10+ years I have used SmartSearch

If you need a great applicant tracking system that was built for applicant tracking and candidate rating/search, plus some limited accounting capabilities and online timecards that upload to accounting software, this is a great system. If you need a full GL accounting system and not so much an applicant tracking system, this isn't for you.

Pros

Highly customize-able, versatile, EEOC compliance built in, job portal, some limited accounting capabilities too. Personable staff, most with long-tenure. Responsive to needs and even suggestions to incorporate into their core product at no cost. One of the largest 2 staffing firms in the world wanted to buy them multiple times. You can easily set up automated tasks at any step of the hiring process, which is awesome to help control how your staff uses the system and to ensure that they don't forget important things for their customers. I've used their system for over 10 years and I've never even thought of leaving due to need for something they don't have. And I'm a bit of a perfectionist.

Cons

Some reporting needs are difficult to achieve on your own with their built in reports. It's almost like both too many options and some important options aren't there. But they are generally willing to help pull the information for you from the back-end.

Have used SmartSearch in our business for years and as a user and administrator for the past 3 years

Love the people at SmartSearch. Would like to see better eye candy (user interface simplicity), better reporting and formatting, telephony integration, better API capabilities, and mobile applications for time reporting.

Pros

SmartSearch has alot of functionality, great customer support, always willing to look at new features, a lot of independent study capabilities built into the application. Our recruiters are using the hiring and onboarding functions daily. Sales is using a small percentage of the CRM capabilities. Love integration to email, text, but no phone recording capability is limiting

Cons

Smart Search is not easy to navigate, and we hear this from our users and users in other companies. It does have an strong online training tool, but most people don't have time to learn this way. Most people like visual instruction, which can easily be documented for the way we use the product. Report writing is less than simple and difficult to set up. Reports do not format well. Lacks telephony integration, which is pretty common in almost all CRM products these days.

Solid ATS Package

We have used SmartSearch since 1996, and have used some form of the product ever since. Technical support has always been outstanding. Training has been great. We really could not have asked for a better business partner. We have been approached by numerous vendors for years with different ATS packages and none made us consider moving away from SmartSearch.

Pros

Solid reliable product. Company is always working to add features and update the product to keep up with the changing requirements of the staffing world. Like the overall interface. The dashboard is customizable and really let's you look at the key indicators you want to see.
The search capabilities are second to none. The basic system is fairly intuitive so bringing on new recruiters and getting them up to speed is not a big issue.

Cons

Some of the features and reporting are not what we need and the report designer is not user friendly.

Outstanding

There are many players in the ATS space these days. Few if any have the experience that SmartSearch does. We've found that many make claims that are unsubstantiated by their product. At the end of the day, we believe SmartSearch is the best product on the market.

Pros

SmartSearch is a full featured, end to end recruiting software package that will efficiently manage an operation regardless of size. As. Tool, SmartSearch creates workflow and order in an operation and that translates into more orders, more submits, more interviews, more placements, and more gross profit.

Cons

The only con is the other side of a strength. SmartSearch has been built with many options. You can configure SmartSearch in several ways. You will have to invest the time to configure each element of SmartSearch the way you'd like it to function in your operation. This will require advance planning on the part of the end user.

Owner ITech Recruiting LLC

I've used several other talent/recruiting systems, both vendor supplied and custom built and this is the best one I've seen.

Pros

Very easy to learn; functions are intuitive; excellent support; easy to get tech support people on the phone, including the CTO; very responsive to suggestions for enhancements and tweaks; good problem tracking capability; always enhancing and improving.

Cons

Could do a better job of communicating functional changes. Also, I use a very small percentage of the functionality so a mini version with less on the screens would probably work for me. And since it has a lot of formatting and customizing features, perhaps that is even currently possible but I haven't brought up the issue, but now that I thought of it i will do so.

Best Customer Service in the Industry

SmartSearch is designed with the recruiter in mind. While reporting and process compliance are important (and the tool does this very well) in my mind the most important function is to help you find more candidates faster and manage your relationships, which SmartSearch does wonderfully. And the customer service is hands-down the best I have experienced across all the ATS/CRM platforms I have worked with.

Pros

Very flexible and customizable
Excellent customer service
Designed around how a recruiter thinks and needs to use the tool

Cons

Really the only negative for me is that the tool is so flexible it can become overwhelming on what you can do with it. This is ultimately a good thing, but you need to invest your time to understand the capabilities and how you can use them all.

SmartSearch continues to build value

The people at SmartSearch makes this solution appropriate for our business. When we have questions, they help us immediately. They couldn't be more friendly or accommodating.

