PCR Recruiter by Jan Plessner, Motorcycle/Powersports Industry Talent Search Business Owner

Experiencing success as a first-time recruiter within 90 days of my start date (2012) and growing my volume of placements to consistently earn the #1 or #2 spot in the firm. Experiencing success right out of the gate after launching my own recruiting firm in Feb 2016.

Pros

I have been using PC Recruiter for as long as I have been recruiting, for about 6 years now. I used one other candidate tracking system about a year ago when helping another recruiter on a project. I like how PCR is an extension of me. I understand how most of the functions work. The tech hotline team members are the best. The training person is awesome, too. They are constantly updating the system. The system has never let me down. The system itself never goes down either.

The updates are done late at night. With PCR, I can keep track of all my e-mail communications. I use the PCR mail integrated right there in the system. Emails are automatically linked/attached to each candidate.

It's an easy program to learn and there are countless ways to access the information you need. I find PCR to be an intuitive system. When a new version was launched a few years ago, I felt like my suggestions were heard as they were fine-tuning the new edition.

I am a successful recruiter because I am efficient on PCRecruiter.

When a client needed proof that I submitted a candidate before they hired him, I was able to pull together all the dates, emails and history needed to get paid for the placement.

It's a great all-around system and I can't imagine working without it.

Mac for life. PCRecruiter for life.

Cons

The scheduling feature of the program is confusing, especially when it comes to different time zones. Some of my clients prefer I send a meeting notice to them so they can accept it and move it to their calendar. I haven't really mastered using this function or felt confident enough to use the meeting scheduler on a regular basis.

I think it would be cool to be able to color code or customize how different positions look on the system. Just like you can upload a company logo or a candidate's headshot...it would be nice to be able to color code positions with a wrench for a technician role for example, or a dollar sign for a controller job. I am a visual person and would like to make the live roles look different than the jobs that are filled, closed or on hold.

Some of the functionality is over my head. But I know that training is available for every feature of the system. All I would have to do is schedule it with representative. She's great.

When I used PCRecruiter in my past working for another company, I didn't like how other recruiters could go in and "steal" an active candidate who I was working with, without my permission. I think this issue was due to the fact that 6+ recruiters were competing for the same talent in this shared database and some recruiters lacked integrity and manners. There was also no enforcement of a fair and equitable system to share the database.

Overall solid ATS with straightforward UI and plenty of customization options for better efficiency

Pros

-Ability to customize name, company, and position record layouts to optimize work flow
-Ability to show/hide all menu options and arrange as needed
-Built in email client (PCRMail) integrates directly with database, so all correspondence is recorded automatically under the record's activities. Can easily move from email to client's record in database
-Can configure multiple email aliases for each user and assign custom SMTP settings to each respective alias (useful for dividing marketing and transactional emails between separate ESP's)
-Live Chat support allows for much quicker response times to issues and support staff is great to work with

Cons

-Limited email marketing functionality (can't send bulk marketing emails to a list of companies, can't schedule a future email blast to send out on a certain date/time, no way to configure a default bulk sending dedicated IP for marketing efforts, spotty "resend check" feature that only checks bulk email correspondence but skips all direct email activity, etc.)
-Can't search for record activities (i.e. sent someone an email) and record data (i.e. in the state of Texas) at the same time. Cumbersome process of having to do one search, save those results to a list, do the other search, and filter by that list.
-PCRMail has been notoriously problematic at times over the years (address book issues, email encoding issues, spell check problems, inbox refresh problems, frame sizing issues, etc)
-Unable to search rollup lists by rollup code (even though rollup codes are used in all advanced searches)
-No way to unmerge merged records

The Alternative Solution That Provides Amazing Flexibility At A Great Price

I have used PCRecruiter for over 10 years now. The product takes some time to learn, but once you invest the time to learn it's functions, it provides an amazing solution for the recruiting function. I have used this product in three different companies and implemented it with two clients at the corporate HR level. Because of its flexibility, PCRecruiter can be just about anything you need it to be... and MORE. The training department and technical support have always been able to get me and my team back on track when we have had issues. Up time is extremely important to us and our clients, and PCRecruiter has never failed us. I can think of only one time in the past 10 years where we have had a system failure that lasted about two hours. The product is very reliable. You need to spend the time necessary to learn the product. It's not necessarily a con, but more an investment. You will get as much out of this product as you put in. Spend the time with the training department and implementation team to explain exactly what you are trying to do and they can make it happen. Another option is to ask them for best practices... either way, if you are willing to learn how to use the product, it will pay off tremendously. Pros: Flexibility, East of Use, Cost, reliability, up-time, customer support, technical support, innovation, connectivity Cons: None as long as you are willing to learn the products capabilities and spend the time necessary to set it up correct the first time.

