Applicant Tracking Software Or Recruiting Software, Is There A Difference?
The terms can be confusing. Recruiting software and applicant tracking software are often used in the same sentence when talking about recruiting and applicant management. However, as the industry matures, a distinct difference between the two is becoming more apparent. In the beginning when programs were first coming on the scene, their primary focus was trying to find a better way to manage and track basic resume information for applicants, thus the name applicant tracking.
Early on, the terms recruiting software and applicant tracking software were synonymous with each other as these applications revolved around the primary focus of the applicant. In fact, if you were a third party recruiting company, it would be quite common to have more than one different application that you might use to support your recruiting efforts. You might for instance, use contact management software to manage the sales/clients side of things and have a separate applicant tracking software to manage recruiting and candidate tracking. As the applications have matured over the last several years, we have seen an evolution of features and functionality that have taken recruiting and applicant tracking systems in different and distinct directions.
Recruiting software or recruiting CRM (client/candidate relationship management) as it's more often being referred to, is being developed around the needs of third party recruiting companies and executive search firms. Application vendors have taken what were typically two separate systems and combined the functions of sales/client management and applicant tracking into one, recruiting CRM.
Applicant Tracking Software and or talent acquisition systems support more of the corporate recruiting and human resource department needs. Typically they have such distinct feature sets like candidate on boarding or an applicant career portal, etc.
To be sure, both recruiting CRM and applicant tracking systems have overlapping features and functionality. So, how do you decide if you might need a recruiting CRM software solution or an applicant tracking system?
The primary criterion becomes clear when looking at the separating distinctions above. If in your recruiting efforts you don't require the need to manage clients, customers, or sales, then you likely would be better served by finding an applicant tracking software or talent acquisition system that provides the features and functionality that you need as opposed to recruiting software or recruiting CRM.
Early on, the terms recruiting software and applicant tracking software were synonymous with each other as these applications revolved around the primary focus of the applicant. In fact, if you were a third party recruiting company, it would be quite common to have more than one different application that you might use to support your recruiting efforts. You might for instance, use contact management software to manage the sales/clients side of things and have a separate applicant tracking software to manage recruiting and candidate tracking. As the applications have matured over the last several years, we have seen an evolution of features and functionality that have taken recruiting and applicant tracking systems in different and distinct directions.
Recruiting software or recruiting CRM (client/candidate relationship management) as it's more often being referred to, is being developed around the needs of third party recruiting companies and executive search firms. Application vendors have taken what were typically two separate systems and combined the functions of sales/client management and applicant tracking into one, recruiting CRM.
Applicant Tracking Software and or talent acquisition systems support more of the corporate recruiting and human resource department needs. Typically they have such distinct feature sets like candidate on boarding or an applicant career portal, etc.
To be sure, both recruiting CRM and applicant tracking systems have overlapping features and functionality. So, how do you decide if you might need a recruiting CRM software solution or an applicant tracking system?
The primary criterion becomes clear when looking at the separating distinctions above. If in your recruiting efforts you don't require the need to manage clients, customers, or sales, then you likely would be better served by finding an applicant tracking software or talent acquisition system that provides the features and functionality that you need as opposed to recruiting software or recruiting CRM.