Packed with innovative features, it’s designed to transform the way you engage with candidates and clients. But what makes it so special? And how can it ignite your email marketing success?

We know you’re curious. So, without further ado, let’s explore more.

6 ways in which we can boost your email marketing efforts

1. AI-generated ready-to-use email templates

We totally understand that crafting the perfect email for every situation can be time-consuming. 

That’s where Recruit CRM comes to your rescue. You can find email templates within the app to use at your disposal. 

And the cherry on the top? It’s the ChatGPT integration. This feature uses artificial intelligence to create tailored email templates based on custom prompts. 

The AI-generated templates ensure that your emails are not just professional and effective, but also have a personal touch that resonates with the recipients.

2. Personalized bulk emailing

When you have a large pool of candidates or clients to reach out to, personalized bulk emailing is a lifesaver. 

Recruit CRM allows you to send emails to hundreds of candidates at once, yet each email feels personal and unique to the recipient. 

This way you will be able to amplify your reach while ensuring that each communication message is tailored to the individual. 

3. Automated email sequencing and triggers

Imagine being able to set up a sequence of emails once and then letting the system take over. With Recruit CRM’s automated email sequencing and triggers, you can do just that.

This feature allows you to automate a series of emails based on specific actions or triggers.

Whether it’s a follow-up email after a candidate’s application or a reminder for an upcoming interview, the system ensures that the right email is sent at the right time. 

4. Seamless integrations

In today’s digital world, we often find ourselves juggling multiple platforms and tools. Recruit CRM’s seamless integrations feature helps bridge this gap. 

Whether it’s your Google, Zoho, Office365 mailbox, or any other platform, you can sync it with our AI recruiting software. 

This means you can send and receive emails directly from within the CRM, eliminating the need to switch between different platforms. 

5. Robust reporting

Keeping track of all your email marketing activities can be a daunting task. But with the reporting and analytics feature, you get a daily email report of all the candidates who’ve applied on your website.

This feature acts as a daily digest, providing you with a comprehensive overview of your recruitment activities.

Staying updated becomes effortless, as no crucial information slips through the cracks, empowering you to make informed decisions at all times.

6. Email blacklisting and hiding

For recruiters, confidentiality is paramount. Recruit CRM’s email blacklisting and hiding feature ensures that your confidential communication remains that way. 

Certain candidates or contacts can be blacklisted, effectively concealing all email communication with them from the rest of your team.

For an added layer of privacy, the option to hide all your emails with candidates and contacts from your team is also available. 

Frequently asked questions

1. Can I start using Recruit CRM for free?

Absolutely! Recruit CRM offers a free, unlimited trial, and the best part? No credit card details are required. 

So, you can dive right into the world of streamlined recruitment without any strings attached. Ready to get started? Click here to sign up. 

2. Does Recruit CRM offer any features to help with candidate engagement?

Yes, the recruiting software offers features like personalized bulk emailing and AI-generated email templates that can significantly enhance candidate engagement. 

These features allow you to send customized and relevant messages to job applicants, improving their experience and engagement with your brand.

3. How can Recruit CRM help with recruitment marketing? 

Recruit CRM improved your recruitment marketing by enabling targeted email campaigns, automating communications, and providing insights through robust reporting. 

It’s a comprehensive tool for attracting and engaging candidates effectively. You can also its seamlessly integrate 5000+ apps to ensure a smooth workflow.

What is a recruiting software?

Simply put, a recruiting software is an all-in-one tool for your recruitment process. The best recruiting software will allow you to post jobs to different platforms, manage candidates and clients, and ultimately manage your hiring process from start to finish. 

With high-quality recruiting software, recruiters can forget about multiple tools and software cluttering their systems. 

94% of recruiters say using a recruiting software has positively impacted their hiring process.

A recruitment software like an applicant tracking system will centralize all your favorite recruiting tools and your database onto one reliable platform that recruiters can access anytime and anywhere. 

As recruitment technology becomes more mainstream in the recruitment industry, agency recruiters rely less on physical databases and more on their recruitment software to source candidates, store data, and much more. 

Depending on your needs, you’ll find different types of recruiting software with different features best suited for your recruitment workflow. 

Top 10 best recruiting software for search firms

1. Recruit CRM – Highest-rated of all!

Recruit CRM helps you streamline and automate your entire recruiting workflow. Right from sourcing quality candidates to screening and hiring them, recruiters can centralize client and candidate management and open positions with ease. 

Trusted by recruitment agencies across 100+ countries, Recruit CRM’s team of experts work endlessly to provide the best product enhancements, smooth onboarding, and a live chat support system to all our users. 

Recruit CRM’s ATS + CRM has also been recognized as the highest-rated software in the recruitment software category on Capterra, GetApp, and G2 and is the #1 recruiting software for staffing agencies on Software Advice! 

You can get a free trial of the software or check out their pricing plans here. 

Some of the most-loved Recruit CRM features include:

• Integrations with over 5000+ apps via Zapier and Integrately
• 100% customizability & ease of use
• 24*7 live support with customer queries answered in under 2 minutes!
• Super fast 5-minute setup 
• Chrome extension for candidate sourcing

Book a demo to see the software in action!

2. Ceipal – Best for passive candidate sourcing

CEIPAL is a fully scalable ATS that helps staffing and recruiting firms. 

The tool offers fair and transparent pricing with three packages CEIPAL ATS, CEIPAL Advanced Automation Bundle, and CEIPAL Workforce Management. 

Its features include: 

• Integrations with over 50+ job boards 
• Passive candidate sourcing
• Customized reporting
• AI chatbots

3. GoHire – Best for job postings

GoHire’s all-in-one talent-hiring platform is best suited for job postings. You can use it to post jobs to multiple sites and optimize your hiring spend.

Pricing plans start at $49 per month.

Its feature includes:

• One-click job posting to 15+ job boards
• Schedule interviews in no time
• 24*7 chat support

4. Workable – Best for collaborative hiring

Workable’s recruiting software is a great option for businesses of all sizes. Workable makes collaborative hiring a breeze for recruitment teams with its candidate assessment features. 

Hiring teams can easily collaborate to evaluate applicants, gather feedback, and check for unconscious bias–all in one platform. 

Workable features include:

• Email and calendar synchronization
• Hiring reports
• HRIS integration 
• Interviewing kits

5. Greenhouse – Best for internal recruitment

Greenhouse is suitable for growing companies to streamline every step of their hiring and onboarding processes. 

Their recruiting software reduces administrative work and keeps the hiring team engaged by fostering engaging candidate interactions at all touchpoints. 

They have three types of pricing plans: Essential, Advance, and Expert. 

Each package is accessible for businesses of all sizes and gives you the resources you need to set up a hiring process that grows with your business.

Greenhouse’s most loved features include:

• Sourcing automation
• Recruiting reporting tools

6. Clear Company – Best for onboarding candidates

ClearCompany assists search firms in sorting through millions of applicants to find, hire, engage, and retain them.

You’ll find tools for every stage of the talent lifecycle to enhance the candidate and client experience. They have transparent pricing options with no hidden fees. But you have to provide your credentials before getting the quote.

Its features include:

• Candidate onboarding and evaluation
• Easy interview scheduling
• Centralized candidate management

7. SmartRecruiters – Best for increasing recruiter productivity

SmartRecruiters offers robust recruiting software that includes useful features guaranteed to boost recruiters’ productivity. With their applicant tracking system, you can alleviate the administrative workload through candidate assessment tools, automated communication, and more.

With SmartRecruiters, you can complete all your recruiting tasks in one place, including:

• Candidate discovery for easy sourcing
• Automated job offering 
• Advanced search for easy candidate tracking
• Integrations for candidate communication

8. Lever – Best for tracking recruitment metrics 

Using Lever, talent teams can easily accomplish their major hiring goals. 

The tool enables TA teams to scale and grow their talent pipeline, develop genuine and lasting relationships, and identify the most qualified candidates for recruitment.

It has two pricing plans: LeverTRM and LeverTRM for Enterprise. 

Some of the popular features include:

• Efficient collaborative hiring
• Useful integrations
• AI chatbots

9. Beamery- Best for the candidate experience

Beamery is a talent lifecycle management system that allows recruiters to quickly and efficiently identify and engage candidates through talent networks. Their recruiting software uses AI to create a rich candidate experience and allows recruiters to prioritize DE&I hiring. 

Best features:

• Easy candidate tracking and data management 
• Talent rediscovery
• Recruiter productivity reports

10. Rippling- Best for recruitment & employee management

Rippling is a unified workforce platform where employers can manage all human resource functions, from hiring, applicant tracking, attendance management, HRMS and payroll software.

Their applicant tracking system allows users to set up custom hiring workflows, automate interview scheduling, build reports on vital metrics, and one-click job postings. 

Some of the best features of Rippling include: 

• New hire onboarding automation
• Compliance tracking for businesses 
• Applicant tracking + employee management tools

Also read: Why people are switching to Recruit CRM from other recruiting software

Types of recruiting software & their functions 

Applicant Tracking Systems and Candidate Relationship Management Systems are the most commonly used recruiting software in the recruiting industry. Let’s take a look at the primary differences between these two tools:

1. Applicant tracking system (ATS)

Applicant tracking systems are the most commonly used recruiting software by agency recruiters. An ATS acts as a repository for all your candidate and client information and helps manage the recruitment process from a single place.

An applicant tracking system can automate most stages of the hiring process, including candidate screening, communication processes, interview scheduling, resume parsing, candidate sourcing, posting jobs, and more. 

Apart from handling the hiring process from top to bottom, recruiters can get deep insights into what is working for them through intelligent recruitment metrics and reports powered by artificial intelligence.  

Applicant tracking systems automatically store handy data points that can help you make informed hiring decisions, allowing you to scale your business effectively. 

2. Candidate relationship management system (CRM)

A candidate relationship management system allows recruiting teams to create a complete talent pipeline and nurture relationships with new and old candidates. 

Investing in a recruitment CRM is crucial for recruiters as it helps build and maintain a well-functioning candidate database without relying on countless Excel sheets and files. 

With a CRM, recruiters have an ecosystem of all active and passive candidates and previous candidates who applied for a position. 

Fortunately, most ATS’ are equipped with a CRM tool, eliminating the need to invest in multiple tools. Ultimately, an ATS and CRM function cohesively as a complete talent intelligence hub.

Must-have recruiting software features

Depending on your business requirements, your list of must-have features will vary, but here’s a list of recommended features you should consider to make the most of your recruiting software. 

1. Automation & customization

Recruiting tasks like sourcing, nurturing, engaging, and interviewing candidates involve many tasks that pile up on the workload, making the hiring process highly time-consuming.

But recruiting software can help recruiters automate and customize all those tedious tasks.

Automation allows recruiters to schedule interviews, post job ads automatically, collect feedback, screen candidate profiles and resumes, and streamline communication at the click of a button!

HR departments and staffing agencies can now forget about manually sending job offers and follow-up emails thanks to best recruiting software. 

With a customizable recruiting software, hiring teams can add more users or client profiles, change candidate requirements, and personalize viewing options, making the software more user-friendly. Additionally, SMS Marketing can be integrated into the software to reach candidates more effectively and promptly.

2. Seamless integrations

The availability of third-party integrations and API is a must for any recruiting software. 

When a recruiting software easily integrates with your social media, job boards, and email, the hiring process becomes much more streamlined and manageable.

With the help of third-party integrations and API, recruiters can keep all everything centralized under one platform, eliminating the need for multiple windows.

Without integrations, you’ll have a fragmented recruitment system that complicates your hiring process.

The integrations found in most recruiting software these days include–

• Job boards
• Social media platforms and career sites 
• Email and other communication apps
• Your website

3. Mobile accessibility

With mobile gadgets taking over each aspect of our lives, it’s only natural to look for mobile-friendly tools. 

People are opting for remote work now more than ever before, so a mobile-friendly recruiting software is a must for recruiting teams who don’t want to restrict themselves geographically. 

Mobile accessibility is a must if you want to attract qualified candidates who prefer mobile job applications for open positions.

With more than 77% of job seekers using mobile for job searching, it’s crucial to invest in a system with mobile accessibility and adaptability to different devices and operating systems.

So while searching for the best recruiting software, make sure it comes with a mobile app for recruiting on the fly! 

4. Automated communication

We all know timely communication is a big part of a recruiter’s job. 

Without a streamlined communication process, recruiters put themselves at risk for a sloppy client and candidate experience. 

To avoid miscommunication with candidate pools and clients, recruiters must invest in a recruiting software that automates their communication process. 

Some of the best recruiting software available in the market can automate repetitive messages such as interview reminders and selection or rejection notifications. 

If you want to personalize your automated messages, you can choose a list of email templates within your recruiting software without having to draft an entire message from scratch. 

5. Cloud-based software solution

Cloud-based technology has taken over the recruitment technology space today. 

A cloud-based system might not be on the top of your list of must-have features, but it can significantly improve team productivity and collaboration and streamline the hiring process.

Cloud-based recruiting systems eliminate the possibility of restricted access to information, as hiring team members can access the database anywhere in the world.

A cloud-based recruiting system makes collaboration and data management much more seamless (allowing you to store data on cloud servers) without the risk of losing your data. 

6. Easy candidate sourcing

Candidate sourcing is crucial yet highly strenuous and time-consuming. 

A recruiting software with a candidate sourcing feature will create a robust talent pipeline and help you quickly source the best candidates for hard-to-fill roles.

A candidate sourcing feature will allow you to connect with suitable candidates in seconds by automatically scanning data and presenting you with the most relevant resumes. 

Especially with Boolean search, recruiters can easily leverage large databases like LinkedIn and Indeed to perform high-quality candidate searches.

