Prerequisites

You are an Admin of your SAP SuccessFactors instance. If you are not an admin, you won't even be able to search for and access the configuration pages that are described later on.
- Alternatively, please contact your SuccessFactors Admin and have them take over the integration setup process.
The OData v2 API is available and enabled on your SuccessFactors instance (it is by default, so this is usually not something to worry about).

Find your API domain

Your API domain will depend on which region you are based in. To find it, you have to:

Open the SuccessFactors API URLs list.
Filter for production environments (unless you're trying to connect a preview instance)
Once the filter is applied, find your location and select the API domain. If you are, for example, based in Germany, your production URL would be https://api012.successfactors.eu/
Hint: The resulting “API Server” URL will often look quite similar to the SuccessFactors domain you log in on (the API for pmsalesdemo8.successfactors.com is, for example, located at apisalesdemo8.successfactors.com)

Please note that this is a workaround as there is no direct way to get the API domain via the SuccessFactors UI on your own. SAP shares in their help center that you should reach out to your SAP consultant to get the proper API domain.

Your API endpoint will depend on where your SAP SuccessFactors instance is located. It can be in one of several data centers. Please contact your SAP SuccessFactors representative if you are unsure of which data center to use. You'll find the endpoints in the Related Information section.

Find your Company ID

Click on the profile picture in the top right and then on "Show version information":
Copy the value right next to Company ID:

Create a new user

In the admin center, go to the search console and type in "Import Employee Data"
Click on the action that just appeared:
Click on "Import data" and then select "Download Template":
Click on the field next to "Select an entity" and then on "Basic Import":
Click on the "Generate Template" button
You will receive a .csv file to download. It likely contains two rows.
Add an additional row and fill out at least these fields
- Status: active
- User ID: SFAPI_INTEGRATION (for example, any value possible)
- Username: SFAPI_INTEGRATION (for example, any value possible)
- First name: API (for example, any value possible)
- Last name: Integration (for example, any value possible)
- Email: integration+user@example.com (any value possible - doesn't have to be a valid email)
- Manager: NO_MANAGER
- HR: NO_HR
- Default locale: en_US

Your CSV should now look something like this example CSV.

It's important that you generate your own .csv template and don't download this example, as your SuccessFactors instance will be configured differently
Now click on "Download Template" and then on "Import Data" to switch back
Click on the field next to "Select an entity" and then on "Basic Import"
Click on the "Browse" and select your .csv file to upload
Click on the "Validate Import File Data" button
If you see the "Validation Successful" dialog, click on the "Import" button
You should now see this success dialog
Please keep the .csv file open in the background, as you will need to reference it later.
You can ensure the creation succeeded by searching for the employee name (first name and last name) or username and seeing it under the "People" section. Don't be confused if the new user doesn't show up immediately; it can sometimes take a few minutes for the user to show up in the search!
Once the user shows up as described in step 12, you can move on to creating the permissions group.

Create a permissions group

Go to your search bar and enter "Manage Permission Groups"
Click on the Action
On the new page, click the "Create New" button
Give the group a "name" and click on "Pick a category"
Select the category option "Username"
Search for your user (to learn how to create a new one, click here) by entering its username and tick the box next to it
Click "Done"
You should now see your user in the people pool
Click "Done"

Create a permission role

Go to the search bar and enter "Manage Permission Roles"
Then click on the action with the same name
On the new page, click on "Create"

Enter a Name for the permission role and click "Next"
Now you have to assign the correct permissions to the permission group. To do this, go through the following steps:
1. See the needed permissions in the connection flow
  This is just an example. To see the scopes that are required for you, open the connection flow yourself.
2. For each Bullet, find the permission category in the sidebar. I.e., for "Manage System Properties", find the corresponding permission group in the sidebar of the SF UI
  You can find these more easily by pressing STRG + F and pasting the permission there
3. Now for each sub-bullet, click the right permission in the category
When you have checked all necessary permissions, click "Next"
On the next page, click on "Save"
In the new window, click on "Yes"
Add a Name to the Role Assignment and click "Next"
In the "Grant Access To" tab, click on "Select Groups"
Enter the name of your permission group (if you haven't created one yet, click here) and select it
Click "Select"
You should now see your permission group
Click "Next" again
At last, click "Save"

Generate new OAuth2 client credentials

Go to your search bar and enter "Manage OAuth2 Client Applications"
Click on the action
In the new window, click on "Register Client Application"
In the new window, enter a name and a valid URL (this can be literally any URL; you can enter any value you want - it should start with 'https://') for the application, then click the "Bind to Users" checkbox and click "OK"
Enter the USERID of the user that you created earlier
Do not click "Generate X.509 Certificate" but instead, "Copy" the certificate from the connection flow:
Paste the certificate and click "Register"
Now click on "View" in the row at the very top
Get the API key
Now paste the API key into the connection flow:

Enable Background Check in Recruiting

In SuccessFactors, go to Admin Center and search for "Background Check Central":
Make sure the "Enable Background Check in Recruiting" is on, and that the "Other Background Check Vendor" option is selected:

