Recruiting Software: You're Hired!

By Michelle V. Rafter

Big businesses have long used Web-based recruiting software to weed out good job candidates from bad. Now that it's come down in price, small and mid-sized businesses can speed the hiring process and make better picks.

In the old days, if a small business needed to hire someone they ran an ad in the local newspaper and waited for resumes to roll in. Today, recruiting means posting openings on Facebook, career boards, and your corporate website, and mining LinkedIn connections for friends of friends who might be ready for a new gig.

When it comes to keeping track of job prospects and who’s where in the interview process, however, many small businesses are still in the dark ages, managing everything in Outlook, spreadsheets -- or worse -- on paper.

Fortune 1000 companies have long used recruiting and applicant tracking software to manage the process. But it’s expensive and requires dedicated human resources and technology staff, which has kept it off smaller companies’ radar screens.

Web-based software is changing that. Today, small companies -- even solo recruiters and start ups with just a handful of people -- can use software-as-a-service-based recruiting software to find job candidates and track them through the entire job interview and hiring process. As interest takes off, it’s helped push the U.S. small-business market for recruiting software to $522 million, according to Forrester Research, the Cambridge, Mass., technology researcher.

As more small businesses use it, recruiting software vendors are pouring into the market, including Taleo, a talent management powerhouse that started out working with major corporations. The company has been adding two or three new small-business customers a day despite doing “very little” traditional advertising, says Jason Blessing, vice president of the company’s small and mid-sized business group. “Most people who come to our doorstep have a pain and they know we’re the medication to fix that pain,” he says. Others vendors: ICIMS, Bullhorn, and Jobvite.

The competition’s been good for potential buyers because it’s resulted in reasonably priced software with lots of easy-to-use features. Recruiting software includes tools for activities such as posting open positions in multiple online locations, scheduling interviews, evaluating applicants, getting job referrals from existing employees, and sending candidates notices whether or not they get the job. Some tie into common office productivity software like Microsoft Outlook as well as social networking sites. Some vendors design the user interface so it blends into a company’s existing website design. Prices range from $100 per user per month to $500 per month for a company of 50 employees or more.

Do your homework

In order to pick software that’s the best fit, understand how you expect to use it, say recruiters, HR managers and others who’ve already made the switch. Other suggestions:

• Try before you buy. Take advantage of free trials. Heather Krentler, a recruiting team manager at Organic, an interactive advertising agency with about 500 employees in six locations, used Taleo’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) recruiting software for small businesses for 30 days and then some before feeling comfortable enough to recommend buying it. “It’s user friendly but for first-time users there’s going to be a learning curve,” she says.
• Talk to customers. Quiz existing users about how easy it was to get up and running, how helpful customer support is, how much customization is available, and if customers can make changes themselves or need vendors to do it for them. Checking “customer references is the biggest thing you can do,” says Jobvite CEO Jesper Schultz.
• Roll out in phases. Because it has so many parts, recruiting software can be overwhelming. Don’t be afraid to start with the basics and add functions as your comfort level goes up, Krentler says.

Finally, do vendor background checks. As demand grows, Forrester Research expects small vendors will be snapped up by bigger ones, according to the firm’s recent recruiting software industry report. Perform a little due diligence on potential vendors before you sign a contract so you’re not stuck with software that’s no longer supported because the vendor’s been acquired or gone out of business, HR managers and others say.

SIDEBAR: More Information about Recruiting Software

Find out more about recruiting software at the following:

ERE -- The online networking site for recruiters runs a message board where members talk about recruiting software, among other topics.

The Association for Internet Recruiting -- The website for this industry trade group has a list of HR and recruiting software and applications.