Airtable CV conversion automation with Make.com for HR client portal
The Problem: CVs need to be searchable and readable for clients
An HR company was storing all candidate CVs in Airtable. Their client-facing interface needed each CV in a standardized, searchable format. However, Airtable’s built-in previewing and search worked well only for Word documents and not PDFs. They needed a way to convert uploaded documents automatically into both Word and plain text formats, and to trigger this conversion only when needed.
The Solution: Automated, filter-based conversion with Make.com + ConvertAPI
Automated CV conversion saves up to 8 hours weekly, translating to up to ÂŁ750 monthly in labor cost savings. This allows the HR team to handle larger volumes without extra headcount and delivers faster results to clients.
I set up an automated document conversion pipeline using Make.com, ConvertAPI, and Airtable. Here’s how it works:
- Triggered by Field Changes: We added a “last modified” field specifically tied to only the file upload and status fields. This enabled clean, on-demand triggering of automation when a new CV was added or reprocessed.
- Smart Filtering: The Make.com scenario filters out PDFs that don’t need reconversion. Conversion is only triggered for relevant document types or when explicitly requested.
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ConvertAPI Integration: Based on the file type (PDF, DOC, or DOCX), we call the appropriate endpoint:
- pdf → docx
- pdf → text
- doc → text
- docx → text
- Output Handling: The converted files are pushed back into Airtable alongside the original upload, ready for the client interface.
The HR firm now has an end-to-end automated process that standardizes CV formats, ensures searchability, and keeps their client portal clean and efficient with minimal manual work.