Recruiting software can help to streamline the recruitment process, from candidate sourcing and engagement to selection and hiring. Top solutions also make it easy to manage paperwork electronically and produce reports to optimize the hiring process. But finding the best solution for your unique needs can be difficult. We’ve broken down best recruiting software to help you make the right choice for your business.
Best Recruiting Software in 2024
- Manatal: Best for most teams
- Workable: Best AI-powered recruiting platform
- Ceipal: Best for applicant tracking
- JazzHR: Best for limitless hiring
- Zoho Recruit: Best free recruiting software
- Recruit CRM: Best for staffing agencies
- iCIMS: Best for complex recruiting needs
- Jobvite: Best for large organizations
- HiringThing: Best private-label ATS
- Breezy HR: Best for fast-growing companies
What Is Recruiting Software?
Recruitment software helps hiring teams manage and optimize the entire hiring process to improve hire quality, reduce administrative work, improve collaboration among decision makers and reduce the time it takes to fill a role.
The best recruiting software makes it easy to find, evaluate and select high-quality job applicants to interview. Features you should expect in recruiting software include job posting on multiple career sites, résumé screening and candidate evaluation and tracking tools.
Types of Recruiting Software
There are several different activities involved in the recruiting and hiring process from sourcing to matching to interviewing, so it’s not surprising that a variety of solutions are available to address those activities. Some recruiting software providers include multiple types of recruiting tools in their platforms. Other providers specialize in specific actions, such as job placement or candidate screening.
Here are some of the most popular types of recruiting software available today:
Job Placement Software
For best results, hiring managers need access to a large pool of qualified applicants. Job placement software automatically posts job advertisements on multiple recruiting sites and job boards. There are hundreds of recruiting sites, the most popular being Indeed, LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter, Monster, SimplyHired, CareerBuilder and Google for Jobs.
Candidate Relationship Management Software
Similar to a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, a candidate relationship management solution—or Recruitment CRM—helps recruiters stay in touch with current and potential job candidates.
It does this by providing a contact database that tracks interactions, ideally across multiple outlets like text, email or social media. Recruiting agencies and large organizations that hire in large volumes reap the most benefit from using recruitment CRMs.
Video Interviewing Software
Nowadays, more hiring managers and recruiters are conducting job interviews via video. Video interviewing is sometimes a built-in feature within recruiting software or can be conducted through a third-party integration with Zoom or another video app. VidCruiter and Spark Hire are software providers that specialize in video interviewing.
Some recruiting software solutions, like Spark Hire and Hireflix, support one-way video interviewing where a candidate records themselves answering question prompts. The benefit of one-way video interviews is that a candidate’s responses can be shared with other stakeholders that wouldn’t have otherwise been able to make it to a live interview.
Applicant Tracking Software
Applicant tracking software (ATS)—also referred to as an applicant tracking system—is a type of recruitment software that helps recruiters manage the entire hiring pipeline, from job posting to employee onboarding.
ATS platforms include hiring team collaboration tools, messaging and interview scheduling tools, résumé parsing, reference checks and preemployment testing tools. Zoho Recruit and Breezy HR offer excellent ATS solutions.
Preemployment Testing Software
Employers use preemployment testing software to assess a candidate’s skills or measure how well applicants’ values fit with the company’s values. Standardized or customized tests can evaluate candidates on several attributes, including technical knowledge, problem-solving skills, cognitive abilities, software competency, emotional intelligence and dominant personality traits.
How To Choose the Best Recruiting Software
Whether you’re looking to get started with recruiting software for the first time or are switching to a new solution, here are our top tips for choosing a recruiting software that’s best for you:
- Set and stick to your budget, preferably finding a solution that can scale with you as your workforce and its needs grow.
- Determine your “must-have” features vs. “nice-to-have” features.
- Test the software for overall functionality and user-friendliness before you commit to a purchase.
- Consider software that can be customized to accommodate your organization’s specific needs, for example, in reporting, job requisitioning and white-labeled career pages.
- Choose recruiting software that integrates easily with other software and apps you use.
