Hello.  We are a small, privately held IT Staffing firm and looking to replace our old out-dated candidate tracking system.  After wading through a list of a 140 or so options I've narrowed down my list to:
  • Bullhorn
  • JobDiva
  • Taleo
  • Sendouts
  • Maxhire
  • TargetRecruit
Would love to get feedback from others in the Staffing world on which tools they've used and prefer, what features really stood out that they actually got real world benefit from, customer service, etc.  If you've gone through a migration to one of these tools would love to hear how that went as well. 

Thanks
Jasen
jmorisaki@ibridgesolutions.com
314-872-5644 x 105

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Jason,

Some basic feature for an ATS is the capability to support various snap in features, for example the ability to important Outlook emails from a prospective candidate that you are working with, directly into the ATS to build the history log of email communications back and forth. Also important would be the capability to enter in a new job req into the system and have the power to automatically update your corporate website and or job board. I have used Taleo in the past which worked pretty well in these areas, not to say there won't be modification that may have to be done. Determine if you need a workgroup level or enterprise level version of the product weighing the cost vs. value, ensure there is a migration path to the enterprise level as your global requirements grow. One last item is to ensure the application behaves well as you cut and paste a new job req data into the system, often time they don't behave and may scramble the data in this case you will spend additional time ensuring it meets your standards, its all those little things.


Art Kenner
Houston,Tx
kennerart@yahoo.com
Int'l Oil/Gas Recruiter
I've used Taleo and found it cumbersome and not very user friendly and importantly, the majority of my colleagues didn't understand it and so were not putting the data in and were instead working out of outlook, which means we could not leverage the power of the database. I've seen that with other systems too, if people find it too difficult, they won't fully use it and that has a negative effect. The two I've used and liked the most are pcrecruiter and cbiz. Both are comparable in price, around $70 a month per user and you have the option of web or server based. Both are easy to learn and use. I used cbiz for years and loved it, simple and robust, you can parse in hundreds of resumes with a simple click, do bulk emails, easily synch from outlook, and more. Recently had to switch to Pcrecruiter as others in my office are on it and we wanted to share information more easily and am finding that just as effective and easy to use.

Good luck!
Pam
Pam you have commented on these threads for years - thanks for the kind words about PCR !

Jasen you are going to get (probably already getting) a lot of calls from salespeople-maybe some of ours too....my Google Alert fired right up with all those keywords ;-)

Good luck in your search--
Thanks Art. Those are all great points and many which are already on our 'due diligence' list we used to narrow down our selections to a few. I was really interested in how users of those particular systems liked them. I've set up demos for all and 30-day trials for most, but since I wouldn't be in there hardcore and probably wouldn't have any interaction with support or know about continued improvements, etc.

Art Kenner said:
Jason,

Some basic feature for an ATS is the capability to support various snap in features, for example the ability to important Outlook emails from a prospective candidate that you are working with, directly into the ATS to build the history log of email communications back and forth. Also important would be the capability to enter in a new job req into the system and have the power to automatically update your corporate website and or job board. I have used Taleo in the past which worked pretty well in these areas, not to say there won't be modification that may have to be done. Determine if you need a workgroup level or enterprise level version of the product weighing the cost vs. value, ensure there is a migration path to the enterprise level as your global requirements grow. One last item is to ensure the application behaves well as you cut and paste a new job req data into the system, often time they don't behave and may scramble the data in this case you will spend additional time ensuring it meets your standards, its all those little things.


