Having an Applicant Tracking System is crucial to streamline the hiring process
Here at LeanBox, our operations and HR teams were spending too much time reviewing job applicants and trying to find the right fit. We figured: there had to be a better way. And we were right: It turns out, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) abound, and they help cut down on administrative work, sift through candidates for the best possible candidates using automated filtering and reducing time to hire for qualified applicants, which is key for a rapidly growing company like ours. We spent a lot of time reviewing our top ATS options for small and mid-sized businesses.
What to look for in an ATS
Since we spend a lot of time with HR teams implementing employee perks like LeanBox, we wanted to share our Applicant Tracking System review with you. Here’s what we were looking for in an ATS:
- Connect our leadership team with remote hiring managers for a centralized recruiting center.
- Empower employees companywide to nimbly contribute to recruiting efforts.
- Provide a visual interface for applicant tracking/comparing and a talent pool database that allows LeanBox to maintain a database of qualified candidates.
- Provide a platform for interviewer feedback, collaborative tools and a web-based portal that allows applicants to engage with the process as well as syndication tools.
- Integrate with our other software tools and provide mobile support.
- Provide robust reporting.
We evaluated 5 ATS platforms, all of which were targeted to small and mid-sized businesses. Here’s what we thought:
Newton
With an outdated interface and limited features, we found Newton was an expensive option relative to the others we reviewed. The Dashboard is based on open positions, not candidates. While independent recruiters are candidate-focused, companies hiring are typically more position-focused.
Pros
- Fully mobile with one of the better Careers pages.
- Integrates with Google Calendar.
- Heavy automation, the ability to electronically sign offer letters.
- Data-heavy reporting and adequate visuals.
Cons
- Implementation is long (2 weeks) and expensive ($1,000+).
- Acquired in December 2015 by Pay-Cor, so future development is unclear.
- Text heavy/clunky interface.
- No social-style communication system, no Slack integration and no in-platform syndication.
Price
- $349/month plus $99/user
Jazz
Jazz is an off-the-shelf, one size fits all solution in the middle of the market. Its simple, clean dashboard is candidate (not position)-centric. Custom workflows allow you to repeatedly evaluate candidates easily.
Pros
- Slack-style mentions for internal communications.
- Integration with Zenefits, Google Calendar and SparkHire Video Interviewing.
- Unlimited users and unlimited jobs with above-average reporting.
- Syndicates to Indeed, You’re Hired, Glassdoor and LinkedIn.
Cons
- Requires annual contract.
- Non-visual talent pool.
- Candidate UI needs employment and it’s difficult to compare candidates.
- There’s no tool for direct recruiting.
Price
- $399/month
Greenhouse
Greenhouse is a premium ATS and focuses on open positions as opposed to candidates. Its beautiful, powerful platform allows you to build customizable scorecards through a great visual interface and evaluate the candidates within the recruiting cycle.
Pros
- This platform had the best “scorecard” for gathering interview feedback.
- Integrates with Benefits and Parklet (onboarding) with strong mobile support (important for scorecards).
- Strong scheduling/calendar integration and Indeed, SimplyHired and Glassdoor syndication.
- One of the most customized, powerful careers pages, good candidate pages, good “talent pool” database tools.
- In-platform emailing and social mentions. Chrome extension for direct recruiting.
Cons
- Expensive, though there are discounts for paying up front.
- No visual reporting interface or Slack integration.
Price
- $600/month with discounts for paying up front.
Lever
Lever is comparable to Greenhouse, but candidate-centric and focused strongly on high-growth companies under 100 employees. Fun fact: this was an internal Twitter product before spinning off. Its strengths lie in syndication and it seems ideal for recruiters.
Pros
- A great Pipeline screen for overviews.
- Auto-capturing of bi-directional emails to candidate.
- Chrome extension for direct recruiting
- Slack, Docusign, calendar and Benefits integration.
- Social-style communication and candidate communication in-platform.
- Good “talent pool” database.
- Recruit in-platform from LinkedIn, Twitter, Angelist, GitHub, Dribble, Jobr and hired.com.
Cons
- Reporting is powerful, but non-visual, and it’s expensive.
- No syndication to third-party sites.
Price
- $600/month
Recruitee
Recruitee is a position-centric platform from Holland combining many of the best features from the above platforms in a pay-by-open position model. Its efficient, clean system is both nimble and powerful.
Pros
- Social mentions and candidate communication in-platform.
- A modular careers page can be hosted direction on website, with direct recruiting via Chrome app.
- Good, simple system in place ot rate and evaluate candidates.
- Integrations with Indeed, Trovit, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Monster, Facebook and Github, with discounts.
- Month-to-month pricing that decreases as open positions decrease.
Cons
- No Slack support (though it’s in development).
- Talent pool database requires hacked solution.
Price
- $99/month for unlimited users; varies based on open positions.
Our Pick: Recruitee
We chose Recruitee because of its incredible power for its price, though it was our top choice agnostic of price as well. For a reasonable amount and no long-term commitment, we felt Recruitee would allow us to quickly see a positive impact on recruiting and hiring.