CATS Applicant Tracking System vs. Spark Hire

It has a great parsing feature and the extension is very helpful. Many ATS systems do not support parsing within LinkedIn...this one does. I was sad to see this option go when we finally transitioned. I would almost keep CATS just for the LinkedIn parsing if I knew I could easily get the information OUT of the system once it was there. A good API/webhook would be great, but sadly the API connections don't work well. Our firm also works with companies with multiple sites all across the US. There was never a way to "nest" a location with a parent company. Because of this, being able to research or report on a true client relationship was not possible. It was a very manual process.

Incentivized

Spark Hire is well suited for the growing organization which hiring managers are always on the move. The chance of physically having an interview is less and even candidate sorting & tracking is tough. In this situation, Spark Hire is the best fit. In addition to this, when you need someone very special for a role this application will come to your help. It will ensure the best candidate is recruited as it will go under the multi layer assessment.

Incentivized

• Simple to implement, SaaS based tool that needs no in-house IT support or resources
• Customizable reports, labels, fields, applications
• Affordable
• No long term contract, month-to-month with ability to cancel anytime
• Data backups are simple
• Email directly from the candidate record with response coming into Outlook is easy to configure and creates record and updates status automatically

• The user interface is clear and concise and not distracting. This is a pro because it allows you to focus on the interviewee and what they are saying.
• It is easy to access interviews, watch, rewatch, etc. The entire process is just so convenient.

Incentivized

• I would like to see either an integration with a robust reporting tool that would allow me to design my own custom reports with a data export or more built-in reporting options.
• Mobile app is currently mostly just a look-up tool. I would like it to have the ability to do more - add tasks, update pipelines, etc.

• We'd like more control over certain functionalities within our APS integration.
• We'd like more control over what actual communications are sent to our candidates.
• We would like the ability to set a different expiration date for an interview when using our APS - right now our only choices are 7 days and 14 days.

Incentivized

Our company has been using it and enjoying the benefits for a few years now. Its a perfect system for our end goal of finding the best candidate effectively and being able to track and write reports on our progress.

not recruiter friendly. workflow is not good

Spark Hire is easy to use for both us and the candidate/interviewee. There is not a huge learning curve to being able to implement the program. Additionally, our clients (who are given access to the interviews) don't find it difficult to use, and our candidates have very few problems when recording their video interviews

Incentivized

I've had mixed results with asking for support. Sometimes they gave a quick answer and sometimes my emails were never responded to. Some responses were a single word.

I have not used the support that much with Spark Hire but it seems that there are a lot of features available for support and different resources that are provided on Spark Hire's website. For the most part, the system is very user-friendly and it's easy to navigate and figure out things on your own.

Incentivized

This is an incredibly easy system to implement. There is no hardware or software required, it's entirely SaaS based. Compared to other systems I've implemented, it's breathtaking. Customization can all be done directly in the tool, there is no need for any involvement of consultants and most of the information you cannot figure out intuitively is covered in the knowledge base

We used to use Sendouts (prior to it being acquired by Bullhorn) - and it wasn't browser based like CATS so instead of being able to access it from a home computer, laptop, mobile phone, etc. you could only use it on the computer with the software uploaded - which is a hindrance. It also wasn't as customizable as CATS. We picked CATS because it the price was right, it was browser-based, had email-integration, and integrates with social media and job posting services to share your jobs
with the public.

I can't remember the names of the other companies I reviewed but I chose Spark Hire because I could purchase the service on a monthly basis. This is an important feature for us since we're a small business.

Incentivized

• We went from Excel spreadsheets to using CATS so honestly anything would be an improvement. But CATS has saved tremendous time on an on-going basis in terms of managing the career portal automatically.
• Being able to log email conversations with the click of a button from Outlook right into CATS has been a time-saver and also has helped numerous times in providing better follow-through to candidates and providing better tracking of candidate interactions and what they have previously said (or not).

• Best candidate selection over the years
• Better employee retention rate
• Improvement in business output
• Better drive for results among the employees

Incentivized