Pros

Pros: Flexibility, East of Use, Cost, reliability, up-time, customer support, technical support, innovation, connectivity

Cons

Cons: None as long as you are willing to learn the products capabilities and spend the time necessary to set it up

An Essential Workforce/Recruiting Software Tool

Our agency has been working with the PCRecruiter software since 2011 when we adapted it to our use for job placement services in the public workforce system. We started our on a totally paper-driven filing system. With our focus of helping prepare job seekers for the interview process and recruiting for employers to fill their job orders, we needed a software tool that could provide the recruiting tools but also an electronic file management system to track data on the job seekers and their activity. PCRecruiter provided all of that and then some with a little help from the MainSequence software development team. Since our use extended beyond the basic focus of the system it took a fair amount of customizing profiles, activities, reports, and related to get it right to where we needed the software to be. Fortunately PCR allows for this. You can customize a large portion of the software to meet your individual needs. The support techs were very helpful in creating our first evolution and we have continued to refine our database since that time. I think I've only stumped the techs once or twice but they eventually uncovered the solution to my issue/question. Once we pioneered the system for our workforce needs, several other partner agencies and employers also picked up on this great tool and began using it when they saw how effective it was with data management. The speed at which we can pull demographic data and get a snapshot of current recruiting patterns is great. Yes, the costs associated can be tough depending on your number of users but this is true for any of the top recruiting/electronic file management systems. It takes a little getting used to at first, especially some of the Admin functions, but once you have the basics down the software becomes very intuitive. Rarely have we found something that we could not get the software to do. Overall, an essential workforce/recruiting software tool to help efficiently maintain information.

Pros

Flexible and can be customized to fit user needs. Many options. Internet based so can be accessed from anywhere.

Cons

Sometimes customization requires a lot of adjustment to work just depending on what you are trying to do and reporting can be a little confusing until you spend some time on it. We have been using PCR8 still so some of this may have been improved in V9.

My best and most critical resource for recruiting success!

Pros

PC Recruiter is, hands down, the best recruiting CRM software I have found on the market. Its functionality is way beyond any of its competitors. As a CRM consultant, I have high expectations for CRM software, and this program has exceeded them. In fact, I found that there were a whole lot more resources than I had anticipated: easy-to-use plugins for Outlook and Chrome, extensive options to communicate with clients and candidates, and a robust database that is able to take all the information I need, put it where it is easily accessible, and then be able to get a comprehensive "picture" of what I need to know. I have used other programs and the general attitude of the other vendors is something like this: "Here's what it is . . . here's how it works . . . it's up to you to figure out how you can make this work for your business." Using spreadsheets and Outlook was more efficient than what they offered - which is what I had to use in the past with certain software programs. When it comes to PCRecruiter, it's as if they asked me what I needed and then built a great program . . . and then asked me what my "dream" software would include . . . and then they met and exceeded my expectations. The salesperson asked me a lot of questions and then made sure the software and my eventual training addressed my needs, rather than talking at me about its capabilities. After trying the "best" programs and, frankly, finding no comparison to PCRecruiter, I don't want any of my competition to use it - I like having a clear advantage.

Cons

There isn't anything I don't like about PCRecruiter. It would be great if they gave the software away for free, but with the price being lower than a lot of their competitors . . . again, I can't complain about anything with PCRecruiter.

Great recruiting software - needs some improvement as far as being a comprehensive ATS

Overall, as a recruiter software, I'm not sure there's a better product on the market. There needs to be some basic features to the platform, however, if PCRecruiter is going to compete in the ATS market.