You might also like: How to use recruit crm’s chrome extension for sourcing candidates?

7. Reports & analytics dashboard

Many recruitment agencies have adopted a data-driven recruiting strategy to improve their quality of hire. 

The best recruiting software can provide intelligent reports and analytics to help recruiters make informed hiring decisions and improve recruitment strategies.

These reports are based on tangible recruitment metric insights, allowing recruiters to understand which processes require attention and what is working for them.

With intelligent KPI reports and metrics, recruitment agencies can fine-tune their recruitment strategies and more effectively plan their business operations.  

8. Automated interview scheduling

If you’re struggling to stay on top of all your candidate interviews, you need a recruiting software with automated interview scheduling. 

An interview scheduling feature can help prevent interview overlaps, overbooked slots, and inaccurately recorded data.

Make sure your recruiting software allows the following:

• Quick interview scheduling without switching apps
• Easily view team members’ calendars
• Collect candidate feedback

An interview scheduling feature will also allow you to set automatic reminders and notifications for your hiring team and candidates. This way, you can stay on top of your busy schedule and keep candidates informed through automated messages.

An interview scheduling feature is a win-win for all, providing a positive candidate experience and keeping clients in check! 

9. Resume parsing

With so many applicants in the hiring process, no one has the time and bandwidth to screen resumes manually. 

Instead of relying on manual efforts, recruiters can rely on an in-built resume parser that can automatically scan hundreds of resumes at the click of a button!

The resume parsing tool automatically highlights the most qualified candidates and eliminates unqualified resumes so you can move on to the next hiring stage effortlessly.

Resume parsers automatically gather, store, and organize large quantities of resume data without manual sorting. 

Once the data is acquired, it can be easily searched and filtered for top talent selection—speeding up the recruitment process. 

Apart from automated resume screening, HR professionals can easily conduct background checks for new hires with an intelligent resume parsing feature. 

10. Data compliance 

Recruiters deal with sensitive data, making high-grade security and stability in a recruiting software a must.

With so many exciting features available in the market, it’s easy to get carried away. But without stability and security, any recruiting software will lose its integrity.

So before you dive in and make the final call, ensure your recruiting software meets all the security standards. 

Remember to consider uptime and end-to-end data encryption and ensure the availability of SSL sessions and password protection. 

If your hiring process and data are not safe and stable, you’re risking your recruitment agency’s authority. 

Top review sites to shortlist the best recruiting software recommendations

1. Capterra

If you want insight into the latest technological tool or software, Capterra is your place to be!

Capterra is a goldmine filled with over 1.5 million validated customer reviews for over 800 software categories, including recruiting software like CRM tools and applicant tracking systems.

If you didn’t already know, Recruit CRM’s recruiting software is rated 4.9/5 on Capterra, so it’s worth checking out! 

2. Software Advice

Software Advice offers a complete guide to the top software solutions in the market.

With in-depth research from the Software Advice team, users can confidently decide on the best software through a virtual chat via call or email, along with a personalized list of recommendations.

You can find various software categories for your needs, from recruiting software to other recruitment tools.

Before heading to Software Advice, you should know that Recruit CRM has been recognized as the #1 software for recruitment agencies, making it highly reliable among recruiters! 

3. G2

If you’re still unsure about choosing the best recruiting software, check out G2—the largest and most trusted software marketplace.

With over 80 million annual users, including employees from Fortune 500 companies, G2 is the best platform for authentic peer reviews. 

Check out Recruit CRM on G2 and discover why recruiters across 100+ countries love it! 

What to consider when choosing the best recruiting software

Choosing the best recruiting software for your needs is a long and overwhelming process. But before you invest in any recruitment software solution, here are a few factors to consider:

1. What are your recruitment needs?

It’s easy to get carried away by flashy features that will probably end up unused by your team. 

That’s why keeping a checklist handy while hunting for the perfect recruiting software for your needs is essential. 

Each recruitment agency functions differently, so ensure you have a solid understanding of your challenges and what you expect from your recruiting software provider. 

2. What does pricing look like?

You’ll notice that all recruiting software providers have different pricing models. 

The most widely used pricing models you’ll find are:

• Charging by feature  
• Per user through a monthly or annual subscription base

Pricing models can also depend on your team size.

3. How is the set-up & onboarding process?

Once you decide on the perfect recruiting software for your agency, your main concern will be the onboarding and migration process. 

The process of changing your recruiting software will include training sessions and demos. Apart from these onboarding sessions, it’s essential to consider how long the migration process will take. 

No one wants to go through a lengthy migration process, so research how your software provider will back up your existing data and how they can assist your team throughout onboarding. 

Don’t forget that reliable customer support is another crucial factor that will affect your set-up and onboarding process. 

How to get the best out of your recruiting software

By now, you’re probably well aware of the countless benefits of investing in a recruiting software. 

A recruiting software can do everything from talent management to maintaining client communication! 

But if you want to get the highest ROI out of your recruiting software, here are three ways to make the most of your system:

1. Take advantage of social recruiting

With platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter taking over our social lives, social recruiting and recruitment marketing have become a top priority has become a go-to strategy for talent acquisition professionals. 

The best recruiting software in the market assists recruiters with their social recruiting strategies through integrations with job boards, social media, and email. 

This way, hiring teams can automate the process of job postings, update job descriptions, send bulk emails, manage careers pages, and even source candidate profiles without relying on multiple tools. 

The best part is, taking advantage of social recruiting will help you highlight your company culture, helping you attract top talent! 

2. Talent rediscovery

Recruiters struggle to attract and source new talent for their job openings, but they completely overlook their existing database filled with potential candidates. 

We all know how easy it is to store candidate data in a recruiting software, so you might as well take advantage of this information sitting in your database. 

75% of resumes received for high-volume roles are ignored. Now, think of the possibilities you have by rediscovering old talent from your recruiting software!

3. Leverage psychographics 

The best recruiting software will provide insightful recruitment metrics, allowing you to take advantage of a data-driven hiring process. 

But did you know that your recruiting software can be a rich source of psychographic information? 

Psychographics is a great way to determine your target audience’s behavior, including why and where they apply from. Recruiters can use this information to target their recruiting efforts further. 

Why you should sign up for Recruit CRM

Recruit CRM’s recruiting software provides everything from parsing resumes to nurturing client and candidate relationships!

Trusted by recruitment agencies in 100+ countries, our ATS + CRM software ensures a smooth and efficient recruiting process through our intuitive features and supportive customer success team.

With the love and support of over 10,000 recruiters worldwide, we’ve been recognized as the highest-rated software in the recruitment software category on Capterra and the #1 recruiting software for recruitment agencies on Software Advice! 

Apart from our powerful recruiting software, we’ve simplified candidate sourcing for recruiters through our Chrome extension.

So if you’re looking for one of the best recruiting software tailored to your recruitment needs, then Recruit CRM is perfect!

Frequently asked questions

1. What is a recruiting software?

A recruiting software is an all-in-one platform to streamline the recruitment process by staffing agencies and human resources teams today. The best recruiting software will automate and manage different stages of recruiting, including candidate screening, resume scanning, communication, job posting, sourcing, and more. 

Investing in recruiting software is the best way to keep track of your talent pool, job listings, and client processes. With a top recruiting software, staffing agencies can centralize their recruitment system without relying on multiple tools cluttering their system.  

2. How does a recruiting software work? 

There are different types of recruiting software, including interviewing tools, Applicant Tracking Systems and Customer Relationship Management systems. But their primary function is to manage the recruitment process from start to finish. 

Recruitment agencies can use a recruiting software for several tasks, including:

• Automation of manual processes like job posting, emailing, candidate follow-ups, interview scheduling, and more
• Resume parsing
• Candidate and client data management 
• Sourcing candidates
• Boolean search

3. What kind of software do recruiters use? 

Recruiters and talent acquisition professionals rely on several tools and systems for their hiring needs. These tools can range from video interviewing tools to candidate assessment tools and recruitment CRMs. 

From large corporate HR teams to small businesses, the most widely used software for recruiters is an Applicant Tracking System. An ATS is the backbone of all recruitment solutions as it provides a centralized platform for recruiters to store and organize their data and automate several processes. 

In short, applicant tracking systems store and track candidate and client data to streamline recruitment. 

1. Recruit CRM

Recruit CRM is the top ATS + CRM choice for recruitment agencies across 100+ countries because of its intuitiveness. 

Being one of the highest-rated applicant tracking systems in the market, Recruit CRM is easy to use and provides stellar customer service. 

Its strength lies in its simplicity and user-friendly interface, making it one of the best hiring platforms that don’t compromise on comprehensive functionality.

Top features:

1. GPT integration
2. Workflow Automation
3. AI candidate matching
4. Chrome sourcing extension
5. AI resume parser
6. Bulk emailing capabilities
7. Reporting and analytics
8. 100% customizable
9. 5000+ integrations
10. Kanban view
11. Executive search report
12. Job board posting

Pricing:
Recruit CRM provides a simple and transparent pricing plan. The best part is that you can opt for an unlimited free trial period by signing up here. 

Here are the plans- Pro, Business, and Enterprise.

To learn more about the pricing, hit this link. And if you wish to learn more about this recruiting software, you can book a demo using this link. 

Capterra rating: 4.9/5

Also read: 10 awesome Recruit CRM features that our customers love

2. Zoho Recruit

Zoho Recruit offers a robust suite of tools that streamline the hiring process for agencies in numerous countries.

With high ratings for its comprehensive suite of features and customizable options, Zoho Recruit is appreciated for its user-friendly interface and dedicated customer support.

Top features:

• Automated job board posting
• Resume parsing
• Advanced applicant tracking system
• Extensive customization options
• Integrated communication tools
• Advanced analytics and reporting
• Workflow automation

Pricing:
Zoho Recruit offers several pricing plans to accommodate businesses of all sizes: standard, professional, and enterprise.

Capterra rating: 4.4/5

3. Salesforce

Salesforce, a renowned name in the CRM industry, has extended its advanced solutions to recruitment, providing powerful tools to manage and streamline recruitment workflows. The Salesforce dashboard can help you with this task while providing a visual representation of key recruitment metrics such as the number of open positions, the number of candidates in each stage of the pipeline, the time to hire, and others.

While the platform is known for its scalability and integrations such as the ability to integrate Jira with Salesforce, it is more suitable for large and growing businesses, given its higher cost.

Top features:

• Job posting and management
• Candidate tracking and management
• Advanced analytics
• Customizable recruitment workflows
• Extensive third-party integrations
• Robust cloud platform

Pricing:
Salesforce offers various pricing plans, typically essentials, professional, enterprise, and unlimited.

Capterra rating: 4.4/5

You might also like: Best applicant tracking systems (& their features)

3. Hubspot

Hubspot CRM, while not strictly a hiring software, offers a range of features that can significantly aid recruitment agencies in managing their workflows.

Hubspot CRM is a cost-effective solution for recruitment companies looking to streamline their processes.The CRM is easy to use and has multiple integrations available with other apps, including the ability to connect Hubspot to BigQuery for advanced data analytics and reporting.

Top features:

• Email tracking
• Meeting scheduling
• Live chat
• Deal and task tracking
• Contact management
• Free to use

Pricing:
Hubspot CRM offers a free plan with optional paid add-ons and features. They also have starter, professional, and enterprise plans.

Capterra rating: 4.5/5

5. Tracker RMS

Tracker RMS offers a versatile platform designed specifically for recruitment, staffing, and sourcing professionals worldwide.

Its seamless user interface and feature-rich platform are what users like the most. In addition, Tracker RMS provides great customer support and regular software updates.

Top features:

• Candidate tracking
• Job order management
• Resume parsing
• Interview scheduling
• Advanced search
• Customizable reports

Pricing:
Tracker RMS offers various pricing plans based on the size and needs of your business.

Capterra rating: 4.6/5

6. JobDiva

JobDiva is a leader in talent acquisition and applicant tracking technology, delivering AI-powered SaaS solutions to the staffing and recruitment industry.

With a substantial user base in the United States, JobDiva serves a diverse range of clients, including small to large-sized agencies and enterprises.

Top features:

• Applicant tracking
• Onboarding tools
• Vendor Management System (VMS) integration
• Robust search capabilities
• Customizable workflows
• Comprehensive reporting and analytics

Pricing:
JobDiva offers custom pricing based on the specific needs and size of your business.

Capterra rating: 4.4/5

7. PCRecruiter

PCRecruiter serves as a comprehensive solution for recruitment, HR sourcing, RPO, and staffing software needs and is used by thousands of recruiters worldwide.

Its CRM system is valued for its powerful search capabilities and customization options.

Top features:

• Robust search capabilities
• Flexible workflow design
• Strong integration options
• Customizable fields and forms
• Comprehensive recruitment analytics
• Mobile app for on-the-go access

Pricing:
PCRecruiter offers flexible pricing plans based on the needs of your business.

Capterra rating: 4.3/5

8. Crelate

Crelate is a modern, fast, full-featured applicant tracking and talent relationship management solution built specifically for retained search, executive search, and professional corporate recruiters.

Top features:

• Sales and recruitment tools
• Relationship tracking
• Email integration
• Task automation
• Mobile recruiting
• Customizable recruiting workflows

Pricing:
Crelate offers several pricing plans that cater to businesses of various sizes. To know more, you will have to get in touch with their team by booking a call. 

Capterra rating: 4.5/5

9. iSmartRecruit

iSmartRecruit is a highly scalable and customizable ATS platform, designed with the goal of creating an organized recruitment process.

Its automation features are loved the most by customers. iSmartRecruit is also known for its multilingual support.

