The Accidental Innovator: How It All Began

It started with a straightforward assignment: make our paper-based performance evaluation process digital through ADP. I thought the hardest part would be the tech setup. It wasn’t. The real challenge was change management. I quickly learned that employees weren’t reading the email updates I sent. I needed a different way to reach them.

Then it hit me: everyone logs into ADP to enter their time.

That daily, mandatory touchpoint was a hidden gem. What if that home screen could be more than just a timecard portal? I began redesigning it to function like a company intranet. Important announcements, links, policies, and tools—all embedded in one place. Nobody had asked for it. But once it was there, they used it.

That’s when I discovered my superpower: putting useful things where people are already looking.

The iCIMS Revelation: Power BI Changes Everything

Fast forward a few years. I was deep in the weeds of an iCIMS implementation when a colleague casually showed me something that blew my mind: a Power BI dashboard, embedded directly inside the iCIMS platform.

Not just linked. Embedded.

Mind. Blown. 🤯

The gears started turning. If I could embed a live Power BI dashboard into iCIMS, what else could live inside that ecosystem? Suddenly, embedding became more than a cool trick—it became a strategy.

I started testing ideas, pushing limits, and building integrations that turned iCIMS into a true recruiting command center. One platform. No tab-switching. No lost context. Just the right tools, right where recruiters already were.

What Can You Embed in iCIMS? Almost Anything!

Here’s a sampling of what I’ve embedded in iCIMS dashboards over the years—and why each one mattered.

🛠 Project Management & Support Tools

• Monday.com and Jira ticketing systems – Recruiters can submit IT or operations requests without jumping into email or another app. It’s faster and ensures requests don’t get lost.
• Custom AI-generated applications – I’ve developed tools tailored to very specific workflows, like scheduling logic testers or offer letter band calculators.

📝 Collaborative Documents & Presentations

• Excel spreadsheets – Yes, live Excel! Great for financial modeling, headcount forecasting, and approval tracking—all visible without leaving iCIMS.
• Google Slides – Embedded presentations help with training, onboarding, and employer brand alignment, especially when shown on the dashboard homepage.

💬 Communication Tools

• AI-powered chatbots – One of my favorites is a bot trained on transcripts from our Free Friday iCIMS calls. It answers FAQs instantly, acting as a 24/7 system admin copilot.
• Our Sys Admin Community platform – By embedding the community feed, I brought real-time peer collaboration into recruiters’ everyday workflow.

🧰 HR-Specific Technologies

• PoetryHR – This streamlines performance and development conversations within the ATS environment.
• Sync2Hire – A real-time messaging tool for recruiters that syncs with your hiring stages, keeping conversations aligned with pipeline progress.

🎓 Training & Documentation

• GIFs demonstrating processes – Made using Screen to GIF, these micro-training clips are embedded for just-in-time support.
• Scribe walkthroughs – Click-by-click training embedded for everything from creating requisitions to managing reports.

🎮 Fun and Creative Proof of Concepts

• The iCIMS Ike Game – I built a mini side-scroller starring the iCIMS mascot, Ike—think Google Chrome’s dinosaur game. It was a quirky proof of concept that showed even games can live in your dashboard.

The Technical “How-To”: Embedding in iCIMS

Getting started with embedding is easier than most people think:

1. Navigate to Report → Manage Dashboards
2. Choose either Dashboard or Reporting Center
3. Add a new panel (select the Text type)
4. Click Insert/Edit Media
5. Switch to the Embed tab
6. Paste your iframe embed code

That’s it—you’ve embedded your first tool into iCIMS.

How to Get an iFrame Embed Code with AI

Previously, getting a proper embed code could be annoying. Now, AI makes it effortless:

1. Copy the URL of what you want to embed
2. Paste it into ChatGPT (or Claude, or Gemini)
3. Ask: “Can you give me an iframe embed code for this?”

You’ll get something like:

<iframe src="https://your-url-here.com" width="800" height="600" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Tweaking for Optimal Display

The right dimensions matter. Too small, and your content gets cut off. Too wide, and it’s unreadable.

Start with 800x600 and adjust based on:

• Screen resolution
• Dashboard layout
• User feedback

Tip: ask a few teammates to check how it looks on their end. What works on your screen may look wonky on theirs.

For dense content like Power BI or multi-tab tools, I recommend placing the embed in a single full-width column—especially in the Reporting Center.

Advanced iCIMS Customization Tips

🎯 Add Visual Organization with Emojis

Label your panels and reports with emojis! Users process visuals faster than text. A 📊 next to analytics or a 🛠 next to tools helps them find things faster.

💡 Style Text with External Tools

While iCIMS has limited formatting, tools like YayText.com let you generate bold, italic, or styled text. Paste the output into your panel titles or section headers for a subtle but effective upgrade.

The Security Dimension: Embedding Responsibly

Security is non-negotiable. Every embedded app creates potential exposure—especially in HR software handling sensitive candidate and employee data.

Key Risks

• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) – If the embedded content doesn’t sanitize input, it could open up iCIMS to attack.
• Clickjacking – Tricking users into clicking hidden elements can lead to phishing or worse.
• Data Leakage – Embedded trackers or scripts can inadvertently capture user actions.
• Session Hijacking – If cookies or tokens aren’t isolated, attackers might hijack login sessions.

How iCIMS Mitigates Risk

iCIMS is smart about this stuff. It uses:

• Iframe sandboxing
• Whitelisted domains only
• Content Security Policies (CSP)
• Restrictions in sensitive modules like offers or onboarding

Best Practices for You

• Use HTTPS and secure, actively maintained libraries
• Avoid storing PII or sensitive data in embeds
• Disclose any data capture
• Use postMessage for secure two-way communication between your app and iCIMS
• Run security reviews before embedding anything critical

The Impact of Creative Embedding

Once security is dialed in, the benefits start to stack up:

• No More Context Switching – Stay in one tab, one system
• Higher Tool Adoption – If it’s visible, it gets used
• Easier Onboarding – Teach the dashboard, not ten systems
• Cleaner Data – Less copying between platforms = fewer errors
• Time Savings – One client saved 45 minutes per recruiter per week. Across 50 users? That’s 40 hours—a full-time role reclaimed.

Embedding and the Future of Work

As SaaS ecosystems become more fragmented, your dashboard becomes sacred ground. A well-curated iCIMS experience lets recruiters focus, not flail.

Embedding isn’t just convenience—it’s a design philosophy. One that centers the user by bringing the world to their workflow.

Getting Started with Your Own Embedding Projects

If you’re ready to try this yourself, here’s a practical way to begin:

• Pick one tool your team uses often
• Generate an iframe with AI
• Add it to a low-risk dashboard
• Tweak the layout
• Ask for feedback
• Bring in your security team if it scales

Start with things that actually solve a problem. Embedding just for fun is fine too, but the big wins come from reducing friction where it hurts most.

Conclusion: If You Can Dream It, We Can Build It

This journey—from reimagining ADP to embedding AI copilots in iCIMS—taught me a lesson I return to often: innovation starts with the question “What if?”

If you’re thinking about a candidate pipeline heatmap, a salary band calculator, or an embedded Slack channel for hiring teams—bring it on.

If you can think it, we can build it. And we can embed it right where your team already works.

So, I’ll leave you with this:

What would make your dashboard magical?
What could you embed today that would save time, reduce errors, or make work a little more joyful?

I’d love to hear what you’re dreaming up. Let’s build it together.