate information being displayed.

Troubleshooting

If the Chrome extension randomly displays “Oops Unable to fetch the data”, this often occurs because the LinkedIn extension works by parsing HTML pages through multiple API calls, which can take time to complete. In such cases, refreshing the page should typically resolve the issue and display the profile. If a login prompt appears on the extension, it indicates that the extension picks up credentials from the Eightfold web app; users should verify they are correctly logged in to the web app.

For more details, read Troubleshoot Chrome Extension issues.