Pros

The user interface had been continually improved and over the past 18 months there have been a number of enhancements, which have greatly benefited our staff. Highly recommend doing a refresh with sales to ensure your are familiar with new features/functionality. We found several golden nuggets by going through this process. Custom software development has been a great value.

Cons

Setting up reports is not as easy as we would like to see, but recent enhancements have greatly improved the reporting tools.

SmartSearch receives my highest recommendation. It is, quite simply, the best tool on the market.

SmartSearch receives my highest recommendation. It is, quite simply, the best tool on the market. It assists us in every area of our business, from applicant and job order tracking to customer relationship management to online time and subvendor management. The APS team and their SmartSearch product have earned our loyalty.

Pros

SmartSearch has a great "out of the box" product and provides enough customization capabilities to keep our users and customers happy. It's easy to use and our team members love it. The search speed is unsurpassed. We use it for both technical resume word searches and clerical and light industrial application searches, and it provides us with information very quickly. The only limitation to its speed is the traffic on the Internet.

SmartSearch is reliable. The system is always "up," and our data is secure. We have brough multiple divisions on the system, and the data migrations have gone off without a proverbial hitch.

When I email or call the support team, they find answers. In addition, they listen when we request improvements and incorporate our needs into future releases.

In addition, we appreciate that SmartSearch has maintained their focus on the staffing industry. Many competitive products have come and gone, but SmartSearch is still here doing a great job.

Cons

In recent releases, SmartSearch has addresses their known weaknesses. They have provided an ad-hoc reporting function which has assisted us in generating customized customer-specific reports in a timely manner. They also now provided training content which was not available in previous releases.

SmartSearch Review June 2017

SmartSearch is a decent product but is expensive.

Pros

1) Good customer service
2) Decent reporting tools
3) Auto posts to free and paid Job Boards - which is a great time saver. We post to Indeed, Glassdoor, Monster and Dice with just a one click for each job board.
4) BPM (Business Process Management) = automated req approval emails to the the approval chain. We have the approval chain set-up as Recruiting Department - Compensation Analysis - CEO. Once the hiring manager opens the Req - SmartSearch emails Recruiting for approval with a link to the job. Recruiting reviews the job and hits the "Approved" button. The process is then repeated unto CEO approves. Once the CEO approves, then the job auto-posts itself to free and paid sites.
5) Easy to use and customize reports and Req Fields.
6) Can build data pipes and integrate with ADP so candidate information flows in to ADP Workforce
7) SmartSearch can integrate with a company's web-site and be the back-end of the "Career" page.
8) Nice WIP (Work in Progress) side ribbon where at a glance shows #open reqs, pending approval, submittals & interviews that are taking place.

Cons

1) SmartSearch is expensive.
2) If using SmartSearch as the company's Career Page be advised it is very ugly. The font of the req job fields are in Times Roman, size 14.
3) No auto capture of emails to candidates. Everything requires a manual copy and paste.

Smartsearch, the logical choice--again and again.

I've been in the position several times at different companies where I've had to select applicant tracking software, based on fit. Each time, I review the marketplace to see what is available, investigate the top contenders, match features to cost and every single time, Smartsearch has been the choice. I've been the implementation project sponsor and managed the adoption process. Note: It is ALWAYS easier to manage change among professionals if there is a quality solution that positively impacts efficiency attached. Smartsearch is that solution. I'm excited to recommend the software and the team behind/beside it. Feel free to reach out to me personally at Mary Ellen Mesi on linkedin with any specific questions you may have or detail you'd like. I am a raving fan, for sure.

Pros

Reasons I keep coming back to Smartsearch include excellent support from the top down, quick response when there is a question, capabilities that far exceed any other tool in its class, cost that is reasonable and the ability to customize easily--increasing the user's reach and effectiveness while maintaining a personal touch. The staff is quick to respond to helpdesk tickets, the programmers are open to suggestions and the upgrade schedule is quite aggressive--they are always adding new features, the latest including social network tie-ins.

Cons

The new apps for iPhone and Droid are lacking slightly in the Smartsearch 'sizzle' that comes with the standard on-line version, but I'm certain that improvements will be on the way. Also, the Outlook toolbar, which is a solid add-in was designed specifically for PC's, so Mac users are out of luck with that one feature.

I have used SnartSearch for more thsnn10 years

As CEO of a division of a large staffing company I have seen everything available at one time or another. SmartSearch out performs them all at a very reasonable price without months, or years, of extensive installation processes, training issues, inflexible demands and delays.

Pros

I have used SmartSearch in over 100 locations with minimal training requirements and ease of use. The staff and principals are accessabke and willing to deliver solutions. The updates are always timely and keeps the program state of the art. I have investigated more costly competitors and found all unsatisfactory and less capable.