How to Create Custom Fields in Bullhorn ATS

If you want to capture company-specific information that Bullhorn’s standard fields don’t cover, you can create a custom field. Custom fields allow your team to track unique data for entities such as jobs, placements, candidates, or contacts efficiently. This article walks you through the setup process so your custom fields are properly mapped and usable across your system.

Common Reasons to Add or Edit a Custom Field

  • You need to add a brand-new custom field to jobs, placements, candidates, or contacts.

  • You want to add or edit dropdown values in a custom field.

  • A custom field may not be showing up in search, list views, or reporting.

  • You want to reorder or group custom fields under specific headers.

  • You need to set up a new custom field for integration or payroll systems.

  • You want to make a custom field required.

  • You want to hide or unhide a custom field.

Create a Custom Field

You can add custom fields to all entities including Contacts, Candidates, Jobs, Companies, Leads, Opportunities, and Placements.

  1. From your Bullhorn Menu, select Admin and then Field Mappings.
    • S-Release: On the Tools menu, select Field Mappings.

  2. Expand the entity where you want to add the custom field.

  3. In the field column, type "customText" and press Enter.

  4. Select a custom field that is not currently in use or that you want to edit by clicking its hyperlinked field name.

  5. Fill out the field details in the pop-up window:

    • Field Description Display: Enter the name visible to users.

      Changing a field label will not break anything. Field labels are for display purposes only and do not affect the functionality or data of a field.

    • Edit Type: Choose the appropriate type (e.g., Text, Drop Down).

    • Required: Toggle on if you want to require users to fill out this field before saving.

    • Hidden: Toggle on to hide a field from view.

    • Allow Multiple Values: Toggle on if users should be able to select more than one option.

    • Sort Order: Enter a number to reorder the field’s position on the edit screen. This can also change the grouping of your custom fields. By assigning different numerical values in this column, you can control the sequence in which the fields appear.

    • Value List: For drop-down fields, input the values separated by commas.

    • Default Value: Optional; enter a default value from the value list.

    • Description: Provide an optional description the field’s purpose.

    • Hint: Add optional guidance text within the field.

  6. Click Save.

  7. Log out and log back in to see the field on the record.

Do not repurpose existing Bullhorn fields (e.g., changing the Status field to store emails). When adding a new field, always use designated custom fields.

Troubleshooting

  • If the field isn’t appearing: Ensure it’s unhidden in Field Mappings and added to the correct entity. If your company uses multiple Private Labels, ensure the field is unhidden on the right Private Label(s).

  • If you get a character limit error: Check the character limit of the field. A standard customText field has a limit of 100 characters. Use a customTextBlock field to store longer text.

  • If the field needs to store sensitive info: Use customEncryptedText fields instead of standard text fields.

  • If a custom field isn't showing up in search, list views, or reporting: There are two common reasons why a custom field might not be appearing as expected:

    • It's a customTextBlock: If the field was created as a customTextBlock, it's designed to hold large amounts of unstructured text and, by default, is not searchable. This means it won't appear in search results, filterable lists, or reports.

    • It's not in the Search Layout: Even if a custom field is configured correctly, it won't show up in search or list views unless it's explicitly added to the Search Layout. This setting, found under the View Layout, controls which fields are visible and searchable for a particular object or record type.

  • To resolve this, you should check how the custom field was initially set up. If it's a customTextBlock and you need it to be searchable, you may need to recreate it using a different field type, such as a regular text field. If it's not a customTextBlock, navigate to Admin > View Layout and add the field to the Search tab to make it visible and searchable.

FAQs

Q: Can I repurpose an existing Bullhorn field for custom data?

A: No, existing fields should not be repurposed, as this can break system functionality. When adding a new field, always use designated custom fields.

Q: How do I control who can edit a field?

A: The ability to edit a field depends on the usertypes that have edit permissions for that entity. E.g. If a usertype has the permission to edit Candidates, any custom fields on a Candidate record will be editable for those users.

Some system fields can’t be edited — for example, Encrypted or Confidential fields used for integrations or data protection (such as GDPR). These are restricted for security reasons and can’t be changed by standard users.

Q: Can I set a custom field to be conditional based on another field's value?

A: No, custom fields cannot be set to be conditional on other fields. Bullhorn does not support this type of conditional logic for custom fields.

Q: Can I make a field mandatory based another field's value?

A: Not as standard functionality. Conditional or stage-specific required fields can be set up as a custom field interaction by Professional Services. Reach out to your Account Manager to learn more about this option.

Q: How do I set up a custom field for payroll or an integration?

A: Setup is like any other custom field. The integration will typically look for a specific field name (e.g., customText5, customInt7, customFloat2) rather than the field label. You should choose the appropriate data type (text, date, integer, or float) based on what the integration requires.