Top features:

• Intuitive dashboard
• Comprehensive Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
• Multilingual support
• Automation capabilities
• Social media integration
• Customizable workflows

Pricing:
iSmartRecruit doesn’t offer a standard pricing plan but a range of flexible ones to suit different business needs.

Capterra rating: 4.6/5

10. Vincere

Vincere is a comprehensive platform catering to recruitment and staffing agencies on a global scale. 

It provides a wide range of features specifically crafted to optimize recruitment processes and boost productivity.

Top features:

• Comprehensive recruitment tools
• Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
• Job posting capabilities
• Advanced analytics
• Easy integrations
• Customizable workflows

Pricing:
Vincere offers several pricing plans to cater to different business sizes and needs.

Capterra rating: 4.8/5

You might also like: What is a talent CRM? A handy guide for recruiters

Frequently asked questions

1. What are the main features to look for in while choosing the best CRM software for recruitment companies?

When evaluating CRM software for recruitment companies, consider the following main features:

• Applicant tracking system (ATS): A comprehensive ATS system helps manage candidates, job postings, and applications efficiently.
• Resume parsing: This feature extracts relevant information from resumes, reducing manual efforts and increasing accuracy.
• Customization: A customizable platform allows you to tailor the software to your recruitment workflow and needs.
• Integrations: Seamless integration with your existing tools, such as email clients, social media platforms, and job boards, enhances the overall efficiency of the software.
• Advanced search: Powerful search capabilities enable you to quickly find relevant candidates and information.
• Reporting and analytics: Data-driven insights into your recruitment process help you make informed decisions and improve your strategies.
• Bulk emailing: This feature saves time by enabling mass communication with candidates and clients.
• Security and privacy: Ensure the CRM software complies with relevant data protection regulations and maintains high standards of data security.

2. How can a CRM software improve the efficiency of my recruitment process?

CRM software can enhance your recruitment process in several ways:

• Streamlining workflows: It organizes and automates various stages of the recruitment process, reducing manual efforts and saving time.
• Centralized database: CRM software consolidates all candidate, client, and job information in one place, making it easily accessible and manageable.
• Improved communication: Integrated communication tools help maintain consistent, timely interactions with candidates and clients.
• Data-driven decision-making: Advanced reporting and analytics provide insights into your recruitment process, enabling you to make informed decisions and optimize your strategies.
• Enhanced candidate experience: By automating and organizing tasks, CRM software ensures a smooth and professional experience for candidates throughout the hiring process.

3. Are there free trials available for these recruitment CRM software?

Many CRM software providers offer free trials, giving you the opportunity to test the platform and its features before making a commitment. 

For example, Recruit CRM provides an unlimited free trial period, allowing you to fully explore its capabilities. 

Other software on the list may also offer trial periods, so it’s advisable to visit their respective websites for details.

4. How do these CRM software software for recruitment companies handle data security and privacy?

Data security and privacy are critical concerns for recruitment companies. 

CRM software providers typically implement various measures to ensure compliance with data protection regulations, such as GDPR, and maintain high standards of data security. 

These measures may include:

• Encryption of data both in transit and at rest
• Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments
• Compliance with relevant data protection standards and certifications
• Access controls and user authentication like OAuth
• Backup and disaster recovery plans

To gain a better understanding of a specific CRM software’s data security practices, review their privacy policy or consult their customer support team.

What is a talent acquisition software? 

Talent acquisition software is a technological solution designed to streamline and automate various aspects of the recruitment process. 

It helps you source top talent, manage resumes, track applicants, and handle other admin tasks such as posting jobs, connecting and sharing feedback with candidates and clients, etc. which majorly saves time, increases productivity and helps in providing a positive candidate experience.

A TA software also comes with metrics and KPI dashboards to help you measure the success of your recruitment strategy, identify improvement areas and make informed hiring decisions.

Whether you need to create a career page to showcase your company culture, shortlist potential candidates, hire internationally or onboard new employees, this software is your one-stop solution for all your recruiting needs.

Key components of a talent acquisition software 

1. Applicant tracking system (ATS)

An applicant tracking system is a software application designed to streamline recruitment by automating and organizing the various steps involved in the hiring process.

It allows recruiters to manage resumes, job postings, and candidate communications, and ensure API security in one centralized location, making tracking and managing the talent acquisition process way easier. 

An ATS brings top-notch recruiting solutions to the fingertips of hiring professionals and also helps build a strong employer brand.

With the increase in use of remote work technology, these systems have become indispensable in managing hiring processes for globally distributed teams.

2. Brand building

Building a solid and recognizable brand is a must for attracting top talent.

A talent acquisition software can help you establish and promote the same by enabling you to create and distribute job postings on social media, job boards, and other platforms.

3. Job posting

A TA software can help you quickly post jobs to multiple job boards, social media platforms, and even your own website.

This way, whether you’re hiring for full-time, part-time, or even hybrid roles, it saves you time and effort and enables you to reach a wider audience.

4. Sourcing and recruiting

Sourcing and recruiting become super easy when using robust TA software.

It offers various tools for locating and appealing to prospective candidates from various sources like online resume databases and social media platforms. 

This helps in talent management and makes the hiring process more effective.

5. Analytics and reporting

Using analytics in talent acquisition provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of the process and helps identify errors. 

The software can provide detailed online reports on the number of applicants, time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, and other key metrics that help you set benchmarks and carry out background checks. Using advanced techniques like the watershed segmentation algorithm for accurate data analysis can further enhance these insights by precisely segmenting and analyzing candidate data. 

This also promotes the use of data and supports decision-making in the long run.

5 benefits of a talent acquisition software 

1. Faster candidate sourcing

A talent acquisition software can help you source candidates quickly and effortlessly through features like integration and job board posting.

It streamlines the process by automating manual tasks such as posting job ads, searching for candidates, and collecting resumes.

This saves recruiters time and allows them to quickly identify the most qualified candidates.

2. Collaborative hiring

Collaborative hiring evaluates the strengths of the team to make informed and efficient decisions, leading to the successful onboarding of top talent.

This solution also makes it easier for recruiters to collaborate, communicate with hiring managers, and make decisions effectively.

3. Automating manual tasks

With excellent talent acquisition tools, recruiters can get the same administrative duties done in less time and instead utilize the surplus hours to land top candidates. 

This software solution automates several tasks, such as parsing resumes, scheduling interviews, gathering feedback, organizing emails, and so much more

4. Improves candidate experience

Positive candidate experience should be one of your top priorities for hiring success in 2023, and a talent acquisition software helps you achieve the same.

Top talent drives the job market, and it is high time that companies focus on other employer branding and dedicate their efforts to providing a sweet onboarding experience. 

This will not only attract new talent but also help to retain the existing ones.

5. Promotes blind hiring

By using a recruitment solution, you can implement the best practices for diversity, equity, and inclusion in your company.

By hiding details like last name, gender, and profile picture, the software helps eliminate bias and allows for fair and impartial hiring decisions.

How to choose the right talent acquisition software? 

Choosing a talent acquisition software for your staffing firm is not that difficult, provided you know your company’s goals and requirements. Custom software development might be necessary to tailor the solution precisely to your requirements. If you decide to go down this road you will need to create seamless collaboration between the managers of the product and developers to ensure the final product meets your specific needs.

But keep in mind that there’s no such thing as a “perfect” recruiting software, so choose the one that supports your hiring goals.

Here is a three-step mini guide to help you get started:

Step 1: Define your goals and challenges

The first step is to recognize why you need to invest in a TA software.

List down the challenges your team faces when hiring candidates. It will give you a clear picture of what to look for in the new software.

Here are a few signs that indicate you need to invest in a recruiting software ASAP:

• If you struggle to find top-quality candidates quickly
• If you are receiving either too few or too many job applications
• If you want to strengthen your recruitment branding
• If administrative tasks are consuming all your time
• If your candidates are complaining about their experience
• If you are facing a lack of coordination in your hiring process

Step 2: Identify the “must-haves” and “nice-to-haves”

Once you have an idea of which features to look for, sit down with your hiring manager and recruitment team members to segregate them into must-haves and nice-to-haves. 

This list will help you focus on priority features when browsing the marketplace.

Here are a few examples-

• Easy-to-use UI
• Relevant customizations and integration options
• Security and privacy controls
• 24/7 customer support
• Bulk resume upload and AI parsing
• Customizable templates
• Skill testing and interview kits
• Hiring analytics and reports
• Mobile optimization

Step 3: Search and book

With the list of features in your hand, search different ATS vendors and see if their product matches your essential requirements. You can visit various review sites to gain more insight into each tool.

Narrow down all the software you like and book a demo with each to check them out live in action.

Fix your budget. There are countless ATS’ available in the market, all offering top-quality solutions that may entice you to spend more than your company can afford now. Beware!

Top 10 talent acquisition software to invest in 2024

1. Recruit CRM – Best overall!

Recruit CRM’s sophisticated ATS + CRM is one of the most sought-after talent acquisition software by high-volume recruiters and staffing agencies.

What makes Recruit CRM so unique?

• It has an intuitive and easy-to-use interface
• Its customer support team aims to solve its user queries within just 2 minutes
• It’s clear Kanban-style view helps recruiters organize their tasks better
• Their built-in reports make them stand out as the most significant asset

Free trial: Available (Lifetime)

Pricing: Check it out here.

2. Freshteam– Best for career site creation

Freshteam is a great HR software for creating branded, customizable career sites without the need for coding. It is one of the top preferences for businesses that need to improve their employer branding.

Why invest in Freshteam?

• Best for startups and small businesses
• Offers a vast integration library
• Good automation features

Free trial: Available for 21 days

Pricing: Starts from $71/month

3. Workable – Best for AI matching

Workable is an end-to-end SaaS-based recruitment and applicant tracking software that uses AI and Generative AI to connect businesses with qualified candidates.

Why invest in Workable?

• It can maintain a database of over 160 million job seekers and automatically offers at least 50 candidates every time recruiters post a job advertisement.
• It provides integration with 200+ job boards
• Workflows are easy to set up

Free trial: Available for 15 days

Pricing: $129/job posting/month

4. SmartRecruiters – Best for conversational recruiting

SmartRecruiters is an HR suite that enables hiring teams to attract top talents and build a genuine relationship with them through efficient communication. Its features include job advertising, AI recruiting, chatbot, text recruiting, etc.

Why invest in SmartRecruiters?

• It has a great mobile app, contributing to the recruiter’s flexibility
• It allows automated screening assessments
• Multiple internal and external communication options are available

Free trial: Not available

Pricing: Custom pricing upon request

5. Yello – Best for diversity recruiting

Yello is a leading recruitment platform for businesses to attract diverse talents from 7000+ campuses across the US. Its basic features include campus recruiting, built-in screening, events management, etc.

Why invest in Yello?

• It provides a mobile-friendly career site
• Offers integration with various branded job boards
• Provides in-person and online live training

Free trial: Not available

Pricing: Upon request

6. iCIMS – Best for customizable workflow

iCIMS Talent Cloud is a cloud-based talent acquisition software that enables recruiters to create dynamic candidate profiles and personalized workflow for different brands and departments.

Why invest in iCIMS?

• Simple user interface
• Excellent reporting and analytics tools
• They offer over 300 products that can be accessed and used by companies.

Free trial: Not available

Pricing: $1700/month

7. Workday – Best for collaborative hiring

Workday is one of the fastest-growing hiring platforms that enables hiring specialists to work collaboratively for seamless communication and feedback exchange.

Why invest in Workday?

• Its built-in collaboration features and third party-integrations are praiseworthy
• Helpful ready-made dashboards
• It helps centralize and secure candidate data

Free trial: Not available

Pricing: $100/year/user (excluding setup fees)

8. Greenhouse – Best for enhanced candidate engagement

Greenhouse is a recruiting software that helps small, mid-sized, and large enterprises make better hiring decisions and improve candidate engagement.

It provides features such as job postings, applicant tracking, resume management, candidate sourcing, interview scheduling, and offer management.

Why invest in Greenhouse?

• Internal chat integration for hiring teams
• Thirty pre-built reports and 310+ integration partners
• It offers self-interview scheduling features for candidates

Free trial: Not available

Pricing: $30 to $45/seat/year

9. LeverTRM – Best for referral tracking

LeverTRM is an end-to-end SaaS-based talent acquisition software that allows HR professionals to find and track referrals across multiple brands.

Why invest in LeverTRM?

• Solid tracking and reporting features
• Comprehensive training material
• It creates a visual representation of the candidate pipeline for better analysis

Free trial: Not available

Pricing: Custom pricing upon request 

10. Zoho Recruit – Best for sourcing and candidate identification

Zoho Recruit is an up-and-coming talent acquisition software that allows companies to organize and track multiple job openings, resumes, candidates, clients, etc., from a single interface.

Why invest in Zoho Recruit?

• It offers 50+ integration options
• Have a solid and intuitive mobile app
• Easy-to-use and customizable dashboards

Free trial: Available for 15 days

Pricing: Starting from $30/recruiter/month

5 best practices to make the most out of a talent acquisition software

1. Define your targets

To use your talent acquisition software to its highest potential, you must figure out the purpose it should solve for you. 

Ask questions like –

• What is the target candidate group I seek to reach? 
• What are the short-term and long-term goals I am currently aiming at? 
• What are the challenges that the hiring team is facing?

Identifying the immediate problems you are looking forward to solving can help you clear your vision of how to use the software.

2. Streamline your recruiting process

If your tech solution provides the advantage of automation at your fingertips, the wisest approach is to use it to your advantage. 

A talent acquisition software has endless possibilities in areas like resume screening, interview scheduling, candidate communications, and many more. 

