myStaffingPro vs. SmartSearch ATS

myStaffingPro is very easy to configure and setup and takes less than 2 business days to configure and get it up and running. It facilitates the HR Business Partners in their recruitment activities. For the Open Position in the Organization, with the use of the software, they can quickly shortlist the candidates with quick mix and match of the requirements. Interviews can be scheduled with the candidate. If a Candidate is selected, the proper background screening process is initiated and finally, the Onboarding process is also tightly integrated within the software.

Incentivized

I think our environment has stretched SmS and their capabilities (positively) but we have grown together and developed an enormously capable system together that is now very well integrated into our business. For doing applicant tracking, requisition management and offer management that has really been strong. I think we can partner together and build some better analytics and reporting capabilities that would be better suited for our business.

• One strength of myStaffingPro is because of its heavy manual interface, there is a lot of detail and very specific reason codes. This is very useful for later reporting to get specific information on hires and rejects.
• Also the ability to upload documents (CVs, resumes, phone screen notes, etc) is all located in a convenient place
• The calendar function is good, there are stop measures to prevent double booking and the time zones are preset

• The search functions are outstanding. It is the reason we originally went with SmartSearch many years ago. The ability to do very simple or complex searches gives the recruiting staff great flexibility in how they look for and narrow down candidates.
• The hire and onboarding traks allow us to create very specific processes we want our staff to follow to insure a consistent and repeatable result. I can create traks that can be very general or traks that literally provide emails and reminders to all of the players (recruiters, managers, candidates, etc...) every step of the way. This is particularly helpful where we have customers who have extremely stringent contractual guidelines that must be followed.
• Support. Their customer support is second to none. We always joke that they are our favorite vendor to deal with.... Anytime we have an issue or question. They are there to walk us through it. The training is on target and the staff has always been friendly and more than eager to help make us successful with the tool.

• This product is not particularly easy to use because it is not intuitive.
• It is difficult to generate accurate reports.
• It is difficult to add notes and find particular requisitions.
• Does not integrate well with our internal system in changes candidates to employees.
• If a step in the hiring process is missed, it does not give any notifications.

• SmartSearch has a steep learning curve if you want to extensively use the features like automated tasks and the report writer
• Technical support is spotty and sometimes very frustrating, they don't respond for weeks at a time.
• SmartSearch user interface is old and has far less ability to customize the interface than other tracking systems
• SmartSearch has virtually no ability to connect directly with other software and allows now other software to connect in - so no Microsoft Flow, no Zapier, no mail parser, etc. and since Smart Search capabilities are limited, not being able to integrate it with other platforms easily is unfortunate.

If I were a decision maker, I would not choose to renew myStaffingPro because of the overly manual process and lost productivity. I've found other ATS's that have the same functionality but are more intuitive, user friendly and appealing. Getting a hold of customer service and support was difficult and they were rarely able to fix the immediate issue.

I believe over the past 30 or so pages (or so it seems), you have every reason for my business to continue as a SmartSearch ATS client and user. The support is off the charts great the few times I need them (generally not even once per year). My business has been a client since 2004. That should say it all.

I have used a lot of applicant tracking systems in my career. I've always gone back to MSP saying that it's always been my favorite. It's easy to use, I've never worked with a system so easy to use. It's also easy to figure out if you don't know where something is located - you can typically figure it out on your own without having to ask anyone.

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.

Incentivized

They are good about scheduling maintenance during overnight periods. There have been a few server issues with the e-signature system over the weekends.

Incentivized

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 recently had an issue where it was brought to our attention by a candidate that specializes in Information Assurance and Network Engineering that their site was missing a secure socket layer for entering in your ssn, which means that when entering it, your ssn is in plain text in plain site. It should hide it with dots or asterisks as you type it to make it secure like when you enter passwords online. I turned off the field that collects SSN's immediately and have been waiting for a response as to when this would be updated so I could turn it back on. I submitted this to our rep back in October 2013 and they said they would forward it to their IT team. I never received any further follow up as to whether or not they would be updating this. I sent a follow up email and left voice messages asking for a status update in Jan. 2014 with no response. I finally called again at the end of Feb. 2014 and emailed. The rep seemed put out that I was telling her I was frustrated with the lack of follow through and that I told her I needed a response on whether or not this would be resolved. She then forwarded me an email from the IT team that said they didn't think this was an actual requirement, they would look into it. Today she emailed to let me know the IT team will not be making any changes.

Whether or not the issue above is a DoD issue or not, the length of time to receive the final response was way too long and involved too much follow up on my part. The fact that they are unwilling to update the SSN field is also troublesome. Even if this is not an actual DoD violation or a mandate, it's a pretty common practice on most websites for collecting private information. Would you enter your PIN number into an ATM if it showed your PIN number until you hit enter? Identity theft is very high these days and people should feel like the company cares enough to help provide that extra layer of protection of their personal information.

This recent development has really changed my opinion of MyStaffingPro drastically since I last wrote my review

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

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.

We thought it would've been better than ADP, but it wasn't. Also, the sales person who sold us on Paychex promised that this and Paychex would be able to do a lot of things we needed, which turned out to be a lie when we were implementing it, and the MyStaffingPro expert told us it wasn't possible, and it never was. It wasn't as user friendly either.

Incentivized

Functionally, SmartSearch is not on the same page as ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter as a platform is much more geared toward helping applicants and is essentially a glorified resume database. SmartSearch offers so much more in terms of features and abilities, that would not really be appropriate to try and compare the two. Similarly, the overall use of SmartSearch is an apples and oranges comparison to LinkedIn Talent. LinkedIn is great for sourcing and attracting talent, but in terms of tracking candidates all the way through a hiring process and tracking a heavy volume of job orders across a variety of states and locations, the two just don't really compare.

Incentivized

• Positive - Went from tracking candidates to excel to having a proper tracking system to move candidates through the hiring process faster
• Positive - Always working to improve current program to make it easier to use for recruiter, hiring managers, and candidates applying
• Negative - Bumpy start, but after building a relationship with the staff, smooth sailing to what we invested in

• That's easy - they have helped us grown and make more money. The core element of their technology (e.g. the ability to search for, identify and contact candidates is excellent).
• They are a business partner and do their very best to help us succeed.