iCIMS is a web-based applicant tracking system (ATS). The tool's talent recruiting and management functions include features like social recruiting, talent sourcing, offer management, and onboarding. The programs are centralized on iCIMS’s UNIFi platform and are scaled for mid-sized to enterprise businesses.
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SmartSearch ATS
Score 6.6 out of 10
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SmartSearch is a web-based talent acquisition and staffing management software. Features include job posting to job boards and social media outlets, resume parsing, and automated workflow. SmartSearch advertises robust customer service and implementation assistance.
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Pricing
iCIMS Talent Cloud
SmartSearch ATS
Editions & Modules
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Offerings
Pricing Offerings
iCIMS
SmartSearch ATS
Free Trial
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No
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
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More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
iCIMS Talent Cloud
SmartSearch ATS
Features
iCIMS Talent Cloud
SmartSearch ATS
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Integrates well with other HR systems like Oracle, SAP, and Workday. The profile creation process is very generic meaning it doesn't work well with all systems. It would be nice if they had a custom setting depending on the target HR system and the ability to save partial data entered and provision to complete at a later time. Follow up emails on workflows. Customer support is great.
If you have a recruiting organization that needs flexibility and a wide range of options to address an ever changing landscape than this is your system. It does not try to pigeon-hole recruiters into a single recruiting model. It allows you to customize how your organization does things but also allows you to control where you need to control. We have been using SmartSearch for more than 24 years. We started out on one of the first versions because we liked the company and the direction they were taking. SmartSearch has not always been the tool with the flashiest features.... but it has always had some of the best features. They have always been of the cutting edge of the next technology and have the tools and features that make SmartSearch a complete solution. We have not seen anything else out in the marketplace that has encouraged us to change.
Customization - the team at SmartSearch always tries to find a solution that works for our company specifically.
Customer Care - the team actually cares and is concerned about the well-being of our business. They help us solve issues as if they worked for us and this feeling is felt at every level of the organization beginning with their President.
Technology - I have used multiple ATSs and demoed many, many more. SmartSearch has superior technology for staffing firm; the technology that helps us recruit and fill jobs faster.
Listening - the team at SmartSearch actually listens to us and our concerns whether it's regarding a feature for an upgrade or simply solving an issue we are facing.
Common Sense - there have been many times in our relationship when we have asked about a feature and we hear "that makes sense, we will make that change for all of our customers"...listening is rare and they do it well.
There's some room for improvement with candidate status. If you change a status, you have to refresh your screen for that to appear. It's a minor thing.
It would be nice to hide certain bits of information on the web posting, but keep that information in the requisition for our records, ie, salary range, etc.
I would say that we are very likely to renew with iCIMS. They seem to continuously be improving their product based on the feedback from their clients. In addition, the thought have having to go through another implementation of this level is daunting and as long as the software continues to meet the business needs of the company and provides the appropriate level of support we will most likely stay. Costs regarding future renewals will also impact this decision and if necessary we will go to market to evaluate other options.
While I do not have experience with SmartSearch's competitors, I would renew my use of SmartSearch simply based on the up-front costs of implementing the program. It would be better to continue with a program that is sufficiently meeting my needs than it would be to incur the same up-front costs to implement something else.
We just love iCIMS. Our hiring managers love iCIMS. I give it a 9 because some hiring managers do not have to use it as regularly and need reminders on what to do. It really improved our experience with our ATS overall and I wouldn't want to work in any other system in my job.
There are so many facets of SmartSearch, that to know everything about it is nearly impossible. While it is mainly straight forward, there is a lot. After using the program for a while, you become pretty comfortable with the basics and can start adding some of the other features.
There is always ample advance notice before the software goes down for maintenance and this is usually done at off-peak hours. As for system failures - I can't think of any that have effected us in over two years od use.
My license for SmartSearch goes back to 2004. It has always been available for me - don't remember a single time it was not available in all of those years.
We can think of no dissatisfaction with our daily use of iCims, involving its response time to commands or incompatibility with any other software we presently use.
Let me begin by saying the implementation phase was PHENOMENAL! Katie was our support manager and she was outstanding. The process was cumbersome and time-consuming, but she was outstanding and knowledgeable. That process gets a 9/10 for sure. However, between multiple account manager changes (and no notification) and being promised functionality that doesn't exist, and not hearing back when we reach out to support or open a ticket, the process has been really disappointing since implementation. We do have a new rep who has reached out to introduce himself, and we are optimistic that our experience will improve considerably after that meeting.
Once you get the 1 person on the phone they are very knowledgeable and tend to solve the problem. The issue is there are not enough resources to handle all the clients. Their primary clients are "recruiting firms" and I think that is where most of the their support resources go
I would say I believe iCims online training is very good. It's informative, visually appealing, and simple in explaining all the different aspects of iCims. I also really like the new candidate onboarding, and all the other training curricula you have up to be able to inform or send out to the candidate. I like you can attach a URL link for videos as well so you can really customize the training. I feel that overall, I would like to see more. Perhaps, more robust options with the training, if that's something iCims is expanding on in the future.
Using the basic functions of SmartSearch is an easy implementation. But consider carefully what your organization needs to really drive placements. Because we only did a basic implementation first, we were caught off guard when later trying to implement more functions and realizing that the capabilities were limited or were difficult to learn and implement and realizing that tech support was not going to be consistent.
The difference between iCIMS Talent Cloud and Salesforce is night and day. We were stuck in the stone age of applicant tracking and metrics. iCIMS has given us the freedom to do with our data as we see useful for us. We are also able to integrate to current HCM/HRIS very easily and effectively.
We have looked at multiple alternatives over the years at both Gates and our collective experiences prior to joining Gates. In our opinion, SmartSearch is the right choice for our business today. We have been able to scale it globally and conduct all of our major requirements for our applicant tracking system and that works for Gates. We also feel like we are an important partner to SmartSearch and they work with us and we feel like our feedback is important to them. I have worked with a number of ATS vendors prior to SmartSearch and pre-Gates. That is not a universal approach in this space and is a unique value prop from SmartSearch.
iCims is currently pretty good and the best TAS for us at our stage of growth - but further improvement and enhancements will only help make it even better.
I am not involved in the budgeting or finance for recruiting software, so cannot speak directly to any numbers for ROI. However, SmartSearch personally saves me several hours a day in organizing candidates, thus saving my company substantial amounts in productivity.
The lacking ability to tag additional recruiters throughout the hire track process means whoever onboards the hire has to ensure that a "split" is marked when completing the NHS. Failure to do so can result in quite a lot of lost time from HR to get the mistake fixed.
