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How to integrate your AI Recruiter with Salesforce CRM via Informatica

Here's how to integrate your AI recruiter with your Salesforce CRM using Informatica.

Updated this week

Overview

This guide provides a detailed walkthrough for integrating Salesforce with CollegeVine's AI Recruiter using Informatica and FileZilla. It supports secure, automated bi-directional file exchanges between your CRM and CollegeVine’s SFTP server.

Note: Folder names and job structures are examples. Your setup may vary based on your environment and IT policies. Confirm paths and permissions with your Informatica admin.

Glossary of Key Terms

  • Informatica Cloud (IICS): Web interface for building, scheduling, and monitoring jobs.

  • Secure Agent: Installed runtime engine that executes tasks defined in Informatica Cloud.

  • Mapping: Defines how to extract and transform data.

  • Mapping Task: Makes a Mapping available to run as a Data Task in a Task flow.

  • Task Flow: Chains multiple tasks in sequence.

  • Listener: Watches a folder and triggers flows.

  • File Transfer Task: Handles SFTP push/pull jobs.

  • Indicator File: Optional flag to confirm transfer is ready.

Part 1: Salesforce ➔ CollegeVine (via Informatica)

Prerequisites

  • Admin access to Salesforce, Informatica, and CollegeVine.

  • Access to Informatica Cloud and an installed Secure Agent.

  • FileZilla (optional but helpful for testing and debugging).

  • PuTTYgen or CLI to generate SSH keys.

Connecting to the CollegeVine hosted SFTP server

  1. Create SSH Keys & Register in CollegeVine (full guides here: Windows, Mac)
    ​

  2. Copy the full public key text (begins with ssh-rsa).
    ​

  3. In CollegeVine:
    ​

    1. Go to AI Recruiter > Students > CRM Sync.

    2. You will see the basic connection information listing:

      1. The CollegeVine hosted SFTP server name

      2. A username

      3. A path for uploading leads from your CRM to CollegeVine

      4. A path for downloading leads from Collegevine to your CRM

      5. A text input for the SSH public key

      6. A text input for the source IP addresses
        ​

    3. Paste the entire public key into the SSH public key text box. The key should begin with rsa-key…

    4. In the Source IP Addresses field, enter the public-facing IP address(es) of any system that will access the SFTP server. This usually includes:

      1. The machine running your Informatica Secure Agent, network gateway, or SFTP proxy (if applicable).

      2. Any desktop or VM used for manual FileZilla testing.

    5. List one IP address per line—do not comma separate.

Prepare Folder Paths (Local + SFTP)

Customize paths to match your infrastructure. Here’s a sample layout:

Purpose

Local Path (example)

SFTP Path

Export files to CollegeVine

/cv_informatica/staging/outbound

/to_collegevine

Import files from CollegeVine

/cv_informatica/staging/inbound

/from_collegevine

Archive processed files

/cv_informatica/archive

(manual)

Some partners use folders called /Dropbox or /Transfer; naming is flexible as long as it's consistent and mapped in your Informatica jobs.

Create Mapping in Informatica to extract Salesforce Data to a File (Salesforce ➔ CSV)

Connect to Salesforce via Informatica

Before you can extract data, you need to create a connection to your Salesforce instance:

  1. In Informatica Cloud, go to Administrator > Connections.

  2. Click New Connection.

  3. For Type, select Salesforce.

  4. Enter:

    • Your Salesforce username

    • Your password + security token (concatenated)

    • The correct Environment Type (Production or Sandbox)

  5. Click Test to verify, then Save the connection.

You can now use this Salesforce connection as the source in any mapping task.

  1. Go to Data Integration > Mappings.
    ​

  2. Create a new Mapping:

    • Source: Salesforce object (e.g., Leads, Contacts)

    • Target: Flat File (CSV)

    • Output directory: your local outbound folder
      ​

  3. Ensure required fields are included. Also, ensure you do not include any fields that you don’t want mapped directly into CollegeVine.
    ​
    ​Required fields:

    • First name

    • Last name

    • Email

    • Admission year (YYYY)

    • Date of birth (YYYY-MM-DD)
      ​

    Highly recommended fields:

    • Phone number (+1XXXXXXXXXX)

      • required to call students and gather consent to call

      • E.164 is the preferred format (+1XXXXXXXXXX), but can be accepted without country code for US numbers (XXXXXXXXXX)

    • Consents to AI phone calls (true/false or leave the value empty)

      • required to identify leads that have already consented to AI phone calls

      • Please use the following values:

        • true = lead has explicitly opted in

          • AI Recruiter will make phone calls without emailing for consent first

        • false = lead has explicitly opted out

          • AI Recruiter will neither make phone calls nor email for consent

        • Leave the field empty if you are missing consent information for the lead

          • AI Recruiter will email the lead to ask for consent and then make phone calls accordingly

    • Lead stage fields io indicate where in the enrollment funnel your leads are

      • Most partners include 1 or 2 lead stage fields, and use these fields for two main purposes:

        • To tell the AI Recruiter when to start/stop treating a lead

        • To give the AI Recruiter custom instructions on how to treat each lead (e.g., If stage = Application-Started then encourage the student to log back into their application portal at www.university.edu/apply/login)

      • Later, your team will work with your CollegeVine Project Manager to map your 1-2 lead stage field values to the funnel stages your AI Recruiter understands (see below) and set the logic for when to start/stop treatment.