Art Kenner
Houston,Tx
kennerart@yahoo.com
Int'l Oil/Gas Recruiter
Thanks Pam. I'm starting to root around the blogs and see that a lot of people don't love Taleo. In their defense they do have a lot of users so that may explain some of what I find. After my demo, some of their features aren't as convenient as other systems, but I do like that they're publicly held and traded and give us a glimpse of their financials. Be nice to know they'll likely be around a while.

pam claughton said:
I've used Taleo and found it cumbersome and not very user friendly and importantly, the majority of my colleagues didn't understand it and so were not putting the data in and were instead working out of outlook, which means we could not leverage the power of the database. I've seen that with other systems too, if people find it too difficult, they won't fully use it and that has a negative effect. The two I've used and liked the most are pcrecruiter and cbiz. Both are comparable in price, around $70 a month per user and you have the option of web or server based. Both are easy to learn and use. I used cbiz for years and loved it, simple and robust, you can parse in hundreds of resumes with a simple click, do bulk emails, easily synch from outlook, and more. Recently had to switch to Pcrecruiter as others in my office are on it and we wanted to share information more easily and am finding that just as effective and easy to use.

Good luck!
Pam
Listen if you want a powerful system that will change your life, get Sendouts. We moved in November of 2008 to Sendouts from Bullhorn and haven't regretted the change once. In fact, I thank the big guy upstairs on a regular basis for the great choice we made. Sendouts integrates with your Outlook, it makes searching your database of candidates an easy job, and it directly interfaces with our web site. We can update our job board in real time and even get our jobs posted organically to search engines like www.indeed.com at no charge. We've built our candidate database by utilizing these tools at a record pace. Parsing resumes, job orders, or any other attachment is flawless and can be done with ease. Customer Service....a phrase I insisted was unheard of in the U.S. by most companies is still alive at Sendouts. This team works together and really loves helping their clients. They talk to each other and thus they all know what your needs are without having to update each person you speak to within their organization. Sales stays connected with you forever...because they get that they need to continue selling you and keeping you happy always. Bullhorn....well if I said anything here about them it wouldn't be nice. The number one story I can share with you about Bullhorn is about our departure from them. When we left working with them they reaffirmed our decision with every last interaction. They did the one thing I know is bad business in my opinion. They made it so that even if my new vendor didn't make me happy there was no way in hell I'd go back to them. Contact me if you want to know more about Sendouts....I have to go find me a candidate now or I'd go on forever about this great tool...
Thanks for the feedback Rebecca, I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on sendouts and they're actually based in our city so that's a plus for us (in-person training!). I think it'll probably be down to them and Maxhire, which both look very similar in capabilities and features and how they work.

Rebecca Jacques said:
Listen if you want a powerful system that will change your life, get Sendouts. We moved in November of 2008 to Sendouts from Bullhorn and haven't regretted the change once. In fact, I thank the big guy upstairs on a regular basis for the great choice we made. Sendouts integrates with your Outlook, it makes searching your database of candidates an easy job, and it directly interfaces with our web site. We can update our job board in real time and even get our jobs posted organically to search engines like www.indeed.com at no charge. We've built our candidate database by utilizing these tools at a record pace. Parsing resumes, job orders, or any other attachment is flawless and can be done with ease. Customer Service....a phrase I insisted was unheard of in the U.S. by most companies is still alive at Sendouts. This team works together and really loves helping their clients. They talk to each other and thus they all know what your needs are without having to update each person you speak to within their organization. Sales stays connected with you forever...because they get that they need to continue selling you and keeping you happy always. Bullhorn....well if I said anything here about them it wouldn't be nice. The number one story I can share with you about Bullhorn is about our departure from them. When we left working with them they reaffirmed our decision with every last interaction. They did the one thing I know is bad business in my opinion. They made it so that even if my new vendor didn't make me happy there was no way in hell I'd go back to them. Contact me if you want to know more about Sendouts....I have to go find me a candidate now or I'd go on forever about this great tool...
Jasen,
Training with Sendouts rocks even for those of us in Florida. They have this trainer named Tegan who could teach chemistry to a monkey. On the training topic...be aware with Sendouts it never stops. They training available by webinar all the time to teach you new cool tricks and shortcuts or to just refresh your memory on a particular topic. If you need to know how to do something you can either pickup the phone and they'll walk you through it step by step or you can call someone like Tegan. If you get her, she sends me this great illustrated how to sheets that take you through it step by step. I'll admit it, I am somewhat lazy when it comes to reading manuals...I like immediate gratification....but I've been told the same stuff is in the manual too (which is under the help menu). Okay, I have to get working today, but I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you that Sendouts also gave us this really cool free webinar with Barb Bruno (recruiting guru)...so they train beyond just the software. Good luck..be sure to let us know your final decision.
Hi Jasen!