Set Up Background Check Integration

In SuccessFactors, go to Admin Center and search for "Integration Center":
Click on "My Integrations":
Click on the "+ Create" button, and select "More Integration Types" from the dropdown:
Make sure the options instructed in the connection flow are selected in the "Choose Integration Type" pop-up, and click on "Create":
Search for JobApplicationBackgroundCheckRequest in the "Search for Entities by Entity Name" search box, select the entity and click on "Select":
In the "Options" step, enter a name for the integration. You can use what's suggested in the connection flow, and click "Next":
In the "Configure Fields" step, click on the "plus" button, select "Insert Sibling Element":
Per the instruction of the connection flow, please change the Sibling Element's label to backgroundCheckInfo:
Under the backgroundCheckInfo, click on the "plus" button and select "Add Child Element":
Please add the Child Elements instructed by the connection flow. We are going to use the requestId field as an example:
1. Select the child "Element", and change its "Label" to requestId, and click on the "Set as Associated Field" icon:
2. Select the related field as instructed by the connection flow from the "Entity Tree View" section of the pop-up, and click on the "Change Association to "<PLACEHOLDER_FOR_RELATED_FIELD>"":
3. Repeat the same process for the renaming of Child Elements instructed by the connection flow:
4. The "Field Detail View" should look like the following example once you're done:
Skip to the "Destination Settings" step:
In the "Destination Settings" step, select the "REST Server Settings" option. Copy the "REST API URL" from the connection flow. Set the "Authentication Type" to Basic Authentication, and copy the "User Name" and "Password" from the connection flow. Please also make sure the value of "HTTP Method" is set to POST:
Click on "Save" and "Save" from the options list:
Click "Save" in the pop-up:

Set Up Recruiting Vendor

In SuccessFactors, go to Admin Center and search for "Manage Data":
Select the Recruiting External Vendor option from the "Create New" dropdown:
Enter the Recruiting External Vendor's details instructed by the connection flow, and click "Save":
Go back to "Manage Data", and select the Recruiting Vendor Integration Mapping option from the "Create New" dropdown:
Enter the Recruiting Vendor Integration Mapping's details instructed by the connection flow, and click "Save":

Only one Recruiting Vendor Integration Mapping can be active at once. Please ensure the existing Vendor Integration Mapping's Default Integration is set to No.
Click on "Continue" in the connection flow:

Configure Job Requisition Template

Search for "Manage Templates" and select it from the dropdown:
Select the "Recruiting Management" tab and click "Job Requisition":
Click on the job requisition template that belongs to your job (we're using the "Job Requisition - Quick Apply" template in this example):

If you don't know which template your job requisition is based on, follow the steps here for an easy way to find out
Click on the "XX Fields Defined. Click to modify" link:
1. Search for and make sure there's a field with the following values in the "Fields" pop-up:
  Field-ID: bgiAccountId
  Field Type: picklist
  Picklist ID: bgiAccountId
  
  Otherwise, create a "standard" field with the following details:
  Field-ID: bgiAccountId
  Field Type: picklist
  Field Label: Background Check Vendors Account ID
  Field Description: Background Check Vendors Account ID
  Required: False
  Picklist ID: bgiAccountId
2. Search for and make sure there's a field with the following values
  Field-ID: packageId
  Field Type: picklist
  Picklist ID: packageId
  
  Otherwise, create a "standard" field with the following details:
  Field-ID: packageId
  Field Type: picklist
  Field Label: Background Check Vendor Package ID
  Field Description: Background Check Vendor Package ID
  Required: False
  Picklist ID: packageId
Close the "Fields" pop-up by clicking on "Done", and click on the "XX Fields

Permission Defined. Click to modify" link:
1. Click on "Add field permission" in the "Field Permissions" pop-up:
2. Please enter the following properties, and click "Done":
  Field Permission Description: Background Check
  Field Permission Type: Write Permission
  Field Permission Role Name: All or Selected → Recuiter
  Reference ID: Select bgiAccountId and packageId
  Permission Status: All or Selected → pre-approved
Configure Feature Permissions
1. Go to "General Settings" → "Application Status Configuration":
2. Click on the "XX Feature Permissions defined. Click to modify." link:
3. Click on "Add feature permission" in the "Feature Permissions" pop-up:
4. Please enter the following properties, and click "Done":
  Feature Permission Description: Show Background Check Result on Candidate
  Feature Permission Type: backgroudCheck
  Feature Permission Role Name: All
  Feature Permission Status: All or Selected → pre-approved
  
  The "Feature Permission Status" field controls in which stages the "Background Check" section can be seen on a candidate's application page. You can create the backgroundCheck Feature Permission for as many stages as you wish.
Click on "Publish":
Click on "Yes" in the "Publish Confirmation" pop-up:
Click "Set up integration" in the connection flow to finalise the connection:

Find out which template is used for a job requisition

Search for "Reassign Job Requisitions":
Type in the ID of the Job Requisition and click on the suggestion, then click "Search":
The template name will be shown in the highlighted area: