Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by pam claughton on February 17, 2009 at 10:24am

Michael,

It really depends on what you're looking for, what your needs are. The 'best' will vary depending on that info. If you're an independent recruiter, you won't need something as robust as a 100 person office. I don't see a point in mentioning 'least favorite', frankly because of this reason as well. One person's 'least favorite' is another's 'ideal'. From what I've seen, most of the solutions out there are pretty good, and have users that swear by them. There's plenty of info available online as well to research and even do free trials. I use cbiz which offered a free trial and once I used it, I fell in love with it. I also looked at Bullhorn and was impressed by their offering as well. It's pricier, but has a few fancy features. What do you need.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Glenn on February 17, 2009 at 11:23am

Thanks for the reply. I've tested some recently and just wanted to know what seems to be the best overall. You are right - there is a lot of info out there. I am finding that most web based ATS are very expensive. I'm trying to save money so I can attend RecruitFest 2009...ehem..but I suppose that is a tough discussion.

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Permalink Reply by Martin H.Snyder on February 17, 2009 at 1:50pm

Michael,

I can tell you what my favorite is, but that's obvious from my profile.

"ATS" itself is a misnomer; Applicant Trackng and Recruiting are two different disciplines, and too many times people select one when they wanted or needed the other.

If you are primarily facilitating direct hire activities, and your M.O. is to post a job req online, collect and process responses, schedule interviews to be conducted by hiring authorities, and report on the whole effort, you're doing applicant tracking.

If you primarily market your services, develop job orders, source names, qualify candidates, interview them yourself, and then present them to hiring authorities, you are doing Recruiting.

Of course there's a spectrum; from pure Clerk to pure Salesperson.

Recruiting software does not consider names in the database to necessarily be applicants, nor does it consider groups in the software to necessarily be hiring entities.

My perspecitve comes from a postion of selling to both sides- you can do up applicant tracking with recruiting software, but it's difficult to recruit with applicant tracking software.

From my desk, after almost 11 years in the business, I see recruiting tools as something like musical instruments; the result is very much based on the skills of the player, and the finer distinctions between systems are best appreciated by skilled players.

Tracking systems, on the other hand, are more like machine tools- there is one correct way to operate them, and the diffrences between them do turn more on interface and training type issues.

So the answer to your question is based on the scale and nature of the activity being done and the skill level of those doing it. Each subgroup has a number of quality offerings, and of course, many that are not very good at all.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Glenn on February 18, 2009 at 2:46pm

Sorry. I have not used that one

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Permalink Reply by Scott Love on February 18, 2009 at 3:56pm

I've consulted to dozens of search firms all over the country. The feedback I get from them is that PC Recruiter is your best bet. Functional, intuitive, and offers the best value. I've seen a demo on it, but that's the input I have received from my clients. Their website is www.pcrecruiter.com Hope that helps.
Scott Love
www.GreatRecruiterTraining.com

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Permalink Reply by Melinda Clason on March 10, 2009 at 10:45am

Hi Michael,

The recruiting firms that experience double digit growth year after year are those willing to evaluate how current technology can help them become more efficient and profitable. The truth is whether you are using a contact management system or an applicant tracking system, technology changes. The light bulb, record player, and the VCR were once considered cutting edge technology!

Finding the right solution to fit your specific business needs can be extremely difficult, especially with the number of software vendors on the market. Sendouts would like to provide you with a value added resource to help you identify the right technology that can drastically impact your business.

At Sendouts, our goal is to enable recruiting firms to experience explosive growth by providing them with powerful, cutting edge technology solutions. To learn more about Sendouts visit www.Sendouts.com or feel free to call me with any further questions!


Regards,

Melinda Clason
Business Development Representative

Sendouts
314-854-5049 (direct)
877-309-5222 x149 (toll free)
mclason@sendouts.com

www.sendouts.com

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Permalink Reply by Ryan on March 10, 2009 at 12:41pm

Hi Michael,

I currently use Bond's Adapt for recruitment and sales management. It's an older version and prior to upgrading we looked at their current version along with Bullhorn. After much evaluation and testing we decided to go with Bullhorn. Although it hasn't been implemented, it is supposed to be one of the best out there if you're in the staffing industry. If you're more budget conscious, I just read about a free web-based ATS from SmartRecruiters.com. I haven't used this or looked at the demo but it might be worth a try.

Good luck! I hope this helps.
-Ryan

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Permalink Reply by Russ Cheatham on March 10, 2009 at 3:20pm

It largely depends if you are buying it for a corporate environment or a staffing environment.

If corporate, I've used Brassring, Virtual Edge, and PeopleClick recently and Brassring and Virtual Edge are both good, PeopleClick is not that great. The main problem is typically speed and your IT infrastructure must be beefed up but overall they do a good job. PeopleClick is what I'm using now(at a client) and it's frustrating to say the least. No resume parser, difficulty linking posting boards to the ATS (using outlook more than the system) and horrible reporting.

If staffing, I've recently used Bullhorn (which is what I've invested in), CBiz, PC Recruiter, and RecruitMax (?). I really like Bullhorn and it's really intuitive. I pay $125/month for myself which I figure is about the cost of my cell phone and a necessary business cost. I really did not like PCRecruiter and helped a former employer migrate away from that. RecruitMax (I think) was really good but the company I was with paid a lot for customization. I used to have CBiz and never used it, wasting $69 per month. It was horrible to work with and felt a lot like an access database.

Hope that helps.

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Permalink Reply by Caitrin O'Sullivan on March 24, 2009 at 12:31pm

I find that iCIMS has the best ATS out there and I know a lot of other large, enterprise level corporations, like Fed Ex, Continental Airlines, Whole Foods, etc. feel the same way. While they're not on the cutting edge of software development, they never claim to be. Instead of getting caught up in the bells and whistles, they stick to the basics. It's always fast, it's easy to use and I've found that their customer support really is unbeatable, all at an extremely reasonable price. Depending on what you're looking for, I'd check out iCIMS.

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Permalink Reply by Taroon Hira on October 28, 2009 at 7:29am

Have a look at The Mongoose Recruitment System (http://www.mongooserec.eu) - very good and cost effective!

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Permalink Reply by Jacqueline Bozorgi on October 28, 2009 at 1:40pm

Absolutely the best and most cost effective is CATS, in my opinion.

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Permalink Reply by Sean Ryan on June 14, 2010 at 2:15pm

To double-down on Jacqueline's post - CATS is now offering a "Shred your Contract" special - check out the details: http://www.catsone.com/blog/fordyce-shred-special

Long and short: Not happy with your ATS contract? Don't have an ATS? Use CATS for free. It's that simple.

Decide for yourself who has the best, and most cost effective ATS.

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