Apply and implement these features extensively to streamline your talent acquisition process and improve employee experience.

Not only will it save you precious time and effort, but it will also let you focus on more crucial aspects of your job.

3. Utilize the data analytics

Staying on track with the recruiting metrics can change how you perceive hiring as a job overnight. 

From chalking out predictions based on historical data to helping you stay on track with the progress of your candidates, statistics are nothing but evidence-backed data that reflect the accurate picture of your recruitment scenario.

Use the report and analytics your talent acquisition tool curated to make better-informed decisions in every step of the process, and see for yourself how far it can take you.

4. Source candidates extensively

Sourcing candidates is one of the foundational challenges of recruitment. 

But having a hiring tool at your service can make this job a cakewalk. So, let your recruiting software do its job right by stretching it to its best capacity.

Show up on as many relevant platforms as possible, including job boards, social media, professional networks, and virtual phone numbers to directly reach candidates.. Try out new channels and techniques to source even better candidates from the same old portals.

Go all out with whatever seems feasible, and the software will take care of the rest in your favor.

5. Collaborate and improve

Encourage your hiring team to use the software religiously.

Advanced communication tools and an integrated interface help you share feedback and collaborate with your team. 

Team productivity will undoubtedly skyrocket with everyone on the same page and working towards a common goal. 

And this collective approach will also help you to assess each other’s performance on a routine basis and improve overall as a team.

Future trends in talent acquisition software

1. Virtual and hybrid recruitment

With remote work becoming increasingly prevalent nowadays, video interviews and hybrid recruitment will become a key trend in the talent acquisition software in the years to come. Additionally, you can use virtual phone numbers to call a number from your computer, which is cost-effective and reliable.

This trend will allow companies to reach and attract a larger pool of candidates from different locations, enjoying broad exposure while dodging the traditional limitations of geographical barriers that were brought about earlier.

2. Automated communication and chatbots

Chatbots will play a more significant role in improving the convenience that hiring software can provide to recruiters to bridge communication gaps.

By handling tasks such as initial candidate screening, scheduling interviews, and answering frequently asked questions, it can help organizations overcome the lack of effective interaction and collaboration. 

3. Employee referral programs

Employee referral programs will continue to be a valuable source of talent for several companies. 

So, to meet the growing needs, recruiting solutions will also continue to facilitate and automate these programs even more efficiently for a seamless placement experience.

4. Diversity, equity, and inclusion

The new age solutions will incorporate the diversity, equity, and inclusion factors into their processes more actively and holistically. 

This upgrade will make it easier for organizations to identify and hire diverse talent and track the diversity of their candidate pipeline and workforce. 

As a result, reaching your DE&I targets will no longer be challenging.

5. Real-time data analytics

The future-proof talent acquisition tools will level up recruiting technology by offering real-time data and analytics to business entities. 

The advanced technology will help you gain better insights into your recruitment processes and their details, allowing you to make data-driven decisions and continuously improve your hiring strategies.

Key takeaways

Here are the top 5 takeaways – 

• Talent acquisition software significantly streamlines and optimizes the recruitment process and can be of great use to achieving your goals. 
• It has proven to be very effective in building a solid employer brand and smoothening the onboarding process. 
• Choosing the right talent acquisition software involves considering your organization’s size, budget, and specific requirements. So be sure to research before entering the market looking for one. 
• To make the most of your investment, train your team, stay informed, and be open to new ideas. 

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

1. What is talent acquisition?

Talent acquisition refers to the systematic approach companies use to assess their future talent needs concerning their business objectives, discover and cultivate the best talent sources, and carry out the plan by recruiting, assessing, and integrating new hires. 

It is typically carried out by the human resources department in close partnership with talent acquisition experts, incorporating input from top-level management.

2. Is talent acquisition considered a part of human resources?

The human resources department typically oversees talent acquisition.

In specific organizations, it may exist as a separate entity working closely with HR. The talent acquisition team is responsible for promoting the company’s image, assessing suitable candidates, and ensuring compliance with all hiring regulations.

3. How does talent acquisition software make things better for job applicants?

Everyone appreciates a smooth, respectful job application process, and that’s exactly what talent acquisition software helps provide. It ensures that candidates are kept in the loop with timely updates and personalized messages, making the entire process transparent and straightforward. This level of attention not only makes candidates feel valued but also boosts your company’s reputation as a great place to work.

So, are you ready to step up your talent acquisition game? Learn how Recruit CRM can help you do the same with its cutting-edge technology and power-packed features. 

Happy recruiting

Learn more about this much-needed recruiting tool in our comprehensive guide.

What is an open source applicant tracking system? 

An open source applicant tracking system (ATS) is an HR software that helps recruiters attract applicants and convert them into loyal candidates by streamlining their entire hiring journey.

Like any regular ATS, staffing firms use an open-source hiring solution to automate the most time-consuming tasks like job postings, resume storage, candidate tracking, and progress updates.

The only difference is that the source code of this software is public, and users can easily use, distribute and modify it to meet their specific hiring needs free of charge (but under certain terms as per the license).

These recruitment tracking platforms are usually less expensive and highly customizable than most proprietary ATS solutions. 

Also, they have a large user community that provides support and contributes to the constant development of the software.

What are the key features of an open source applicant tracking system? 

1. Customization

This is the most loved feature of all! 

An open-source ATS means that you can tweak it to match your business requirements and ensure faster adoption. 

The customization feature lets you modify the platform and include custom fields, automate specific recruitment processes, and makes it easier to manage the entire hiring workflow.

Most recruiting software allow you to customize numerous procedures like reporting, emailing, building a talent pipeline, etc. 

2. Integration

Since centralization in recruitment is super important, you need to use an ATS system that let’s you integrate all your favorite applications in one place for a smooth workflow.

This feature can help you connect with other relevant tools, such as job boards and communication channels. 

The capability to integrate lets your data flow smoothly through all the apps, making it easier for you to track the whole process. 

3. Chrome sourcing extension 

A chrome extension is a powerful tool that allows users to source candidates, clients, and even companies from various platforms. 

With just a few clicks, users can quickly import data from popular sites such as LinkedIn, Xing, and Zoominfo into their ATS, streamlining the recruitment process and saving valuable time and efforts. If you’re looking for more options, exploring ZoomInfo alternatives can give you a broader range of tools suited to your business needs.

4. Reporting and analytics

Statistics are truly a recruiter’s best friend when it comes to uplevelling their hiring performance and tracking KPIs.

An open-source ATS provides you with access to real-time data, including candidate pipelines, job posting analytics, and interview schedules. 

This data can be used to make informed recruiting decisions, evaluate strategies, and improve talent acquisition processes to a significant extent.

5. Resume parsing

Resume shortlisting being a core step of recruiting, needs to be done with utmost efficiency. And there’s no better way to do it than through proper utilization of automation.

Your hiring software should have the ability to automatically extract information from CVs and shortlist candidate profiles by using relevant keywords, skills, and experiences as mentioned in the job description. 

This feature also helps in reducing manual data entry, saving you quite a few hours. 

6. Communication tools

Effective communication tools include features such as chatbots, candidate messaging, bulk emailing, email personalization, and SMS triggers. 

Chatbots and messaging features can provide quick and efficient answers to candidate questions, freeing up recruiters to focus on more complex tasks. 

Bulk emailing allows you to send out mass communications to candidates or clients with ease, while email personalization adds a touch of human interaction to the process by allowing you to tailor each message. 

SMS triggers provide another channel of interaction and can be used to send reminders, updates, or even good news to candidates. 

By incorporating these communication tools, open source applicant tracking system platforms help in delivering a positive client and candidate experience.

How can an open-source applicant tracking software benefit recruiters? 

1. Saves time and money

A good open source applicant tracking system promises effortless recruiting and exceptional results by streamlining all your manual work like screening applications, scheduling interviews, etc., so you can focus on more value-added tasks.

Also, it cuts down the time and money spent on maintaining a huge pile of physical files and paperwork, making the entire workflow much more efficient for your hiring team.

2. Streamlines hiring process

One of the major benefits of an open-source recruitment platform is that it offers a centralized place to optimize all your recruiting activities without hopping from one application to another.

From posting a job advertisement to multiple channels in just a few clicks to sending the job offer letter to a qualified candidate, an open source applicant tracking system makes the whole hiring process simpler and quicker for recruiters.

3. Improves data management and collaborations

Most modern applicant tracking software have a full-fledged integration package that allows recruiters to work collaboratively.

This way, agency recruiters can efficiently exchange candidate information and feedback with their hiring managers and lead a joint decision-making process.

Also, open source applicant tracking system allows you to gather, access, and manage candidate data in real time, helping headhunters make more informed decisions and improving their ability to track the progress of their recruiting efforts.

4. Improves candidate experience

Statistics show that 58% of candidates reject a job offer if they had a terrible candidate experience during their hiring journey. Imagine the loss!

But is there any way out? You guessed it right- implementing an AI-powered Applicant Tracking System.

With an ATS + CRM, you can keep every candidate in a communication loop by sending them automated emails and messages, so none is left in the lurch.

Paired with human touch, your open-source applicant tracking system solution can significantly impact the entire hiring process, resulting in positive word-of-mouth marketing about your business.

5. Provides access to insights and reports

The most significant benefit of leveraging a hiring management software is that it keeps track of your entire process.

It provides auto-generated real-time reports and insights on metrics like which channel attracted the most candidates, the cost-per-hire, the applicant conversion rate, etc., that helps recruiters identify the loopholes in their recruiting strategies and improve accordingly.

6. Boosts recruiter’s productivity

Data shows that, on average, recruiters spend approximately 33% of their time on administrative tasks, leaving them with very little time to focus on more critical work, like employee training, networking, etc.

An open-source talent management software can make your hiring process seamless by automating time-consuming tasks, reducing expenditure, and improving communication. 

This way, you can get more quality work done quickly and spend some #MeTime amidst the workload.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) 

1. How does an open source ats software work?

An Open Source applicant tracking system is an OSS that is distributed with its source code, which allows its coders to use, or modify the source code to meet their specific recruiting demands. 

The development of an open source applicant tracking system is based on the principles of transparency, collaboration, and freedom.

Users can access the source code and contribute to the development of the software, fixing bugs, adding new features, and improving the software for everyone. 

The software is typically licensed under an open-source license, such as the GPL or Apache license, which defines the terms and conditions for using and sharing the software. 

2. How to assess and choose a good open source applicant tracking system?

 Here are some steps to help you assess and choose a good applicant tracking system:

• Determine your requirements: List out your organization’s recruitment needs, such as the number of job postings, resume storage capacity, interview scheduling, and reporting capabilities.
• Research available options: Look for open source applicant tracking system options that meet your requirements and consider all the available options.
• Evaluate features and functionality: Consider each software’s features, such as resume parsing, candidate management, interview scheduling, and reporting. Ensure the staffing software has the necessary features to meet your organization’s recruitment needs. You also need to check if the system is efficient and profitable by using an ATS ROI calculator.
• User reviews and ratings: Read user reviews and ratings from other companies that have used the software to gauge user experience and satisfaction.
• Pricing: Consider each ATS’ cost and ensure it fits within your budget.
• Customer support: Ensure that the providers offers good customer support within little to no time. 
• Demo: Ask for a demo or trial before deciding to see how it works in reality and ensure it meets your needs.

You might know it already!

But, with every headhunter having their own specific sourcing and evaluating method, it’s imperative to always stay productive to master this art.

So, we’re going to help you select some essential tools that will save you a lot of time.

Top 25 productive tools for recruiters 

It’s never too much work for a recruiter, and when it comes to working in an office setting, there are too many distractions that you’ll have to deal with.

One minute, you’re enjoying your lunch break, the next minute, you’re called for an emergency meeting.

Your to-do list is nothing but a crumpled piece of paper in the dustbin by then. Here, we have shortlisted a few tools that can help you boost productivity and increase your chances of being your boss’ apple of the eye.

1. Recruit CRM

Recruit CRM’s top-notch Applicant Tracking System and CRM software help recruiters not only save time but also in candidate sourcing, client management and fill open job positions faster with cutting-edge technology.

They currently serve customers in 70+ countries worldwide, making it one of the most sought-after ATS+CRM software for recruitment agencies.

Did you know that Recruit CRM is one of the highest-rated products in the recruitment software category on Capterra?

Why sign up for Recruit CRM?

• Helps you with resume parsing. The software will help you convert a profile into a candidate within seconds
• One of the best recruiting tools for sourcing
• Keep track of your work with notes and files. It also helps in scheduling meetings
• Helps in bulk emailing candidates or clients
• Ability to hotlist candidates
• Submit your candidates to clients in just two clicks
• Strong boolean search
• Free email templates and customised email signatures
• Extremely handy and comes in the form of a chrome extension too

Check out this full features page to get a clear idea of how it can change your recruiting game.

Plans: Free, Paid

2. Trello

Productivity is not something that comes innately to an individual. The most exceptional productivity experts have failed time and again before finally unlocking their true potential.

So, what’s the key to productivity?

The first step towards being productive is understanding which method works best for you—whether it’s the Pomodoro technique, a bullet journal, Eisenhower Matrix, or a different productivity method entirely.

Based on the mise-en-place (everything in its place) organization concept, Trello is a project management app that lets users visually manage their tasks.

Trello was at first created keeping in mind the Kanban method. This Japanese scheduling system was developed to improve manufacturing efficiency and limit the buildup of excess inventory at any point in production.

Why sign up for Trello?