        • Prospect

        • Inquiry

        • Application - started

        • Application - completed

        • Decision - accepted

        • Decision - rejected

        • Decision - waitlisted

        • Enrolled

      • If you have one stage field that maps nicely to the above options, great!

      • Otherwise, you can use up to two fields that, when combined, map to the funnel stages. For example, here’s what one partner did:

        • Field 1 (Lead Stage):

          • Prospect

          • Inquiry

          • Applicant

          • Enrolled

        • Field 2 (Application Status):

          • Started

          • Completed

          • In Review

          • Accepted

          • Rejected

          • Waitlisted

        • In this example:

          • Applicant + Waitlisted = Decision - waitlisted

          • Prospect = Prospect
            ​

  4. Use a dynamic timestamp in filenames:

  5. Create a Mapping Task for your mapping in step 3.

    1. Create a Mapping in Informatica to Transfer Files from your local outbound directory to your /to_collegevine folder on CollegeVine’s SFTP server (If you will be using a post processing script to transfer files skip to step 7.)
      ​
      ​

  6. Automate Upload to CollegeVine
    ​

    1. In Informatica, create a Task Flow:

      • Insert a Data Task into the task flow and select the mapping task created in step 3 above.

      • If using a File Transfer Mapping, insert another Data Task into the task flow and select the mapping task created in step 6 above.

    2. If automating is tricky, manually upload test files via FileZilla:

      • Host: sftp-sync.collegevine.com

      • Folder: /to_collegevine

      • Auth: use your private key
        ​

  7. Now, you’ll see your first filename listed in the Loaded file tab and should:

    1. Choose how you want conflicts resolved

    2. Map columns to CollegeVine properties, or create a custom property

    3. Certify communication consent (checkbox)

      1. Click Next to save and move on to the next step
        ​

  8. You can enable the integration in CollegeVine by clicking Start the integration, which will begin importing records from the files that are uploaded.
    ​

  9. Schedule the Integration

    1. Set up the Task Flow to run daily (e.g., 6:30 AM).

    2. Include email notifications for success/failure.

    3. Log job runs for auditing.

📣Note: If you later change/update/add new fields to the file you send to CollegeVine, you must come back to this step, update the mapping, and save the changes! Otherwise, your future imports will fail.

Part 2: CollegeVine ➔ Salesforce (via Informatica)

Before you start: The steps below assume you’ve completed the Salesforce ➔ CollegeVine integration steps first.

Inbound File Handling (Informatica Setup)

  1. Retrieve Files from CollegeVine

    1. In Informatica Cloud, create a new File Transfer Task to pull files from:

      • sftp://<username>@sftp-sync.collegevine.com/from_collegevine/<filename>.csv

    2. Use your private key authentication and ensure the target local path is your inbound directory, e.g., /cv_informatica/staging/inbound.

    3. We recommend you set this task to run in the morning, so it occurs after CollegeVine delivers your daily differential export files (new or updated leads only) which trigger around 12:00AM ET.

    4. Optional: Set up a Listener Task (e.g., listener-CV-inbound) to monitor /cv_informatica/staging/inbound for newly delivered files and trigger the data load automatically.

    5. To force early delivery, you can use the "Run an export now" button in CollegeVine.

    6. You have delete permissions in the SFTP folder. Files may be deleted manually or automatically post-processing, depending on your configuration.—files may be removed after import either manually or automatically, depending on your system configuration.
      ​

  2. Import into Salesforce

    1. In Informatica, create a new Mapping Task:

      • Source: Inbound CSV file located in your staging folder (e.g., /cv_informatica/staging/inbound)

      • Target: Salesforce (Contacts, Opportunities, or custom object)

    2. Use the same Salesforce connection you configured in Part 1.

    3. Map the fields from the inbound CollegeVine file to the correct Salesforce fields.

    4. Optionally chain this into a Task Flow that runs daily or is triggered by your listener.

    5. Schedule the job for 4:00–4:30 AM ET or after file retrieval completes.

    6. Monitor job logs to confirm successful imports and record counts.
      ​

  3. Archive or Clean Up Files

    1. After successful import, you can:

      • Move files to your archive folder (e.g., /archive).

      • Or delete them from /from_collegevine, if your system does this automatically.

    2. Most CRM or middleware platforms automatically remove or archive processed files.

That’s it—you now have a bi-directional data sync between your CRM and CollegeVine’s AI Recruiter! 🎉

Testing & Troubleshooting

File Appears but Job Says “No Data”?

  • Listener may trigger before file lands.

  • Add wait logic or use FileZilla to confirm file presence.

You Changed Your File Format?

  • Upload a new file with the revised schema.

  • Update your field mapping in CollegeVine.

  • Retry the failed import.
    ​

FAQs

  1. Can I test with FileZilla before automating?

    1. Yes! It's great for validating SFTP access and file formatting.

  2. What if I change a column name in my export?

    1. You must update the mapping in CollegeVine before import resumes.

  3. Will we get all records back?

    1. Yes—initial export includes all records. Updates are sent nightly as differentials.

For questions or setup support, contact your CollegeVine partnerships team.

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