- Verify that the software assures an unbiased recruiting process and promotes diversity and inclusion through features like anonymous screening and interview scorecards.
Top Recruiting Software Features
The features you’ll need in your recruiting software will depend on your specific needs. Companies with modest hiring programs typically only require basic features, such as job posting and candidate tracking. Enterprise-level organizations and recruiting agencies with more sophisticated recruitment needs require a wider variety of features—like automated sourcing and candidate matching—to handle the recruitment process from job requisition through onboarding.
Here are popular features you can expect to see in the best recruiting software:
- Job requisition management. In most organizations, you can only conduct a candidate search once the position is approved. That’s why it’s helpful if your recruiting software provides job requisition management, preferably as a customizable option, so you can adjust the software to align with your organization’s exact requisition process.
- Job posting. Most recruiting software solutions let you choose where and how your jobs are posted online. Many, such as ZipRecruiter, allow you to post jobs on more than 100 job boards with just one click.
- Automated sourcing. Recruiting software with this feature can help you locate qualified candidates using intelligent sourcing algorithms, employee referral programs and social media sourcing, especially LinkedIn.
- Automated candidate matching. This feature pairs your requirements with the most qualified applicants often through automated resume parsing. This saves the recruiting team the time and effort of sifting through applications to find qualified candidates.
- Individual candidate tracking. Every interaction with each candidate needs to be timely, consistent and stored for easy access and viewing. Keeping thorough records on your recruiting and hiring efforts not only promotes a favorable candidate experience but also keeps your company compliant with employment law.
- Preemployment testing. Some organizations require applicants to complete assessments or perform other preemployment testing to further narrow down the applicant pool. This is helpful for companies that post jobs yielding a high number of applicants.
- Background screening. Applicant background screening is conducted through a native background check tool in a recruiting software solution or, more often, from a third-party provider. The findings should be securely stored, and many recruiting software options allow you to do this manually or by integrating with a third-party screening app.
- Reference check. Contact names, dates of contact and findings from reference checks should be documented, so it’s helpful to choose a software solution where you can facilitate electronic reference checks and store documentation.
- Electronic forms and signatures. If you plan to have candidates complete any form, such as nondisclosure agreements, noncompete agreements or job offer acceptance letters, it’s helpful if your software can handle this process electronically. This mitigates the frustration of back-and-forth communication and the chance that files get lost.
- Onboarding tools. Recruiting software that moves new hires into an onboarding process helps them get off to a strong start with your organization. Look for a solution with built-in, customizable onboarding features, such as welcome messaging, first-week goals, app and tech provisioning, benefits information and any pertinent training.
Software Integrations
The best recruiting software can be even more effective through third-party software integrations. For example, you may want your recruiting software to integrate with your current email, calendar, video meetings or project management tools. When selecting recruiting software, be sure to double-check whether it integrates seamlessly with the software you already use.
Recruiting Software Cost
Recruiting software costs range from $0 to $719 per month, though solutions that are incorporated into human resources management and human capital management platforms can easily cost thousands. The amount you’ll pay varies by the provider you choose, job posting volume, number of users and the length of time you want your jobs posted.
Most recruiting software providers offer month-to-month and annual pricing plans. You’ll typically save 10% or more by entering a yearly contract.
You don’t necessarily have to go with a monthly or yearly plan; a few other pricing models are available. For example, LinkedIn has a recruiting option based on a pay-per-click basis; you set a custom budget and only pay when someone clicks on your posts. SimplyHired charges on a pay-per-contact basis where you post unlimited jobs for free and only pay a fee when you want to contact an applicant.
Before investing in a recruiting solution, take advantage of free trials so you fully understand what each software brings to the table. You may find lower-priced software fits your needs just as well or even better than higher-priced options.
The best way to keep costs down for recruiting software is to understand your options in light of your recruiting needs. There’s no need to commit to a long-term contract for short-term recruiting needs. It’s also unwise to go with a short-term contract if your recruiting needs are ongoing or growing. Most importantly, choose a solution that’s in your budget and has the most or all of your “must-have” features.