• You can add all your tasks in one place
• With the help of labels, you can colour code everything and make them pop on the page
• You can collaborate with other recruiters
• It saves time and builds on the efficiency
• You can write a few lines to an entire mini-project on each card and add descriptive texts, attachments, due date, assignee, etc.
• It helps you organise tasks according to the urgency

Plans: Free, Paid

3. Boomerang For Gmail

If you’re in the recruitment business and you’re catering to clients all over the world, then it’s almost imperative that email exchanges will take place outside business hours, making it essential to utilize the best startup tools.

It’s quite a hassle if you have to wake up in the middle of the night and send an urgent email to your client just because you know that he/she is working in their time zone. The handy Boomerang plugin will solve this in a jiffy by helping you schedule messages and increase your productivity.

An average email user receives about 147 emails and spends about 2.5 hours on email per day.

Why sign up for Boomerang?

• It will help you stay on top of your work and goals
• Helps in scheduling recurrent messages for candidates and clients
• You can
  manage your inbox well
• Important messages will actually get read if you schedule it according to time zones
• You’ll never forget about follow up emails anymore

Plans: Free, paid

4. TimeCamp

If you need reliable and remote work monitoring software for your distributed team, TimeCamp will do the dirty work for you.

It fills timesheets automatically and accurately, so you won’t ever have to waste any time on such tedious processes anymore.

What’s more, remote time tracking reduces the need for micromanagement, which only causes unnecessary stressful situations.

Why sign up for TimeCamp?

• To automate time and activity tracking
• To have quick access to daily/weekly timesheets
• To get a wide range of built-in and custom reports
• It’s a huge help for billable/non-billable hours
• To track and manage employees’ attendance (which streamlines the payroll)
• To generate and issue the invoices based on tracked time
• To create a permission structure within the team
• For high availability: it has a web screen time app, desktop app, mobile app and a browser extension for Chrome and Edge

Plans: Free, Paid, Enterprise

5. Textio

Before we begin talking about Textio, here’s everything you need to know about what exactly is augmented writing?

Instead of hiring a copywriter to write their job descriptions, recruitment agencies nowadays are moving towards using augmented writing tools such as Textio.

Augmented writing helps in identifying problematic words and suggesting a better alternative. Such tools take a stand against gender bias, unconscious bias, age bias etc. By the way, did you know that 6 of the 10 lowest-paying majors are female-dominated?

Why sign up for Textio?

• It will help you predict how your writing will compete for talent
• Craft better job descriptions
• Suggests changes that cater to a variety of candidate pools (diversity hiring)
• The Textio score helps in understanding how your job description will perform in the current job market
• Helps in recruitment marketing, digital change and cultural transformation

Plans: Paid

6. Grammarly

Grammarly not just comes in handy for recruiters and hiring managers but people from all walks of life. From projecting the right tone to using keywords, making your entire write-up error-free and standing out in front of your candidates and clients can go a long way, especially when you are in the staffing business.

Apart from proofreading skills, it ensures that whatever you’re typing is easy to read.

Why sign up for Grammarly?

• Flags potential issues in writing
• You can make avid use of the plagiarism detector
• They provide you with context-specific suggestions
• It comes in the form of a chrome extension as well
• It helps you improve and expand your vocabulary
• When you double-click on a word, Grammarly suggests synonyms that can come in handy

Plans: Free, Paid

7. Zapier

As a recruiter, automation and multitasking are essential for productively completing tasks.

If you are overloaded with recruiting tasks and want to automate your workflow, Zapier is the tool for you! Zapier is an online tool with 3000+ integrations that enables automation for your tasks.

This is an excellent way for recruiters to stay organized by allowing you to automatically share information without hours of manual entries. Zapier helps connect calendar, email, social platforms and Applicant Tracking Systems, which saves time from repetitive tasks and eliminates the need to jump across different tools and apps.

Why sign up for Zapier?

• It’s easy to use as it doesn’t require any knowledge of coding language
• Has a comprehensive plan
• Save a tremendous amount of time and helps complete work more efficiently
• Available with over 3000 integrations including Evernote, Workable, Zoho, Slack, Gmail, Trello, Google Spreadsheets, Calendars, Outlook and more
• Data stays secure
• Customizable templates and workflows depending on your requirements

Plans: Free, Paid

8. Vervoe

Skill assessment tools are an essential part of the hiring process—especially with remote recruitment rising, and Vervoe provides just that!

Vervoe simplifies hiring by providing AI-powered skills assessments and remo
te interviewing software.

It is an excellent choice if you’re on the lookout for a skill assessment tool. Apart from providing unique anti-cheating features, it also comes with integrations, and their AI is powered by machine learning algorithms that analyse human behaviour—providing an accurate grade for assessments.

Why sign up for Vervoe?

• Allows customisable assessments
• Shareable candidate scorecards
• Personalised candidate messaging
• Automated grading, ranking, and insights
• Provides both technical and soft-skills testing, including important remote-working skills
• Allows you to curate branded assessments

Plans: Paid

9. Hootsuite

If you’re a recruiter who’s finding it challenging to stay on top of all your social media networks and profiles—HootSuite is the tool for you! HootSuite enhances your social media management by covering almost every aspect of a social media manager. It provides a single interface for curating content, posting on different social media accounts, and scheduling your posts. Hootsuite’s dashboard also has a feature for social analytics which allows you to track your ROI.

Why sign up for HootSuite?

• Reduces time spent on social media management by providing a single interface for managing social media and post scheduling
• The “Streams” feature helps you stay on top of relevant conversations through filtering and keyword searches
• Allows you to track key metrics like engagement, traffic, and ROI
• Helps communication between team members by integrating their accounts

Plans: Free, Paid

10. forms.app

Online forms make recruitment, data collection, and lead generation a breeze. 

With forms.app, a free form builder app, you can create forms, surveys, and quizzes without any coding skills. 

Choose from over 5,000 ready-made templates in various languages to quickly design job application forms, employment documents, or marketing surveys.

As an HR specialist, you can streamline your workflow by integrating your forms with over 500 popular apps. 

This way, the data you collect from candidates and employees is easily managed and accessible. Plus, with AI-powered insights, you can analyze your form data in advanced ways for better decision-making.

Why sign up for forms.app?

• Use the AI form generator to create any type of form in seconds.
• Customize and personalize your forms and surveys to fit your needs.
• Take advantage of advanced features like auto-scoring, conditional logic, and integrations.
• Invite team members to your account to create surveys and review responses together.

Pricing:
You get a free forever plan and the option to choose from three paid plans.

11. Hubstaff

Maintaining the productivity of an entire team can be challenging, but with tools like Hubstaff, you can easily monitor the activity and time of your team members to ensure a level of productivity.

Hubstaff is a time-tracking software that offers work monitoring, time tracking, and payroll management, along with a remote talent finder and project management software. This work tracker works through a timer that you can start and stop at your choice and captures proof of work through screenshots, app and URL tracking, and activity rates.

Hubstaff also allows you to manually enter and delete time entries and most importantly—it keeps your information safe! Hubstaff’s work tracker is an invaluable tool, especially with remote working on the rise!

Why sign up for Hubstaff?

• Has many features including; screenshots, activity monitoring, automatic payroll, advanced reports, real-time tracking and GPS.
• Available as a mobile app.
• Integrates with 30+ popular tools including; Trello, Asana, Slack and PayPal.
• Different settings and permissions are available for different employees.
• Manages multiple teams and projects under one account.

Plans: Free, Paid

12. SurveyMonkey

Another tool that can significantly increase productivity is SurveyMonkey. SurveyMonkey may not be known as a recruiting or productivity tool, but it can be helpful for some recruiting tasks.

SurveyMonkey is one of the most popular survey tools. They offer specific surveys that help employers gain insight into employee satisfaction, career training and self-assessments. There are also various customization tools that employers can apply to candidate-specific surveys to improve their experience with the hiring process.

Why sign up for SurveyMonkey?

• Help make feedback automated and actionable by connecting to key business systems using APIs and powerful integrations.
• Manages multiple users and provides visibility for collected survey data with admin controls and dashboards.
• Confidential data is protected with enhanced security including encryption, SSO, and other features.

Plans: Free, Paid

13. ClickBoarding

The onboarding process is an integral part of the hiring process as it leaves a significant impact on the employee retention rate.

To make this process easier, ClickBoarding delivers an easy onboarding solution that helps hiring staff manage forms, check off onboarding tasks efficiently and help retain employees.

This tool uniquely blends a great employee experience, new hire forms and onboarding tasks into a more simple and flexible solution.

In fact, 69% of employees are more likely to stay with their company for three years if they experience a great onboarding process!

Remote onboarding is an excellent way to automate the time-consuming tasks that typically take up the first week of a new hire’s induction. In addition, Clickboarding is a great HR tool to keep new hires engaged and works as an excellent employee retention tool!

Why sign up for ClickBoarding?

• Automates onboarding forms and new employee enculturation.
• Apart from onboarding, there are also features for the offboarding process.
• Provides a digital signature functionality.
• Includes 250+ integrations.
• Helps manage checklists, assign tasks and review progress under a single interface.
• Allows an overview of pending and completed tasks.
• Access through mo
  bile.

Plans: Paid

14. Sortd

If you rely on Gmail for your tasks and workflow, Sortd is a must-have for you. Sortd provides an all-in-one sales and task tracking app for Gmail Teams. It allows you to effortlessly manage your emails, customers, and tasks, without ever leaving your inbox.

This tool helps manage your emails much more streamlined by transforming your inbox into organized lists through a visual board. It doubles as an email and task manager—without having to switch apps! In addition, Sortd is an excellent tool for remote teams to increase efficiency and speed.

Why sign up for Sortd?

• It is available as a lightweight Chrome extension.
• Comes with integrations for Google Drive and Zapier.
• Has a visual and customizable workspace.
• Allows team members to chat.
• Allows effective collaboration.
• Track emails, set reminders and schedule tasks.
• Comes with a Kanban view.
• Available in mobile apps.

Plans: Free, Paid

15. Basecamp

If you’re struggling to manage teams and projects, check out Basecamp! Basecamp is a project management tool to help increase productivity and organization. Unlike email—where everything seems disorganized, Basecamp projects keep everything organized by default.

With Basecamp, you can separate your work into different projects, and each project contains its designated group of members, documents, files, tasks and discussions. All projects consist of different tools to help you collaborate, complete tasks and communicate with members.

Basecamp is the best tool for productivity as it eliminates the need to spread your work across different apps and provides a single space for all your work!

Why sign up for Basecamp?

• Projects include all the tools needed to complete tasks, including; message boards, to-do lists, schedules, documents, file storage, real-time group chat, and automatic check-in questions.
• Allows control over notification settings by pausing, setting times, and more.
• Includes a message board.
• Allows scheduling and Google calendar integrations as well as iCal and Outlook.
• Integrations with third-party tools are available.
• Works as an all-in-one toolkit for remote working.
• Beneficial for onboarding new hires.

Plans: Free, Paid

16. Text Analyzer

As an employer or recruiter, job descriptions often consist of some unconscious bias which can reflect a sense of inequality when applying for a particular position.

To combat this issue faced by recruiters, Ongig offers a Text Analyzer service that eliminates any form of biased language in job descriptions and postings, making it easier to engage with a larger pool of candidates.  In addition, this tool is a great way to optimize your job postings, which significantly impact the type of candidates you may attract for a job.

If diversity hiring and inclusivity are on your agenda for hiring, then this Text Analyzer tool is essential.

Why sign up for Ongig’s Text Analyzer?

• Recognizes different forms of bias in job descriptions, including; gender, racial, disability and age bias.
• Offers a job search powered by artificial intelligence and Google Cloud Job Discovery for job seekers.
• Beneficial for inclusive and diverse hiring.
• Optimizes job descriptions and postings for search engines, Google and mobile.
• Makes job descriptions more readable.
• Provides recruiting widgets to job pages for more engagement.

Plans: Paid

17. Eventbrite

If you’re interested in hosting or attending marketing networking events and informational sessions about companies, check out Eventbrite.

This tool is perfect for recruiters and employers interested in reaching new clients and candidates and building relationships in the industry.

Apart from networking, recruiting events are a great way to showcase your employer brand and company culture. In addition, it’s a great way to engage with other skilled individuals from the recruiting and staffing industry, which gives insight into the latest recruitment trends.

Why sign up for Eventbrite?

• Create professional listings for recruiting events.
• Boosts your employer brand and marketing strategy.
• Comes with built-in communication, marketing and community engagement tools.
• Consists of a global community of millions of event-goers available from 170+ countries.
• Availability of virtual events.

Plans: Free, Paid

You need to make sure that you’re not holding back from achieving your recruiting success primarily because of gaps in investing in the right tools. These tools mentioned will ensure you’re geared up to reach the stars.

18. Chisel

When it comes to product management, it is quite a large domain without a lot of resources. That’s where Chisel comes in. It helps recruiters mostly with team alignment, customer feedback, and much more.

Why sign up for Chisel?

• Prioritizing your action items
• Gaining insights from your team using our team radar
• Deriving customer feedback from your target candidates and cli
  ents
• Team alignment matrix, and much more

Plans: Free

19. Teamwork

Staying focused while working from home can be a challenge. It’s easy for conversations to get lost in translation during the hiring process.

Teamwork is a remote working tool designed to help you communicate with context on projects, tasks, and files. Never miss a meeting again. With its seamless features manage your tasks at specific intervals with ease.

Why sign up for Teamwork?

• Collaborate in real-time with your team
• Stay on schedule with a built-in online time tracker
• Integrate your favorite tools that get the job done
• A complete platform with CRM, Help Desk, Knowledge Base, and Chat
• Plan your workload to minimize stress

Plans: Free, paid

20. ProofHub

Tracking work performance, coordinating with widely dispersed employees, and managing essential HR processes (interviewing, onboarding, streamlining workflows) is not easy for recruiters without using a tool that allows them to perform various HR activities in the most efficient way possible. 

