Candidate software suggestions

A friend of mine who runs a small staffing firm in Connecticut asked me if I could recommend a software package that is not too expensive and can handle their candidate and client data.

It needs to store lots of notes on people, have good skill set sorting, etc.

Any suggestions? What does your firm use?

Comment by Thomas Patrick Chuna on May 17, 2011 at 5:12pm: try looking at a package called "chaos intellect"

It's cheap, but I like it better than ACT..once you set up your email program to talk to it, you can keep all pertinent emails WITH the contact data, as well as notes, and you can keep the resumes attached to the contact as well. You can also customize the heck out of the various pages and fields to suit your needs.

It's a real contact management system, not a CRM system, so it's very straightforward to use and navigate.

Comment by Irina G. on May 18, 2011 at 11:39am: Chris,

Try CATS: http://www.catsone.com/

It is only 39 per month per user. Very recruiter-friendly, not a lot of HR functions. Customizable. Candidates and Clients tabs have a lot of room for taking-notes, logging-in activities. They also have 30 day free trial. Also it is compatible with MAC, if it is important/applicable.

Good luck!

Comment by Ty Abernethy on May 18, 2011 at 11:45am: Check out SmartRecruiters's ATS. It's free and a very solid recruiting software. http://www.smartrecruiters.com

Hope this helps out your friend!

Comment by Christopher Perez on May 18, 2011 at 1:44pm: Completely agree with Irina's suggestion to consider CATS. I have been using it for over 2 years and have been very happy with its ability to manage my workflow. I run a Mac-based practice and since CATS is browser- and web-based, I can easily access it from my desktop Mac or any of my other Mac devices (iPad, iPhone, laptops).

One caveat is that I do keep my emails separate so I do have a bit of duplication of effort, but I prefer the benefits of IMAP email over the benefits of keeping virtually my entire business in the hands of the CATS servers. That said, CATS is a win for me. They have strong customer service and are always putting on free webinars to help users optimize their use of various features.

Comment by Darryl Dioso on May 18, 2011 at 3:19pm: We went through 2 different ATS packages and dumped them both (won't get into names here). Now, we manage, share and store our client files and candidates through DropBox. Not really an ATS but it's cheap, reliable and a lot less of a headache.

Comment by Kevin Overton on May 20, 2011 at 10:59am: Chris,

I use zoho.com and I have modified their crm.zoho.com database file. It is cloud based has built in email integration, ability to list job orders as campaigns, attach leads, and show submitted resume's log phone calls, add events, TI, 1st levels, and show a calendar, best part its free....they also have a recruiter package, I have tried it, but i like the basic crm. i am also president of a swim team, and converted/customized this for our team, and will be selling the package on zoho...very user friendly, you can even do invoicing, billing, etc through the crm software. I also use outright.com for books...

Comment by Kevin Overton on May 20, 2011 at 11:00am: Chris with the Zoho.com recruiting package you can list your idname/password for client sites... this is always an issue trying to remember each variation from client to client on their web based resume' submittal sites

Comment by Jason Tarlowe on May 23, 2011 at 6:16pm: I would love to hear more on how you modified Zoho CRM we are about to start using it.

Comment by Scott Pugh on May 24, 2011 at 12:41pm: Darryl,

I like the dropbox idea. It would be searchable on any windows machine, right?

Kevin,

I have a zoho account and have used it a bit - I've also thought of using sugarCRM or TigerCRM the way you do with campaigns as job orders.

It looks to me like the bar is being lowered in terms of free tools that can do the job. Watch out Bullhorn!

Comment by Darryl Dioso on May 24, 2011 at 1:35pm: Hi Kevin,

That's right. In fact, I use a Mac where as the others use PC and we've had no problems. You can try it for free to see if it suits your needs and if you need more memory space, you purchase as much as you need.

Good luck.