Whether you’re looking to get started with recruiting software for the first time or switching to a new solution, here are our top tips for choosing the best recruiting software for you:
- Set and stick to your budget, preferably find a solution that can scale with you as your workforce and its needs grow.
- Determine your must-haves versus nice-to-haves.
- Before you decide to buy, try the overall functionality and simplicity of the software.
- Consider software that can be customized to your organization’s specific needs, for example, in reports, job applications, and career white pages.
- Choose recruiting software that integrates easily with other software and applications you use.
- Make sure the software ensures an unbiased hiring process and promotes diversity and inclusion through features like anonymous review and interview scorecards.
Top features of recruiting software
The features you will need in your recruiting software will depend on your specific needs. Companies with modest recruiting programs typically require only basic features, such as job postings and applicant tracking. Enterprise-level organizations and staffing agencies with more sophisticated recruiting needs require a wider variety of features—like automated sourcing and candidate matching—to manage the hiring process from job application to onboarding.
Here are the popular features you can expect in the best recruiting software:
- Manage job requests. In most organizations, you can search for candidates only after the position has been approved. That’s why it’s helpful if your recruiting software offers job application management, preferably as a customizable option, so you can customize the software to match your organization’s exact application process.
- Job ad. Most recruiting software solutions allow you to choose where and how your jobs are posted online. Many, such as ZipRecruiter, allow you to post jobs to over 100 job boards with just one click.
- Automated source finding. Recruiting software with this feature can help you find qualified candidates using intelligent sourcing algorithms, employee referral programs, and social media sourcing, especially LinkedIn.
- Automated candidate matching. This feature matches your requirements with the most qualified candidates, often through automated resume analysis. This saves the recruiting team the time and effort of prospecting to find qualified candidates.
- Individual monitoring of candidates. Every interaction with every candidate must be timely, consistent and stored for easy access and review. Keeping detailed records of your recruiting and hiring efforts not only promotes a favorable candidate experience, but also keeps your company compliant with employment law.
- Pre-employment testing. Some organizations require applicants to complete an assessment or other pre-employment testing to further narrow down the applicant pool. This is useful for companies posting jobs that attract a large number of applicants.
- Background check. Applicant background checks are performed through the native background check tool in the recruiting software solution or, more commonly, by a third-party service provider. Findings should be stored securely, and many recruitment software options allow you to do this manually or by integrating with a third-party verification application.
- Reference check. Contact names, dates of contact and findings from reference checks should be documented, so it is beneficial to choose a software solution where you can facilitate electronic reference checks and store documentation.
- Electronic forms and signatures. If you plan to have candidates fill out any form, such as non-disclosure agreements, non-compete agreements, or job offer acceptance letters, it would be helpful if your software could handle this process electronically. This alleviates the frustration of back-and-forth and the possibility of files being lost.
- Deployment tools. Recruiting software that moves new hires through the onboarding process helps them get off to a good start with your organization. Look for a solution with built-in, customizable onboarding features, such as welcome messages, first-week goals, app and technology onboarding, benefits information, and any relevant training.
Software integrations
The best recruiting software can be made even more efficient through third-party software integrations. For example, you may want your recruiting software to integrate with your current email, calendar, video conferencing, or project management tools. When choosing recruiting software, be sure to double-check that it integrates seamlessly with the software you already use.
Cost of recruiting software
Recruiting software costs range from $0 to $719 per month, although solutions built into HR and human capital management platforms can easily cost thousands. The amount you pay depends on the vendor you choose, the amount of job postings, the number of users, and the length of time you want your jobs posted.
Most recruiting software providers offer monthly and annual pricing plans. You’ll typically save 10% or more with an annual contract.
You don’t necessarily have to go with a monthly or yearly plan; several other pricing models are available. For example, LinkedIn has a pay-per-click recruiting option; you set a custom budget and only pay when someone clicks on your posts. SimplyHired charges on a pay-per-contact basis where you post an unlimited number of jobs for free and pay a fee only when you want to contact a candidate.
Before investing in a recruiting solution, take advantage of free trials to fully understand what each software brings to the table. You may find that the lower priced software suits your needs just as well or even better than the more expensive options.
The best way to keep recruiting software costs down is to understand your options in light of your recruiting needs. There is no need to commit to a long-term contract for the purposes of short-term employment. It is also not wise to go with a short-term contract if your employment needs are constant or growing. Most importantly, choose a solution that is within your budget and has most or all of your must-have features.
Company Size Considerations
The differences in employment needs for small and large enterprises are considerable. Small organizations that don’t have the recruiting staff or the budget for recruiting software turn to recruiting agencies. Otherwise, they use a simple software solution or recruit independently, for example using social media.
As a business grows in locations and headcount, it will need a scalable solution to help a business owner or small recruiting team handle the influx of hires. Automation and a candidate tracking system will become must-have features.
Larger organizations require much more robust recruiting software with features that help streamline the process of managing multiple candidates for multiple positions. Large employers and large recruitment agencies will want to ensure the following features are included in the recruitment software they choose:
- Summary analysis. If you’re managing a large pool of job applicants, you’ll need recruiting software that comes with resume analysis. Parsing is an automated process that quickly identifies and extracts relevant information from resumes and cover letters, such as job-related keywords, experience levels, work history, and other indicators that suggest a candidate may be a strong candidate for an open position.
- Candidate base tracking. Recruiting software should track each candidate for each open role as well as their current status in the hiring process. For example, it’s helpful when you can look at a dashboard and quickly see where each application is in the hiring process.
- Document management. You need a central location where those involved in the hiring process can view employment-related documents, such as job descriptions, candidate cover letters, and resumes. Access to some of these documents, such as those containing confidential personal or salary information, may require user permission controls.
- Role and access management. Not all information in the recruitment process may be shared with all parties involved in the recruitment effort. Therefore, many organizations prefer recruitment software that offers user access control on a feature-by-feature basis.
- Scheduling and conducting interviews. Scheduling and conducting interviews can become complicated, especially when multiple interviewers need to meet with candidates on different dates. Also, group interviewing is becoming increasingly popular, so integrated calendar coordination in a recruiting software solution is useful for finding openings across multiple schedules.