This is where using an easy-to-use and an intuitive productive tool like ProofHub can help you have ultimate control over work and teams without overwhelming yourself.

The tool allows recruiters to bring all employees on a common platform, monitor work and individual progress, communicate information, track time, create reports, schedule events, and much more. 

Why sign up for ProofHub?

• Robust Table view offers a simple, neat view of all to-do tasks and uses Kanban boards to create workflow stages. 

• Announcements give a dedicated space to HR professionals to recognize the team’s achievements, give birthday wishes, wish on employees’ work anniversaries, or share any important information.

• Digital file management allows HR professionals to store, organize, and collaborate on all employee and candidate data at a central location.  

• Scheduling calendar helps to automate recurring tasks, set automatic reminders, use multiple calendar views, and merge PH calendars with ones they already use

• HR teams can access work requests directly to save time and avoid cluttered inboxes. 

Plans: Paid  

21. NAKIVO

Data protection is vital for all critical applications in the recruitment industry. But it is even more so when it comes to cloud data like that stored in Microsoft 365. 

NAKIVO provides comprehensive data protection for your desktop and the productivity and collaboration tools you might be using, including Microsoft 365 applications such as Teams, SharePoint,  and OneDrive. 

The NAKIVO solution for Microsoft 365 allows you to quickly create backups and restore the items you want. In addition, the software offers advanced scheduling options to automate data protection activities and mitigate network congestion. 

With NAKIVO, you eliminate the risk of data loss caused by human error or ransomware infection, and,  at the same time, you ensure regulatory and legal compliance. 

Why sign up for NAKIVO’s solution?

• An all-in-one solution for backup, replication, granular, and disaster recovery.
• Easy-to-use web interface with simple step-by-step wizards 
• Powerful automation and scheduling features to simplify administration
• Store backup data on-premises, offsite, or offline to ensure swift recovery no matter what
• Protect thousands of users in a single software deployment 
• Easily conduct compliance searches in your backups 
• Apply access controls and security measures to monitor and manage your users
• Test your backups to guarantee data integrity and recoverability 

Plans: Free, Paid, Enterprise

22. Integrately

Recruitment process automation is an important aspect of staffing and recruiting. By automating time-consuming tasks, you can focus on more important things like candidate experience and conversion rate.

Integrately is one such tool that allows you to automate not only the recruiting procedure but other workflows as well. For example, you can use Integrately to improve your hiring process by automating email communication, scheduling interviews, and sending automatic reminders.

Besides you can also use this tool to improve your team’s productivity by automating tasks like expense reporting, performance reviews, and timesheets.

Integrating with 900+ apps, including LinkedIn, Gmail, Calendly, etc, and providing millions of ready-to-use automation makes Integrately a must-have tool for every business.

Why signup for Integrately?

• Affordable pricing
• No technical or coding skills required
• Extremely user-friendly UI
• Zero learning curve
• Step-by-step guide for automation setup
• Transparency and clarity on how your data flows
• Millions of ready-to-use 1-click automation
• Webhooks for custom integrations
• The highest number of tasks provided as against similar apps
• 24/5 live chat support and customer onboarding 
• Dedicated account manager to chisel your automation

Plans: Paid

23. Nuclino

Those of you looking for a change from Jira should try out Nuclino, a project management tool that can make any recruiter more productive, especially when it comes to training and document storage. 

Nuclino can replace multiple collaboration tools thanks to its wide variety of features. It’s simple design and quick setup are literally built for speed, so you can do more faster. For those accustomed to Jira, Nuclino might take some getting used to. However, once familiar, you may find the absence of Jira shortcuts a small trade-off for Nuclino’s streamlined functionality.

While Nuclino can organize and document projects, it can do much more than that. It’s capable of onboarding employees, creating employee handbooks, building an internal wiki, and more.

Why sign up for Nuclino?

• To collaborate in real time and share projects instantly
• To pick a customized workflow based on your needs
• To organize everything and search for things instantly 
• To prepare trainees for their first day on the job
• To give new employees access to company knowledge
• To hire productively via a visual onboarding process
• To develop better communication habits with potential hires

Plans: Free, paid

24. Traqq

Traqq takes time tracking to the next level by automating the entire process. It monitors your team’s app and website usage and provides you with a comprehensive overview of their work, breaks, and idle times.

Traqq also empowers recruiters with a range of customizable reports. 

Additionally, the software offers smart notifications that you and your team can customize. Stay on track and set reminders for breaks, ensuring productivity and well-being throughout your workday.

Why sign up for Traqq?

• Allows recruiters to automate time tracking
• Offers detailed and customizable productivity reports
• Simplifies attendance management
• Creates secure permission structure within your team
• Provides insights into breaks and idle times, promoting a healthier work-life balance
• Has a user-friendly interface for intuitive navigation

Plans: Free, paid

25. Productive

If you’re looking for a tool like Trello or Asana, Productive is worth checking out. This robust platform goes beyond simple task management, offering in-depth project planning, detailed time tracking, and even comprehensive financial reporting.

With Productive, you can easily visualize your projects, track your team’s progress, and keep your budget in check. 

Key features:

• Project planning: Create detailed project plans, track progress, allocate resources effectively, and manage budgets with ease.
• Time tracking: Log billable and non-billable hours, analyze time spent on tasks, and generate accurate invoices for clients.
• Financial reporting: Gain insights into your agency’s financial health with comprehensive reports, forecasts, and profit tracking.

Pricing: Starts with a free trial, then moves to paid plans tailored to your team’s needs.

Let us know in the comments below what are some of the best recruiting tools that you’ve come across.

With thousands of applications received per open job role, find out how an ATS makes the job 10X easier.

Heads up: This is going to be a long and comprehensive read for both recruiters and candidates. In case you want to skip to the most relevant parts, use the index table.

What is an applicant tracking system?

An applicant tracking system is used by recruiters, hiring managers, and recruiting teams to manage and streamline the ENTIRE hiring process. Think of it as a digital gatekeeper that helps you source, attract, evaluate, and hire the best candidates for the job listings.

Here are 5 main jobs of an ATS. We’ve broken them down further in the next section.

1. Filters resumes: This feature is like your own personal assistant. It scans resumes for you, picking out the ones that match your criteria—be it skills, education, or experience.

2. Ranks candidates: An applicant tracking system ranks candidates based on how well they fit the job description, saving you time and effort.

3. Tracks applicants: Ever wonder where a candidate is in the hiring process? This feature keeps track for you, so you’re always in the loop.

4. Improves collaboration: Teamwork is smoother than ever. You can share notes, provide feedback, and collaborate efficiently with your team members.

5. Ensures compliance: This feature is your safety net, ensuring that you always stay compliant with hiring laws, so you can focus on finding the right candidate.

Now that you have seen an overview of an ATS let’s move on to understanding how it works.

How does an applicant tracking system work? Top 5 steps explained

Step 1: Filters resumes based on keywords

Almost a decade ago, recruiters faced a dilemma.

A staggering number of resumes were either irrelevant or not up to the mark for the jobs they were posted for.

This is a big deal, especially when you’re sifting through hundreds or even thousands of resumes for multiple job openings.

Before applicant tracking systems, recruiters would manually scan each resume to see if it contained the qualifications and experience needed for a job.

But because these resumes were so varied and often filled with jargon or irrelevant information, recruiters were left scratching their heads. 

So they took a shot in the dark.

Enter ATS.

Now, instead of manually filtering through each resume, the ATS does the heavy lifting. 

It scans and filters resumes based on specific criteria like keywords, skills, and experience.

And even ranks candidates based on how well they match the job description.

No more guesswork. 

No more wasted time. 

Just a streamlined process with fewer margins of error that mimics human thought and helps recruiters find the right candidate every time.

Step 2: Uses a series of “knockout questions”

Now that your mountain of resumes has undergone the first level of filtration, it’s time for the second round. 

Note: This is an optional step that you can set up in any ATS software. Sometimes recruiters tend to skip it…totally depends on your hiring needs. 

So what are “knockout questions”?

These are straightforward questions, often checkboxes or short answers, that help eliminate any candidate who is not a right fit.

If a candidate doesn’t answer these questions to your company’s standards, their resume is automatically set aside. 

It’s like they’ve been quietly escorted out of the application process. 

But if they answer correctly? 

They move seamlessly to the next stage of your hiring cycle.

Step 3: Scans & sorts applicants

It’s time to now pull out important information from a candidate’s CV and lay it down neatly in front of you. 

Most of the ATS’ in the market have in-built resume parsing features that act as your co-pilot.

These resume parsers not only study information in a resume but also allow recruiters to hotlist standout candidates. 

You can even jot down short notes right on their profiles. 

It’s like having a digital sticky note that makes collaboration with your team a breeze.

In case you want to go more specific, the system allows you to set custom keywords for scanning—be it educational background, specific skills, or any other criteria you deem important.

This scanning and sorting feature allows you to glance through resumes quickly and schedule interviews accordingly.

Step 4: Tracks candidate journeys

You’ve sifted through resumes and are done sorting. 

What next? 

The applicant tracking software acts like a dashboard, helping you track where candidates are in the hiring cycle.

For instance– if you are recruiting 10 candidates, your ATS will show you whether each candidate is a new applicant or they’re in the first or second interview stage.

Even if a candidate doesn’t make the cut, they will still stay in your recruiting database for future positions.

Step 5: Maintains timely communication

Once your hiring process is up and running, the next challenge is keeping everyone informed. 

Between applicants, hiring managers, and your own team, the communication demands can quickly become a juggling act.

ATS comes in handy here. 

This tool automates your communication tasks, making it easier to update clients about job openings or send follow-up emails to candidates. 

The result? 

A more efficient communication process that requires minimal effort on your part.

ATS vs CRM: 3 differences no one told you about

So far we’ve established that an applicant tracking system is a gear that keeps your recruitment machine running smoothly, but how about CRMs? 

What are they?

Can the terms ATS’ & CRMs be used interchangeably?

The answer is no.

While they might seem similar at first glance, they serve distinct purposes in the recruitment process. 

Before we show you the differences, let’s talk a bit about what CRMs are.

CRM stands for Candidate Relationship Management System

Think of a candidate relationship management system as your hiring wingman, keeping job applicants interested while an ATS scans through the resumes.

A CRM nurtures relationships with candidates, facilitates ongoing client and candidate communication, keeping them engaged and informed.

It also allows you to maintain a pool of potential candidates for future opportunities, creating a valuable resource for proactive recruitment.

Now, here are the 3 key differences

1. Purpose: ATS is focused on managing and streamlining the application process, while CRM is about building and sustaining a robust talent pipeline.

2. Target audience: ATS zeroes in on active applicants, while CRM engages a broader spectrum– both active and passive candidates.

3. Functionality: ATS automates the full hiring cycle, while CRM emphasizes communication and engagement.

So, does that mean one is better than the other?

Absolutely not!

TOGETHER they form a powerful duo that can transform your recruitment strategy.

7 major misconceptions about applicant tracking systems

Sure, applicant tracking systems have been around for a while, and you might think you know all there is to know about them.

But here’s the kicker.

How many of those “facts” are actually myths?

Time to find out.

Misconception 1: An ATS eliminates human involvement

No, it doesn’t. 

Rather, it enhances it. 

Recruitment automation allows recruiters to focus on evaluating candidates’ soft skills, cultural fit, and other human-centric factors, which otherwise wouldn’t have been feasible if they were focused on manually sorting and tracking.

Misconception 2: An ATS only considers keywords

So, while keywords are essential, an ATS considers various factors such as work experience, education, and skills.

It’s not just about keyword stuffing; it’s about presenting a well-rounded and relevant resume.

Misconception 3: Candidates are treated unfairly with an ATS

The biggest myth of all! 

ATS levels the playing field by treating all resumes equally. 

It ensures that every application is seen and evaluated based on the same criteria, promoting a fair and unbiased process.

Misconception 4: An ATS is only meant for large companies

ATS’ are scalable and can be tailored to fit businesses of all sizes. 

Whether you’re a small business or a multinational corporation, an ATS can streamline your hiring process in several ways. 

The key is choosing a relevant ATS vendor that suits your business needs, size, and goals. 

Misconception 5: The hiring process becomes impersonal

An ATS can enhance the candidate experience by allowing recruiters to stay organized and responsive. 

Candidates can feel more connected and informed with automated but hyper-personalized follow-ups and messaging.

Misconception 6: An ATS is too complex and challenging to use

Nope, nope!

Modern ATS solutions are designed with user-friendliness in mind. 

With intuitive interfaces and ongoing support, recruiters can easily navigate and leverage the system’s capabilities.

Not to mention, the best ATS providers will ensure top-notch customer support and demos so that you can get the most out of your system, even if you’re not the most tech-savvy recruiter.

Misconception 7: An ATS only supports certain file types

While some older systems may have limitations, most modern ATS’ can handle various file types, including PDFs, Word documents, and more. 

Candidates must always check the application guidelines to ensure compatibility.

By now, we’ve established that an ATS is not a mysterious black box. 

So, let’s move on to noting down some of its most powerful features.

What are the benefits of an applicant tracking system?

1. Saves time for value-added work

The days of drowning in a sea of resumes with 75-88% not even fitting the bill are gone. 

By eliminating the manual posting, listing on job boards, and filtering out irrelevant applications with the help of an ATS, this whole process is done in a matter of seconds rather than spending hours on it.

