You might already have an ATS that you’re looking to replace or maybe you’re looking to buy your first system. 

It’s 2020 and if you’re reading this, you’re probably looking for a new applicant tracking system. With dozens of systems to choose from, choosing the right ATS/CRM for your business is a daunting task! Don’t worry though, You have me here to help you.

I’ve made a short list of questions you can ask yourself to help you decide.

Let’s Get Started!

1. What is my budget & What is the “Real” price of the ATS?

ATS systems can cost anywhere from $25 to $250 per user/per month. It’s essential to know your budget before you actually being your research. You should be ready to spend anywhere from 1%-3% of your recruiters salary on their Recruitment CRM. Basically, if you pay your recruiters $3000 per month expect to spend between $30-$90 on their CRM software.

An ATS can be both, an asset or a liability. It can massively increase productivity and help you gain an insight on what your recruiters are doing. But, If you end up buying an ATS that doesn’t do the things you want, you can get stuck with something that just eats money and valuable time while giving you nothing. 

Buying the perfect ATS will help you fill more positions and get more clients! This is something you want, an ATS that is not a liability but an asset that adds long-term value to your business. This happens all the time, you buy something only to realize that half of the things you need are not available in the software you bought.

Now, let’s talk about the REAL costs of implementing a new ATS/CRM system apart from the yearly subscription fee.

Data Migration Fees – The cost of getting your current data & CV’s into your new system.

Customer Support – Is this free or do you have to pay for someone to talk to you?

On-boarding Charges – Some companies force you to pay them to teach you how to use their software.

Software Implementation Charges – You might have to pay to customize the software for your business

Customer Support – Is this free or do you have to pay for someone to talk to you?

Make sure you discuss this with the ATS provider before you make the purchase.

2. What are the features?

Once you are done thinking about money. You should start thinking about the features you need. This can change greatly depending on the size of your organization.

If you’re an independent recruiter features like resume parsing, an in-built email client & invoice management are all you need. Make sure you use some email verification services before you start your email campaign.

Now, if you run a recruitment agency with 5-15 recruiters, The things you need change.You’ll need reports & analytics, to help you track how each of your employees is performing. Reporting is necessary because it helps you track KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). KPIs are important & often are the main ingredient for the success of your recruitment agency.

Apart from tracking your employee’s performance, reporting also helps you take data-driven decisions like which clients should you focus on based on where most of your existing revenue is coming from relative to candidates submitted. Good reports change the game.

I’ve made a short list of other key features you might want to think about below:

1.) Applicant Tracking System, obviously!

2.) Customer Relationship Management

3.) Boolean Search

4.) Invoice Management

5.) Resume Parser

6.) Email Client

7.) Jobs Management

8.) Integrations (G Suite, Zoho, Outlook)

9.) Reports & Dashboard

10.) Team Management

11.) Customizations

12.) Jobs Page

13.) Request Updated Resume

14.) Hiring Pipeline

15.) Sales Pipeline

16.) Authencity (

If your ATS can do all of this, you’re going to stay ahead of the game 

3. What is the right time to setup or get started?

Getting a new ATS is not rocket science. You should be able to buy & setup your system on your own in a few hours. Implementing an ATS includes 3 steps: 

Unfortunately, not all ATS systems are easy to implement. Some are hard and ATS providers will charge you a fortune for this while some are super easy & don’t cost a dime. Always consider time to implement while making your final decision.

Also keep in mind, Data Migration may take a day or two depending on the amount o1f data you have.

4. How will the ATS help you find the right applicants?

Your ATS can help you find the right candidates from your database with a quick boolean search or even let you source new candidates from LinkedIn and social media.

An ATS with powerful Social Recruiting tools will go a long way in helping you make more placements.

5. How is the customer support? How quickly can I talk to a human?

This is important, who will save you when you are in trouble? The Customer Support Team! You should be upfront and ask about customer support. Because lets be honest, you’ll always have some questions that a human can answer a lot quicker that going through pages of documentation.

Hint – Judge their customer support while you are trying the product for free. If they suck, It’s not going to get any better 

Software Directory – Software directories like this might come in handy.

Originally published at https://recruitcrm.io/blogs/5-things-to-know-before-buying-an-ats