Pros

Very easy to use - simple one click or drag and drop features make it incredibly efficient. Pricing model is based on users and NOT number of employees which is critical. ATS's should not have a per employee pricing model, period. Aesthetics are awesome, navigating through the platform is pretty straight forward.

Cons

As far as being an ATS there are a couple of very key features it lacks which are basic components of most, if not all, ATS'. 1) Currently it does not provide a way to pre-qualify candidates when they first apply to a position. Most ATS' offer front end questions to help determine if candidates possess the minimum requirements which helps the recruiter focus on those who meet those requirements first. 2) Automation emails can be sent, however setting it up is a little clunky - once you get through it, however, it works great. 3) This is more of a desired feature, but there should be an option to set a delayed time for automation emails. For example, when a candidate you're not interested in is interviewed, when you move them in to the appropriate folder in the pipeline to let them know they're no longer being considered it sends out the email immediately, there should be an option for a 24 hour to 48 hour delay.

Highly Functional, very adaptable and great customer support.

Pros

I am the IT and Business Consultant to a medium sized Recruiter / Placement Business that specializes in a niche market across USA.

We have used the web based version of PCRecruiter for 8 years since 2008.

As a medium sized business we did not want to fund a custom built program but needed the flexibility to be able to adapt the system in a similar fashion to having our own purpose built system and internal developers.

I first evaluated PCRecruiter (PCR) against several competing products in mid 2008 and found it to be the most versatile for our purpose. The only program of it's type that delivered everything we needed, plus expansion possibilities, was PCRecruiter. Periodically I conduct a similar review for the business and have yet to find a system that offers an advantage over PCRecruiter.

In the 8 years since we started using PCRecruiter we have expanded the system with several customized modules which have been possible within the system due to it's flexible architecture.

Finally I would like to make special mention of the customer support which has proven to be second to none.

Cons

I don't really have a dislike about the product or vendor. You usually only have dislikes when the service and product are not up to scratch.

Powerful Recruiting Software, responsive developers

I used PCRecruiter as an employee and then when I started my own company I chose them based on my experience and happiness with the database. I didn't even shop other options as I knew what this could do and wouldn't have any learning curve.

Pros

already had good powerful recruiting tools before they started actively asking for suggestions. They put in a request and suggestions forum and actually listen & prioritize the changes/improvements that we users have asked for. Not 100% of them, but many of them. Their tech support is super responsive and helps with individual problems. Very customizable for how you want to have it work with you and what you want it to show you.

Cons

It's got a LOT of bells and whistles I don't need, but it makes it useful for bigger recruiting organizations with more complex needs than I have as a small recruiting firm. I do wish some of the tasks were a little easier to accomplish with fewer clicks. Once data is in PCR it's harder to manipulate it than if it was , say, in an Excel spreadsheet. I do miss that type of flexibility.

The recruiter's companion!

I've used Main Sequence's PCR for many years and it is truly the recruiter's companion. Do you think you have what it takes to bill a million plus? You might, yet not without the right tracking software. I should know because I've billed many millions using this system and this is the system that made it possible. High billing activity takes a system that is easy to use, scale-able to large volumes of activity yet useful for part timers, saves time, performs solidly, and has the backing of a knowledgeable support team. I've explored the options and nothing compares.

Pros

Easy to use, reliable, scale-able, customizing options galore, can be conformed to fit your style, and is easy to use 'on the fly'. For beginners and advanced users, there is excellent training available. If you're stumped on an issue there is excellent LIVE support available. And these are knowledgeable support people who understand our business.

Cons

I honestly don't have a complaint!

Outstanding value and the features are world class.

Pros

I have used the biggest and most popular ATS systems in over 10 years as a corporate recruiter in Fortune 500 environments. Now that I am an independent headhunter, I am amazed at how much value and features you can get out of a smaller ATS like PCRecruiter. Some of these include being able to upload information and profile pictures in a few quick steps.

The most amazing thing about PCR is the tech support. You can call and get an immediate resolution to almost any issue. If it can't be resolved right away they make a point to get it done in the matter of hours, not days and weeks.

Lastly, the price is right!

Cons

There is not much I don't like as the software is very user-friendly. About the only thing is being able to change the