2. Flexible system for both recruiters & hiring managers

Imagine the efficiency if you do not have to deal with loads of emails and Excel sheets and remember notes or appointments that are now handled on a single platform!

Recruitment agencies obviously gain a lot by using an applicant tracking software. 

It is a blessing even for hiring managers as listings, interview feedback, and all other co-ordinations can seamlessly be handled online.

3. Better overview of candidates

Keeping all the documents in your recruiting database gives you all the necessary details you need in one location.

You can easily switch between apps, compare candidates, change candidate status, and select and scan candidates without leaving the system.

This removes the risk of a submission being missed or trapped on a team member’s desk.

ATS providers like Recruit CRM come equipped with a simple Kanban view to make data viewing easier and visually appealing.  

4. Automated job posting

You’re juggling multiple social media accounts, manually posting jobs, and then tracking the performance of each one. 

It’s maddening.

However, with an applicant tracking system, you can upload your job openings on several platforms with just a single click.

You don’t even have to track each social media platform and the results generated from each post individually.

The software will gather the analytics from each platform and collate them together for you.

Platforms like Recruit CRM even let you set up a dedicated careers page on your website. 

You can then use this page to collect online applications from candidates in a quick and streamlined manner. 

This leads to some serious cash-saving in marketing. 

5. Improved cost-per-hire

On one hand, you cannot invest hundreds of dollars in the screening process whenever you hire new talent.

On the other hand, the cost of a bad hire can be a blow to both your budget and team morale.

But, with the introduction of the ATS in the market, the cost per hire has significantly reduced.

A recruiter can cost you between $2,000 and $3,000 a month, whereas an ATS is a mere $100 to $150 per user per month. 

6. Improved quality of hire

80% of recruiters claim to have an improved quality of hire ever since they incorporated an applicant tracking system in their businesses.

Research also states that the shelf-life of a qualified candidate is approximately 10 days.

By speeding up the recruitment process with the help of ATS, you can easily grab these talented candidates that your competitors could have otherwise poached.

7. Improved inter-departmental communication

No doubt, recruitment can resemble a circus pretty easily.

At times messages get lost, departments are out of sync, and hiring managers and clients are left in the dark. 

It’s a recipe for chaos.

Using an ATS allows improved communication among the recruiting team members and with other stakeholders involved in the process. 

It also allows you to send messages easily, schedule emails in bulk, and assign tasks in an organized timeline.

All team members can partake and leave notes, ratings, and feedback on each applicant.

Most ATS software nowadays integrate seamlessly with calendars and other email systems too, leaving you with fewer scheduling conflicts and paperwork.

8. Faster and more informed hiring decisions

A single misstep in onboarding can hit both your financials and team functioning.

So, how does an ATS come to your rescue here?

The software gives TA specialists complete access to all applications, presenting them on the same front. 

This helps recruiters compare candidates objectively and easily, allowing faster and more data-driven decision-making. 

GetApp, a comparison site for small business software, found that respondents who used an applicant tracking software were seeing clear benefits! 86.1% said an ATS increased the speed at which they hired candidates. 

In fact, we did a poll recently on LinkedIn where we asked recruiters to weigh in on the effect ATS’ had on the speed at which they hired candidates. 

The results will blow your mind!

In short, ATS’ work. And it’s here to stay. 

9. Promotes collaborative hiring

Collaborative hiring allows companies to have an organized approach to developing a diverse and talented team.

Applicant tracking systems like Recruit CRM come with 5000+ integrations with all your favorite recruiting tools, making it easier to work collaboratively. 

This makes it easier for hiring teams to efficiently exchange feedback and reviews on each candidate and lead a joint decision-making process in which everyone has a voice. Additionally, the system supports annual reviews, ensuring a streamlined process for evaluating team members over time.

10. The recruitment process speeds up

The benefit of having all applicants’ information centralized and organized in a single platform is that it allows you to optimize the full recruitment cycle.

Once an ATS automates everything from receiving applications to narrowing down the best candidates, scheduling interviews, and hiring the right person for the job, everything catches up at a pace and speeds up the process. 

Features like bulk emailing, email sequences and automated email follow-ups improve the recruiting process, allowing faster communication.

11. Improved candidate experience

Whether someone is hired or not, they’re bound to have the best candidate experience as long as you have an applicant tracking system in place.

Not kidding.

Paired with human touch, an ATS can significantly improve your candidate experience, making your talent pool speak favorably about your business in the market. 

12. Improved employer branding

By offering a top-notch onboarding experience, an ATS not only streamlines the hiring process but also amplifies your employer brand.

The bottom line? 

An ATS does more than just sort resumes; it turns your brand into a magnet for top talent, even for those who weren’t actively looking.

13. Lower bounce rates on job ads

Nothing is more frustrating than a job advertisement that gets bounced every now and then. 

This tosses away all the hard work in the trash can.

Applicant tracking systems are a simple and improved solution to a better understanding of how to post and carry out job advertisements and in what ways you can have better results.

Using an ATS will help you maximize the time spent on the careers page and further increase the number of applications.

Note: In case you want a reference chart for bounce rates for job ads, we analyzed the top 20 careers pages of our clients to come to this conclusion below.

14. Streamlined recruitment process

With a streamlined development between successive tasks, the HR department can easily manage and review multiple applications in a few hours, which could otherwise take days.

This helps recruiting agencies work faster and at an efficient rate. 

15. Riddance from unnecessary resumes

Most of the time, candidates apply to jobs blindly, without paying heed to the job requirements and whether they meet all of them.

In such cases, there is a lot of frustration on a recruiter’s end, who has to sift through these applications, filter out the relevant job applicants, and then screen the best ones for the task.

An ATS + CRM will manage the resumes you collect and display applicant data to make comparisons short and convenient.

Boolean search can be a powerful tool as well to help you with shortlisting. 

Here, you can enter your own criteria for search every time and save that directly in the software.

16. Easy interview scheduling

We explored the logistical maze of interview scheduling and found that it’s often more time-consuming than the interviews themselves. 

Specifically, we looked at how agency recruiters juggle time slots, avoid clashes, and try to give each candidate a fair shot—all while navigating a sea of confusion and potential mishaps.

However, with an ATS’ automated email feature, it informs shortlisted candidates about their interview times, effectively cutting through the noise.

The result is a streamlined scheduling process that frees up your team to focus on what really matters: finding the right candidate.

17. Better utilization of budget

When it comes to recruiting solutions, it is difficult to identify the right direction as to where to spend your recruitment budget. 

This confusion can lead to a lot of unnecessary cash burn by a company, leading to losses.

You can spend a lot of money by posting job advertisements to multiple mediums when it should have only been invested in the right social platform.

An applicant tracking software finds the most suitable platform to invest in through several personalized data collection techniques, making your tech stack scalable.

18. Wider scope of talent

A limited reach will only bring limited talent.

This is no new news.

If a company wants to hire the best candidates, it needs to spread its wings in the market and let the hiring team know how they are looking for a compatible individual. 

And widening your scope in today’s competitive world is a tough task.

An applicant tracking system makes reaching the right candidates possible easily through Chrome extensions and other add-ons.

It can source CVs from various social media platforms & job boards with automated integrations.

An ATS helps you tap into the world of social recruiting too. 

For instance– Recruit CRM comes with social media integrations, where you can post a job from your system directly to your favorite social media sites in just one click.

19. Auto-generation of accurate reports

Applicant tracking systems also keep checks on recruiting metrics and the efficacy of your talent acquisition process. 

It considers all recruitment metrics and creates auto-generated reports in real-time.

This is done by collecting data from different segments of the process. 

The data then collected by the ATS helps companies identify loopholes and implement strategies to improve their business. 

20. Improved GDPR & EEO

We can’t really unsee one of the most pressing issues in recruitment today– the trust gap around data privacy.

Especially since the whole recruiting procedure is automated, most candidates are not convinced that their data would not be revealed to any other sources or made public. 

This often makes them hesitant to proceed with this medium.

Despite new GDPR regulations being enforced and data security being more internationally regulated, it is important to find a way to manage personal data safely and efficiently. 

Read how Recruit CRM handles compliance with GDPR & EEO.

Having a secure cloud-based applicant tracking system lets businesses stay safe and away from all unnecessary and unwanted applications that waste a lot of time and resources.

8 features of an applicant tracking system

1. The best customer support

We dug into the initial hurdles recruiters face when adopting a new applicant tracking system. 

The learning curve can be steep, and questions are bound to pile up. 

So, what’s the lifeline here?

Stellar customer support— immediate and professional.

Look into an ATS with built-in live chat support or via email or phone.

The ATS should also provide you with a training or onboarding program that lets you understand its features in detail. 

So, if you’re not the DIY type, remember: the right customer support can make or break your ATS experience.

2. Allows customizability & configuration

Every recruitment agency or company has its own specific needs. 

So, choose an ATS that can be customized as per your requirements.

See if you can change the user settings, add more users and candidate requirements, or personalize each search. 

An ATS software that can be tweaked to make your own will be the ultimate winner.

3. Helps source candidates

Imagine a circumstance where your client has asked you to hire for them, but you don’t have a talent pipeline in place. 

How do you even manage to recruit?

A powerful ATS with a good candidate sourcing feature will allow you to enrich your talent pipeline and help you hire for roles that are hard to fill.

Can the ATS can connect with candidates in a few clicks? 

Does it have all the aggregate information regarding the prospective candidates?

Is the search accurate?

Systems like Recruit CRM even have a Chrome extension that allows recruiters to automatically source candidates from platforms like LinkedIn, Xing, and more without all the hassle.

4. Automatic interview scheduling and management

A good ATS will integrate candidate interviews seamlessly with everyone’s calendar. 

As a result, the calls end up being more structured, and there’s a greater chance of receiving positive real-time feedback.

Once your ATS lets you integrate other small features like interview scorecards or ready-to-use interview kits, it will help you provide every single candidate a positive candidate experience.

No room for unconscious bias as well. 

5. Insightful reports & dashboards

To make more informed hiring decisions and to improve your recruitment strategy, you’ll need to take the help of reports and analytics.

The right ATS can provide you with powerful reports on your KPIs, which will definitely help you in the long run.

6. Excellent customer relationship management

Get your hands on an ATS that lets you properly manage your candidates and nurture meaningful relationships with them.

With the right ATS, tagging, filtering, and note-taking becomes a breeze. 

You can easily stay updated on each candidate’s record. 

Viewing related contacts and job openings is just a click away. 

And finding the perfect match? 

A robust Boolean search has you covered.

If you can do all of this without any hassle, then you’ve definitely landed on the right leaf.

Always remember any exceptional CRM will help you in contact management, documentation, pipeline management, and most essentially, will strive towards assisting you in automation.

7. Top-notch security

When dealing with data, high-grade security, and stability is a must.

Research whether the ATS meets all the security standards. 

Always look for uptime guarantees and ensure that SSL sessions and passwords protect all the interactions.

8. Mobile-friendly application

Whether you want to hire on the go or your schedule is jam-packed, your HR software should be mobile-friendly. 

With 77% of job applications now done via a mobile device, the need for a flexible ATS is more crucial than ever. 

The ATS you’re eyeing should be designed flawlessly to fit the criteria to be mobile-friendly and easily adapt to every device.

Not only will this improve the candidate’s application process, but it will also allow recruiters to work remotely. 

Till now, we’ve unpacked the must-have features. 

Let’s move ahead to mastering the art of negotiating with software vendors before picking your choice.

It’s a tricky terrain, to say the least.

And we don’t want to leave you alone.

So, make sure to ask the following questions to find an applicant tracking system that fits like a glove.

What are the top questions you should ask before selecting an ATS?

Questions about ATS functionality and features

1. Can you send bulk emails? 

Ask about the ability to send mass emails to candidates and clients. 

This feature streamlines communication, ensures timely updates, and can be vital for large-scale recruitment campaigns.

2. Does the software allow email scheduling? 

Scheduling emails in advance can help you reach candidates at optimal times. 

Inquire how the ATS handles this, including customization and tracking scheduled communications.

3. Does it allow interview scheduling? 

Automation in scheduling interviews can save valuable time. 

Explore how the ATS coordinates between parties, handles rescheduling, and integrates with calendars.

4. Does the system help with resume parsing? 

Resume parsing enables quick filtering of CVs. 

Understand how the ATS’ parsing algorithm works, what criteria it considers, and how it ranks candidates.

5. How much time does the ATS help save? 

Assess how the ATS’ automation and efficiency features can save time for more strategic tasks. 

Ask for specific examples or case studies demonstrating time savings.

6. Does the software help with recruitment marketing? 

Explore how the ATS supports employer branding, job promotion, and social media integration to accelerate hiring efforts.

7. Does it allow updating resumes and candidate profiles?

Flexibility in updating information ensures accuracy. Ask about the ease and limitations of updating candidate data within the system.

8. Can you customize your job boards? 

Customization can align job boards with your brand. 

Explore the extent of customization, including visuals, content, and integration with your website.

9. Does it personalize outreach messages? 

Personalized communication makes candidates feel valued. 

Understand how the ATS handles personalization, including the use of email templates and dynamic content.

10. What AI capabilities does the ATS offer? 

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing recruitment lately. 

Explore how the ATS leverages AI, including features like intelligent resume parsing, predictive analytics, automated candidate matching, and personalized engagement. 

Ask how AI integrates with the overall system, what algorithms are used, and how it can enhance efficiency, accuracy, and insights in your talent acquisition process.

Questions about candidate search and engagement

1. How does the ATS manage the talent pipeline? 

Explore how the ATS keeps potential candidates engaged, tracks interactions, and helps you keep your talent pool warm for future opportunities.

