Contact Sales

Guide to buying recruitment software: what to consider 

Investing in recruitment software is a long-term decision that requires careful consideration.

Get it right, and you will benefit from streamlined operations, lower operating costs and enhanced efficiencies, all of which will boost placements and the overall effectiveness of your company.

The earlier you invest in recruitment technology, the quicker you can scale your agency with automation and processes that grow with you.  

What is recruitment software? 

Recruitment software is designed to help recruitment agencies manage and automate their processes so they can efficiently place permanent and temporary workers with their clients.  

Recruitment software automates admin and workflows to improve productivity so recruitment consultants can concentrate on dedicating time to their candidates and clients.  

Today, progressive agencies are looking for systems that provide them a competitive advantage and help improve recruiter productivity. 

In a recruitment agency, this will include:   

  • Recruitment website – essential in today’s digital world to help you attract candidates, clients and consultants
  • Recruitment CRM with video interview capabilities – the backbone of your business where all candidate and client relationships are managed 
  • Background Checking Software - for full compliance management 
  • Pay and bill software – so you can pay your workers and invoice your clients for cashflow management
     

Integrating your front office CRM functions with back-office administration helps drive productivity that leads to growth. 

What are the benefits of using recruitment software?

Watch our video to see how our product portfolio will help Attract. Manage. Pay.

How to choose the right recruitment software for your agency?

Identifying the right technology for agency relies on a number of factors. This includes (but is not exclusive to) you knowing your market sector, whether you are temp or perm focused (for screening requirements), your strategy and growth plan and budget, which naturally needs to be considered.  
 
Start-ups are the perfect example of adopting technology at the earliest opportunity so they can scale up with technology that can grow with them. Choose a recruitment agency software provider that can help you with implementation to minimise the disruption to routines. 
 
Any technology you choose from then will then have to integrate with the systems identified so they can help you grow in your sector and match the strategic plan you have carefully designed. 

What steps to take when buying recruitment software? 
 

Implementing recruitment technology can be a nerve-wracking decision-making process because once a judgement has been made it could be a costly decision to reverse what’s been the decision.  

However, to keep you calm through the process here’s a mini checklist guide to buying your cloud recruitment software

1. Understand the pain points 

Find the pain points from each department and team and understand what they’re struggling with. Empower your teams and colleagues. Understand what processes there are and how technology can help facilitate change and an uplift in productivity. Naturally, what your back-office team need will hugely differ from the sales consultants managing the front office and it’s important that your new recruitment software works for all the business, not just parts of it. 

2. Listen and gain buy-in 

Draw up a report based on your findings and communicate it back to the teams. Make sure problems won’t arise because communication has been poor. Taking the time to get buy-in early on very much changes the buying process. 

3. Implement necessary process improvements 

Ask yourself, and your teams, what is critical and what would be nice to have. Clearly separate the two into categories so you understand where you can compromise and what you in fact need to operate. Recruitment software shopping is often full of bells and whistles and shiny objects that very easily catch your attention and draw your eye, leaving you with a fancy product that doesn’t actually do what you need it to. 

4. Establish a budget for recruitment technology implementation 

Understand what budget you have available and your limitations. Consider other factors like cost savings in other areas too if you are thinking about the longer-term future of your agency.  For example, whether you will save on IT or hosting costs and use your staff more wisely as their time will be freed up from manual tasks. 

5. Take all stakeholders on a journey 

Get sign-off by all members of your board and stakeholders to avoid any nasty surprises or arguments later down the line when you’re halfway through signing your new software provider. 

6. Be diligent in your shortlisting of providers 

Create shortlists of the providers you initially like and the ones you think might be able to fulfil your needs. Lists, shared docs, collaborative digital spaces and shared folders will be the thing that saves you through this process and keeps everyone on the same page. 

7. Seek out and read reviews 

Ask peers, ask clients, ask Google and ask around. Recommendations are vital at this point as people have already spent time using the software and understand what works and what doesn’t. They’re already in the trenches with it. Any good recruitment software provider should be able to provide references to speak with or case studies to read. 

8. Be thorough with the demonstrations. Ask questions! 

Ensure you conduct a thorough demo process and don’t be afraid of being too comprehensive. This is the part you really get to prod and poke and ensure that this piece of technology can work for your business. If needed you can try online demos before launching into full demos and if necessary, ask for a second demo if you’re unsure or want to go through the process again and in more depth. In addition, ensure you bring key individuals from different teams to also test the product as this needs to work across your entire business, not just half of it. 

9. Capture feedback, quickly 

Get feedback quickly. Try to collect all feedback straight after demos or after meetings so you’re constantly gathering key information. Time moves fast, and consultants get busy, so capturing the right information quickly is key. 

10. A 360 process means everyone is on the same side 

Talk about everything and discuss it openly with the team. This includes consultants, payroll employees, the finance team and the board. Discussing the opportunities, needs and business requirements with the team dedicated to choosing the software. Picking the right software for recruitment agency is not an insular thing and will require people to get involved and roll up their sleeves. This is a team effort and the more helping hands, the easier it will be. 

Book a no-obligation demo to understand how our range of recruitment technology solutions can be embedded in your agency.