Recruiting Software

Table of Contents

• What is recruiting software?
• Types of recruiting software
• How much does recruiting software cost?
• What is the best recruiting software?

What is recruiting software?

Recruiting software helps hiring managers and recruiters optimize and digitize the hiring process, including recruiting candidates, screening resumes, and sending out offer letters. Recruiting software is often referred to as an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), although the two are not entirely the same thing. ATS is a major component of recruiting software, but does not encompass the broad reach of recruiting software.

Types of recruiting software

Recruiting software generally fits into four categories:

• Sourcing: Sourcing software helps recruiters identify and recruit candidates.
• Engagement: engagement software helps organizations streamline communication between recruiters and candidates in order to keep recruiters and candidates connected throughout the hiring process.
• Selection: selection software accelerates the process of identifying qualified applicants.
• Hiring: after selecting a candidate for a job, hiring software helps organizations coordinate the hiring and onboarding processes.

How much does recruiting software cost?

Software cost varies by provider, but when it comes to cost, it’s important to keep in mind the difference between in-house and cloud-based recruitment software. In-house software is installed directly to your computer, lives in your company’s server, and is managed by your own IT staff. Cloud-based software is housed in the provider’s server and accessed via the web. Cloud-based software therefore requires no internal IT support.

In general, larger organizations prefer in-house software, which allows for greater control, while small businesses prefer the convenience of cloud software. With that in mind, in-house software can cost between $1000-$5000 per user. Companies requiring ten or more users can receive a discount, but should expect to pay as much as $30,000 or more. Moreover, these numbers do not include setup fees (which can run thousands of dollars), training costs, licensing fees, and ongoing technical support. Cloud-based software usually requires a monthly or annual subscription fee, ranging anywhere between $500-$2000 per year. Companies typically offer bundle discounts (e.g. $6000 for 10 users).

What is the best recruiting software?

The best recruiting software is the one that best meets your organizational needs. With that said, there are numerous sites that rank and rate the best recruiting software. The listicles that are particularly comprehensive can be found at TechnologyAdvice and G2.

Ultimately, what’s most important is that you, as an organization, identify why you need recruiting software, what essential functions you need from a platform, and what functions would you like to have in the software. With that in mind, you can better compare different platforms to identify the one that best for you.