I saw your note and wanted to reach out, we just migrated to Sendouts from PCR and couldn't be happier with the tool. PCR was great, but we have been blown away by the functionality and reporting within Sendouts. It consolidates search engine recruiting, imports easily and effectively from multiple different sites, parses candidate and job order profiles directly from Outlook and other social networking sites and is easy to navigate and organize from a workflow perspective. It is extremely user-friendly and easy to navigate from day-one, and is easily customizable to each organization that utilizes the tool (Sendouts worked directly with us to customize a number of different fields that we wanted to borrow from other previous tools and processes). In regards to customer service, Sendouts is right across the street from us and has gone above-and-beyond to assist us in the transition by providing direct, on-site training for our local employees and hosting webinars for our non-local employees. We had zero issues with our data migration and were up-and-running 100% when we went live. They are flexible and agile and are more than willing to tweak each interface and functionality to specifically meet your needs and processes. Definitely give me a call if you have any questions! Or have Craig reach out to Mark, we love Sendouts and would be happy to chat offline!

Good luck!
Kim
Kim.paxton@kellymitchell.com
1-877-827-1700
Jason / Rebecca -

While I have heard good things about Sendouts our company has been Bullhorn users for the last nine years and have found it to be an amazing tool that not only helped grow our company, but has grown with us. Each of the features that are listed below that Sendouts is capable of, from candidate parsing, syncing with our internal website, and updating job boards in real time, are also features that are available in Bullhorn (Outlook will sync by the end of this year as well!)

As the training manager here, I am responsible for all new hire on boarding which entails getting all employees up to speed and well versed on Bullhorn. Several of our new employees have come from other staffing agencies that use different ATS' and all have been very impressed by Bullhorn and the ease that it brings to recruiting.

We have found that Bullhorn is able to do anything and everything that we need it to do - even things that we had not imagined. While there are times when the Tech Support is slow to respond about day to day maintenance they are always quick on any big ticket issues and ensure that the problems are resolved immediately. We also have had amazing sales support from Bullhorn where if there are any day to day issues that are not being resolved immediately, our sales team escalates the issue and makes sure that it is resolved. Bullhorn also keeps us abreast of any new changes and developments.

All said, not only is Bullhorn a great ATS - but with Bullhorn we have always felt that we have had a true partnership.

Good luck with your choice.


Rebecca Jacques said:
Listen if you want a powerful system that will change your life, get Sendouts. We moved in November of 2008 to Sendouts from Bullhorn and haven't regretted the change once. In fact, I thank the big guy upstairs on a regular basis for the great choice we made. Sendouts integrates with your Outlook, it makes searching your database of candidates an easy job, and it directly interfaces with our web site. We can update our job board in real time and even get our jobs posted organically to search engines like www.indeed.com at no charge. We've built our candidate database by utilizing these tools at a record pace. Parsing resumes, job orders, or any other attachment is flawless and can be done with ease. Customer Service....a phrase I insisted was unheard of in the U.S. by most companies is still alive at Sendouts. This team works together and really loves helping their clients. They talk to each other and thus they all know what your needs are without having to update each person you speak to within their organization. Sales stays connected with you forever...because they get that they need to continue selling you and keeping you happy always. Bullhorn....well if I said anything here about them it wouldn't be nice. The number one story I can share with you about Bullhorn is about our departure from them. When we left working with them they reaffirmed our decision with every last interaction. They did the one thing I know is bad business in my opinion. They made it so that even if my new vendor didn't make me happy there was no way in hell I'd go back to them. Contact me if you want to know more about Sendouts....I have to go find me a candidate now or I'd go on forever about this great tool...
My company has had some very positive experiences using Bullhorn. From an outbound sales perspective, the system is easy to use, can be customized and reporting capabilities are endless. Account management in particular have been extremely responsive and the team have done nothing but bend over backwards in educating, training and making changes to the system as needed. definitely a path worth exploring further!

