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I was having a discussion w/ a recruiter friend of mine who was frustrated with trying to choose another ATS b/c they are trying to cut costs. I told them not everyone uses an ATS and between contact mgmt systems combined with resume gathering tools they can get similar functionality and probably eliminate having monthly fees etc. and still be an effective recruiter.
Some use DT Search some use ACT! and so on. I was curious, how many of you don't use a typical ATS per se and what do you use? I can pass the info on. Their big issue was being able to track emails and save attachments in a non ATS system. Looking forward to hearing the different combinations.
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Bigger picture question....
Its not a matter of "what" ATS or tool do you use, but rather "why" do you use it or maybe even what do you WANT TO DO with your application.
If you want to track applicants and reqs, and that's your "main business" in your recruiting life, then there are plenty of ATS programs to choose from and they are not that different from each other.
If the only thing you do is post jobs and then process the applicants...then the ATS is the way for you. But please don't consider that recruiting...because its not...its processing transactions.
However, if you want to:
- "Look out into your industry"
- Create competitieve intelligence
- Source/engage people in more of a sales and marketing approach
- Track your history with talent
- Track your history against competitors
- Establish long term relationships
- Work together as a team...with your team
- Integrate with social media
- Manage events
- Actually recruit
...then a CRM is for you. There are a few to choose from, but not like the 100's of ATS to pick from, and the distinctions between them are pretty clear.
There is, of course, a learning curve with using a CRM. You are going from being "transactional" to "proactive."
For most "recruiters," it requires a change in mindset...and you thought picking an ATS was hard. ;)
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I agree completely with the "why" of it - however, there are many good recruiting applications with powerful CRM tools - because recruiting IS selling. Apps (like SmartSearch) that are built for the staffing environment as opposed to say some of the "lite" corporate products are indeed geared toward building relationships, networking, collaborating, and managing large volumes of information, events & sales/recruiting activity. The best products already have integration with social media and advanced tools like mobile access, cell phone text messaging, etc. All of which are certainly the hallmark of proactive recruiting rather than waiting for a candidate to upload a resume into the ATS.
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I believe that your ATS requirements (or not) depends entirely on:
- How much volume (req's and resumes) you have to deal with
- How professional and efficient you have to be to generate more fills faster
An ATS will give you far more capability to handle more volume with greater speed and help you fill more orders faster. You'll make more money.
If, on the other hand, you're a boutique/niche recruiter with lower revenue expectations, all of the low/no cost solutions will be adequate.
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When I was a one man show I used Outlook with a resume parse program I saw a free parse/outlook that was recently featured on ERE.
Currently at my company we use Adapt.
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I typically upgrade 3PRs out of contact mgmt products like ACT! and Goldmine that they've configured to fit the recruiting environment. Those two and Salesforce seem to be the most typical DB/CRM programs adapted to the recruiting environment; although I'm hearing lately that some recruiters are using Sugar.
Most corporate employers w/no ATS have a combination of email/Outlook and spreadsheets, or -gasp - boxes of paper job applications under the desk.
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me too... salesforce.com - tracks emails but doesn't resume parse. But at $9 a month for a small recruiter you can't beat the price!
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Christy,
There is an add on for parsing resumes. I don't know what edition you are on, but I think you can add it.
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Sean, Is the add on from SF or another vendor? thanks
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A vendor, CASA Customer Solutions out of Chicago.
www.casallc.com
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Thanks Sean. I will check them out and may ping you in the future if you are open to see how you use SF.. It has been solid for us, but expect we could leverage it better.. -Mark
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Keep in touch. Just started working with Dolby Laboratories (audio/video technology) and will be starting with SNC Lavalin (global engineering) in September.
Remember, its not about the req. Its about the talent and your industry.
- Create the relationship
- Build the relationship
- Maintain the relationship
And keep it simple.
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www.Salesforce.com
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Robin -
Although completely and absolutely biased in my opinion that everyone should (and can) use an ATS, the "quality" of the product should be matched with your needs. There will be nearly a 1:1 relationship with volume in this regard. You might be fine with index cards, a printer, and manila folders or you might need to budget a few hundred thousand dollars... or everything and anything in between.
I suspect the lack of response to your post is related to this basic question: What kind of volume are you talking about?
Tracking emails and attachments? That's functionality found in almost ANY email system. Just make folders, subfolders, and then move the emails and attachments into logical places. Searching them (logically and efficiently) is another story which, again, is going to be volume dependent.
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My company uses a big name, expensive ATS but we also purchased a desktop package from RESUmate that is fantastic and only costed $500 for 3 licenses, no monthly fees. It automatically uploads resumes and strips out skills, functions, email, phone address, all that stuff. Puts ACT! to shame. I would highly recommend.
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Good system! I will have several people look at that also. I think the big push as these recruiting companies are decreasing in size in which recruiters are starting up their own shops is no monthly fees. Especially in this economy. Who wants monthly bills and overpriced software? I think a lot of times we pay for features that we never use. Again, it would depend on volume like someone else mentioned.
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"I think a lot of times we pay for features that we never use." -- this is true of all the software on your PC. How much of Excel or Word or Outlook do you use vs what it does?
I happen to like Resumate (which is an ATS) and have recommended it as an option for recruiters that need a simple database and no monthly fees.
My boss would kill me for saying so, but an online/hosted app is not for everyone.
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My company markets ResumeGrabber. A product that was originally designed (9+ years ago) as a resume parsing tool for organizations that don't have an ATS. So we have some market experience to answer this question.
We have found, thousands of recruiters that don't use an ATS, use Excel, Outlook or ACT! quiet a bit.
People tend to use ACT!, if they already track their clients in ACT! or if their company uses ACT! as a CRM.
There are many others who use PC Folders too for storing resumes. These people tend to use Google desktop or some indexing program to search for resumes based on boolean. They use this solution in addition to Outlook.
Recruiters upgrade when they find an increasing need to get Auto Alerts (Alarms), e-mail tracking, more sophisticated search.
If you are not using an ATS, please do check out ResumeGrabber from www.egrabber.com
We also support ACT!, PC Recruiter, BigBiller. Coming soon BullHorn and Salesforce.com and many others.
Chandra
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The ResumeGrabber costs much more than the ACT! application itself! If you are single person shop that doesn't make much sense.
Does anyone else know a resume parsing tool that works with ACT! ?
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See who is already coming to #socialrecruiting summit in November!