2. Can you make searches within the database? 

Efficient searching is vital. Ask about search capabilities, filters, saved searches, and how the ATS handles large databases.

3. Can you do searches within the candidate profiles? 

Specific searches enable targeted recruitment. 

Understand how the ATS allows for detailed profile searches, including skills, qualifications, and history.

4. Is Boolean search and radius search available? 

These functionalities enable precise and advanced search capabilities within your database. 

Ask about the flexibility and accuracy of Boolean and radius searches within the ATS.

5. How does it help with candidate engagement? 

Engagement is key to a positive candidate experience. 

Explore how the ATS facilitates continuous engagement through emails, notifications, and feedback.

Questions about reporting and compliance

1. Can you view performance reports and analytics of your team? 

Insights are crucial. 

Ask about the types of reports available, customization, real-time tracking, and how the ATS helps align strategies with goals.

2. Does the system meet diversity standards? 

Compliance is non-negotiable. 

Understand how the ATS ensures adherence to EEO and diversity standards, including tracking, reporting, and auditing features.

3. Are chatbots available? 

Explore how the ATS’ chatbots function, their customization, and how they integrate with the overall communication strategy.

4. Does the system come with a Chrome extension? 

This feature aids sourcing. 

Ask about how the extension works, what platforms it integrates with, and any limitations or requirements.

5. Does the ATS allow integrations? 

Understand the ATS’ integration capabilities with other tools, apps, and platforms you use, including APIs and compatibility.

6. Can you manage your invoices? 

Learn how the software handles invoicing, including customization, tracking, reminders, and integration with accounting systems.

How much do applicant tracking systems cost?

The cost of an applicant tracking system can be as diverse as the features it offers. 

For smaller operations, you might find budget-friendly options starting at around $25 per user per month. 

These usually cover basic functionalities like resume parsing and interview scheduling.

However, if you’re a larger organization with more complex recruitment needs, be prepared for costs that can easily climb into thousands per month. 

These premium packages often include advanced analytics, integration capabilities, and even AI-driven candidate matching. 

It’s crucial to assess your specific recruitment challenges and volume to choose an ATS that offers the best value for your investment.

How to go about ATS implementation?

If you’ve reached so far in this guide, you must be bringing an ATS into your hiring process– smart move!

Take a good look at your existing recruitment process. 

Identify the bottlenecks, the inefficiencies, and what you absolutely must have in an ATS. 

This is your roadmap to picking a system that doesn’t just look good on paper but works wonders in practice.

Now, let’s talk data migration. 

It’s like moving houses but for your candidate data. 

You’ve got years of resumes, notes, and whatnot.

A quality ATS provider will help you pack up and move all that valuable info without losing a single byte. 

Trust the process; it’s easier than you think.

Last but not least, let’s chat about training.

Imagine handing someone a high-tech fishing rod but not showing them how to use it. 

They won’t catch much, right? 

The same goes for your ATS. 

A couple of solid training sessions can make the difference between a tool that gathers digital dust and one that becomes your recruitment MVP.

So invest that time upfront; you won’t regret it.

What are the best applicant tracking systems in the market? [Updated for 2025]

Alright, let’s get down to brass tacks.

Some ATS platforms are jacks-of-all-trades, offering a wide array of features, while others specialize in certain areas.

Whether you’re a small business or a large corporation, there’s an ATS out there that fits your specific needs like a glove.

We’ve curated a separate one-stop guide for this because we wanted to get into the REAL deets. 

Click here to access it.

Now that we’ve talked a lot about how recruiters can make or break their hiring strategy with the help of an ATS software, let’s move on to how candidates can make the most out of it.

What’s an ATS-optimized resume?

An ATS-optimized resume isn’t your run-of-the-mill CV.

It’s literally your golden ticket through the applicant tracking system. 

This resume speaks the ATS language, with keyword-rich content and easy-to-scan sections. 

Why should candidates care? 

Because mastering this format can catapult your resume straight into the hands of the hiring manager. 

Stick around, and you’ll learn how to make this powerful tool work for you.

How candidates can make an ATS friendly resume? 

When your resume is ATS-friendly, the chances of it being seen by recruiters significantly improve.

Luckily, getting past an ATS is much easier than you’d think. 

So to help you frame the best and most ATS-friendly resume that’ll sail right through, here are some essential dos and don’ts to follow.

1. Use an ATS friendly resume template

Fancy fonts and templates more than often confuse an ATS. 

As much as you may want to opt for something fancy, these systems won’t process your CV with these elements.

To avoid this, go for a simple, minimal structure without complex components.

It’s best to use traditional ATS-friendly fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman for readability.

If you’re searching for ATS-friendly resume templates, check out websites like Indeed.

2. Avoid tables and graphics

An ATS cannot read images, tables, or other graphics. 

Tables and charts might increase the readability for human readers, but an ATS will simply not recognize these.

It will only capture information if it appears written within another section. 

So as a best practice, avoid using resume templates with any graphics or tables.

3. Customize for keywords

An applicant tracking system searches for specific keywords set by the employer. 

So if you’re not including keywords, your CV won’t be parsed properly.

One of the best ways to find what keywords to use is to read the job description thoroughly. 

Look for role-specific terms that are repeated multiple times. 

The more prevalent a specific keyword is, the more it should be emphasized within your resume. 

Just make sure you’re not stuffing it with too many keywords.

You can also search for common keywords employers use for specific job roles.

Apart from keyword usage, including the right abbreviations and their long-form term. 

For example, if you use the term “Search Engine Optimization,” include the term “SEO” as well. 

Otherwise, your CV won’t appear for the keyword SEO.

4. Use the right file format

Not all file types are compatible with an ATS. 

In fact, 43% of resumes submitted are sent in incompatible file types. 

In this case, your best bet is to submit your CV in a DOC or DOCX file format.

While PDFs are excellent at preserving file data, they’re not always ATS compatible. 

So always upload an additional DOC version if you’re submitting a PDF file. 

But as a thumb rule, check for a list of acceptable file formats before uploading.

5. Consistent formatting

Most CVs are removed from the equation because of improper formatting. 

What does improper formatting include? 

Complex titles, headers, and footers that lead to a poorly structured CV.

Your safest option is to stick to standard titles instead of eye-catching sections or headers like “What Motivates Me” or “Where I’ve Been,” which ATS’ won’t pick up.

Job applicants often make the mistake of including key details in headers and footers.

25% of applicants have contact information buried in headers, causing them to go unnoticed by employers. 

Instead, avoid adding headers altogether, as the information can get lost or cause parsing errors.

Always remember, less is always more. 

Try running an ATS resume compliance test to get a better overview.

The future of applicant tracking systems

1. ATS’ will begin to look and act more like a social network

Recruitment tech has evolved, elevating applicant tracking systems to the industry’s backbone. 

They’re not just about tracking resumes anymore; they’re embracing the social and interactive aspects of hiring. 

Imagine an ATS that feels more like LinkedIn, where a candidate’s profile is a dynamic portfolio, not just a static resume in a database. 

As social media becomes a recruitment cornerstone, expect your ATS to get a lot more social too.

2. Rise in AI-based applicant tracking systems

AI-powered recruitment software makes it easier for recruiters to navigate time-consuming recruitment tasks by providing intuitive features, including interview scheduling, intelligent assessments, and feedback mechanisms, substantially boosting their hiring endeavors.

Applicant tracking systems will also be able to assess candidates much more accurately using AI capabilities, giving recruiters a competitive edge. 

Consequently, hiring staff and recruiting professionals can quickly source exceptionally skilled candidates, fill vacant positions faster, and significantly improve the overall hiring process.

3. Rise in cloud-based applicant tracking system solutions

Previously, ATS’ were only accessible to a certain number of users and limited to some systems.

With the rise of modern-day technologies in the hiring landscape, most applicant tracking systems are now cloud-based. 

With virtually hosted software, this paves the path for more flexibility and accessibility.

Cloud-based technology allows recruiters to access recruitment solutions from any location with a steady internet connection.

4. Predictive analytics

When AI and applicant tracking systems come together, each and every detail of a candidate is automatically entered into its system.

This makes it easier to spot inefficiencies within the recruitment process and pinpoint exactly which processes require improvement.

5. Emotionally intelligent applicant tracking systems

The next wave of ATS tech aims to be as human as you are, engaging in meaningful conversations and making connections that count. 

It’s not just about algorithms; it’s about creating a tech-human synergy that attracts the top job applicants. 

So, the future isn’t just automated; it’s personalized, making your hiring process not just efficient but also genuinely engaging. 

5 reasons why Recruit CRM is the best applicant tracking system for your business needs!

With Recruit CRM, you have your next-generation ally in talent acquisition. 

From sourcing to onboarding, discover how Recruit CRM is redefining recruitment and why it’s the ultimate applicant tracking system for recruiters across 100+ countries. 

1. Chrome sourcing extension

Recruit CRM’s Chrome sourcing extension takes candidate sourcing to a whole new level. 

Our Chrome extension helps recruiters get more done faster and easier. 

Apart from greatly enhancing user experience, this minor add-on application personalizes the way a recruiter approaches candidate sourcing. 

It helps you become much more productive and automates the whole process. 

Using Recruit CRM’s sourcing extension, you can now source candidates, clients, or companies from various platforms, including LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, Xing, and so on, with just a single click.

2. AI capabilities 

The future of recruitment is here, and it’s powered by AI! 

Recruit CRM’s AI capabilities offer intelligent resume parsing, candidate matching, and a GPT integration. 

Recruit CRM’s AI candidate matching meticulously sifts through your talent database, pinpointing potential matches based on a comprehensive range of factors, including bimetric scoring. 

Our AI resume parser also offers multilingual support. 

3. Reporting and analytics

Recruit CRM’s robust reporting and analytics tools provide real-time insights into your team’s performance, candidate engagement, and overall recruitment metrics. 

With customizable reports and intuitive dashboards, you have the power to align strategies, track progress, and make informed decisions.

4. Excellent customer support

Exceptional customer support is not just a promise; it’s a commitment at Recruit CRM. 

With a dedicated team ready to assist you at every step, you’re never alone in your recruitment journey. 

Whether it’s technical assistance, feature guidance, or just a friendly chat, Recruit CRM’s support team is there for you!

5. Customization and integrations with 5000+ apps

Your recruitment process is unique, and so should your ATS. 

Recruit CRM offers extensive customization options, allowing you to tailor the system to fit your specific needs and workflow. 

From job boards to email templates, everything can be aligned with your brand’s identity and recruitment goals.

We understand how integration is the key to seamless workflow, and our ATS + CRM excels here. 

With over 5000+ integrations, you can connect various apps, tools, and platforms directly into your ATS. 

Whether it’s social media, accounting software, or collaboration tools, Recruit CRM ensures that everything works in harmony.

Ready to transform your recruitment process? 

Join the thousands of recruiters who have already discovered the power of Recruit CRM. 

Applicant tracking system FAQs

1. What is an applicant tracking system, and how does it differ from other recruitment software?

An applicant tracking system is a specialized type of recruitment software designed to streamline the hiring process. 

Unlike general recruitment agency software or a recruitment CRM software, an ATS focuses on managing applicant data, automating mundane tasks, and improving the candidate experience in recruitment. 

2. How can an ATS in recruitment benefit a recruitment agency?

An ATS software automates many manual tasks, freeing up your recruitment team to focus on what they do best—finding top talent. 

Some of the benefits include:

Streamlined recruitment tracking: An ATS offers real-time tracking, making it easier to monitor job openings and candidate statuses.

Automated workflows: A recruitment automation software takes care of repetitive tasks, freeing up your recruitment team for more strategic work.

Enhanced candidate experience: Features like automated messaging improve the candidate experience in recruitment, making your agency more appealing.

Integrated recruitment management: An ATS easily integrates with other recruitment agency software and other tools, creating a unified hiring platform.

Efficient candidate sourcing: Using advanced search options like recruiting boolean search strings allows faster candidate sourcing, ensuring you find the right talent faster.

3. What are the best applicant tracking systems for remote hiring?

Remote hiring has its own set of challenges, but the best applicant tracking systems are up for the task. 

Look for software that offers robust recruitment tracking and candidate sourcing features, as well as tools specifically designed for remote hiring, like virtual interviews and onboarding. 

Some of the best ATS software integrates with other recruitment automation tools to provide a seamless hiring experience.

4. How can a recruitment CRM software enhance the candidate experience in recruitment?

Recruitment CRM software is that one tool that makes everyone, including clients and candidates, feel welcome and important. 

It helps manage interactions with candidates, ensuring timely follow-ups and personalized communication. 

This not only improves the candidate experience in recruitment but also helps your recruitment team stay organized. 

With a candidate relationship management software, you can automate candidate communication so that nothing slips through the cracks, giving you more time for more value-added tasks. 

5. How important is a careers page and job description template in an applicant tracking system?

A recruitment software that allows customization to your careers page and comes with in-built job description templates is the icing on top for any hiring solution. 

Think of your careers page as the storefront of your recruitment efforts. 

It’s the first thing candidates see, so it needs to be inviting. Job description templates, on the other hand, ensure consistency and help you adhere to best practices. 

With these built-in features in your ATS, you no longer need to spend extra time on maintaining the quality of your careers page and job descriptions. 

6. Can you integrate applicant tracking software with other recruitment automation software?

Most popular ATS systems can easily integrate with other recruitment automation and different types of staffing agency software, including your CRM software. 

These integrations help create a unified system that streamlines the entire recruitment process, making life easier for your recruitment team.

Applicant tracking systems like Recruit CRM come with over 5000+ integrations so that you can connect all your favorite recruitment tools in a centralized platform.  

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