Rebecca Jacques said:
Listen if you want a powerful system that will change your life, get Sendouts. We moved in November of 2008 to Sendouts from Bullhorn and haven't regretted the change once. In fact, I thank the big guy upstairs on a regular basis for the great choice we made. Sendouts integrates with your Outlook, it makes searching your database of candidates an easy job, and it directly interfaces with our web site. We can update our job board in real time and even get our jobs posted organically to search engines like www.indeed.com at no charge. We've built our candidate database by utilizing these tools at a record pace. Parsing resumes, job orders, or any other attachment is flawless and can be done with ease. Customer Service....a phrase I insisted was unheard of in the U.S. by most companies is still alive at Sendouts. This team works together and really loves helping their clients. They talk to each other and thus they all know what your needs are without having to update each person you speak to within their organization. Sales stays connected with you forever...because they get that they need to continue selling you and keeping you happy always. Bullhorn....well if I said anything here about them it wouldn't be nice. The number one story I can share with you about Bullhorn is about our departure from them. When we left working with them they reaffirmed our decision with every last interaction. They did the one thing I know is bad business in my opinion. They made it so that even if my new vendor didn't make me happy there was no way in hell I'd go back to them. Contact me if you want to know more about Sendouts....I have to go find me a candidate now or I'd go on forever about this great tool...
I must voice my opinion and comment on your post about Bullhorn. I have been a client of Bullhorn's from the beginning and have watched them grow into the leader of their field. There adability , flexibility, and remarkable support team are unprecedented in their field. They also hire and have a most impressive group of trainers, developers, and support staff. They transitioned us from another provider that didn't care about us at all and almost ten years later still give us the support and customer service like we were a brand new client. In addition, they remain cutting edge, adding new features, upgrades, and services weekly - they are a fresh company always coming up with the latest and greatest! We always admire how they remain in the forefront of their industry.
So before you bash Bullhorn keep in mind there are ALOT of very happy clients out there that value their services.
Leslie McIntyre-Tavella
The McIntyre Group

Jasen Morisaki said:
Thanks for the feedback Rebecca, I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on sendouts and they're actually based in our city so that's a plus for us (in-person training!). I think it'll probably be down to them and Maxhire, which both look very similar in capabilities and features and how they work.

Rebecca Jacques said:
Listen if you want a powerful system that will change your life, get Sendouts. We moved in November of 2008 to Sendouts from Bullhorn and haven't regretted the change once. In fact, I thank the big guy upstairs on a regular basis for the great choice we made. Sendouts integrates with your Outlook, it makes searching your database of candidates an easy job, and it directly interfaces with our web site. We can update our job board in real time and even get our jobs posted organically to search engines like www.indeed.com at no charge. We've built our candidate database by utilizing these tools at a record pace. Parsing resumes, job orders, or any other attachment is flawless and can be done with ease. Customer Service....a phrase I insisted was unheard of in the U.S. by most companies is still alive at Sendouts. This team works together and really loves helping their clients. They talk to each other and thus they all know what your needs are without having to update each person you speak to within their organization. Sales stays connected with you forever...because they get that they need to continue selling you and keeping you happy always. Bullhorn....well if I said anything here about them it wouldn't be nice. The number one story I can share with you about Bullhorn is about our departure from them. When we left working with them they reaffirmed our decision with every last interaction. They did the one thing I know is bad business in my opinion. They made it so that even if my new vendor didn't make me happy there was no way in hell I'd go back to them. Contact me if you want to know more about Sendouts....I have to go find me a candidate now or I'd go on forever about this great tool...

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