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Intuitive User Interface: Many users have found SmartSearch's user interface to be intuitive and easy to navigate, making it simple to …
Overview
What is SmartSearch ATS?
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.
Recent Reviews
Popular Features
- Company Website Posting (17)3.030%
- Job Requisition Management (17)3.030%
- Resume Management (17)1.010%
- Job Search Site Posting (17)1.010%
Pricing
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What is SmartSearch ATS?
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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What is SmartRecruiters?
SmartRecruiters’ Talent Acquisition Suite is a cloud-based recruitment marketing and collaborative hiring platform. It features an open marketplace for third party recruitment services. SmartRecruiters also offers talent sourcing and screening as add-on features.
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What is ADP Workforce Now?
ADP Workforce Now is a cloud-based HR platform for mid-sized businesses. It features customizable modules of various HR services that businesses can tailor to their specific needs, as well as regulatory monitoring and alerts to help businesses remain compliant.
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Product Details
- About
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is SmartSearch ATS?
SmartSearch is the flagship web-based talent acquisition and staffing management software from Advanced Personnel Systems Inc, that, while not as broadly used as some other software suites, is capable of delivering all of the features and capabilities (e.g. integration with outside services like Outlook, direct posting to job boards and sourcing via social networks, data/resume parsing and rich automation features) expected of applicant tracking systems. Live support representatives are available 24/7. Also, Advanced Personnel Systems offers a live, personalized demonstration of the software for those interested, as well as full "concierge" service throughout the implementation process.
SmartSearch ATS Features
Recruiting / ATS Features
- Supported: Job Requisition Management
- Supported: Company Website Posting
- Supported: Publish to Social Media
- Supported: Job Search Site Posting
- Supported: Customized Application Form
- Supported: Resume Management
- Supported: Duplicate Candidate Prevention
- Supported: Candidate Search
- Supported: Applicant Tracking
- Supported: Collaboration
- Supported: Task Creation and Delegation
- Supported: Email Templates
- Supported: User Permissions
- Supported: Notifications and Alerts
- Supported: Reporting
SmartSearch ATS Competitors
SmartSearch ATS Technical Details
| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | Apple iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, Mobile Web |
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
Reviewers rate Duplicate Candidate Prevention highest, with a score of 10.
The most common users of SmartSearch ATS are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Reviews and Ratings
(39)
Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
Intuitive User Interface: Many users have found SmartSearch's user interface to be intuitive and easy to navigate, making it simple to perform tasks such as building organizational charts and searching for specific locations or employees. This positive sentiment suggests that a significant number of reviewers appreciate the user-friendly design of the software.
Helpful Customer Support: Several users have praised SmartSearch's customer support team for being helpful and reliable. They have highlighted positive interactions with the staff, noting their knowledge and long-term experience in the industry. This indicates that the customer support provided by SmartSearch is highly valued by a considerable number of customers.
Efficiency-Boosting Features: Numerous reviewers have expressed satisfaction with SmartSearch's automated tasks, customizable reporting analytics, and search functions. These features are highly beneficial in streamlining processes, increasing efficiency, and saving time for users. The positive feedback suggests that many users find these functionalities valuable in optimizing their workflow within the software.
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Limited Export Options: Some users have found the export options in SmartSearch ATS to be limited, causing formatting issues when exporting jobs to platforms like Monster or Careerbuilder.
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User Interface and Ease of Use: Several reviewers have mentioned that while the user interfaces have improved, there is still room for ease of use improvements. The software can feel overwhelming due to the many functions and uses available, and some users have noted that certain features are unintuitive and challenging to learn.
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Technical Support Issues: Users have expressed frustration with spotty and delayed technical support from SmartSearch. This has caused difficulties when experiencing bugs, glitches, or other technical issues, as timely resolution is not always guaranteed.
Users frequently recommend SmartSearch for its versatility and ease of use. They appreciate that it is easy to navigate for new users and continues to improve without becoming clunky. The platform is praised for its simplicity, making it suitable for users who don't want a technical ATS. Additionally, SmartSearch is often recommended as a candidate tracking platform for Staffing and Recruiting firms. However, some users do note that finding tools and features can be difficult, suggesting that the platform may not be very user-friendly for beginners. Users also suggest that SmartSearch should improve troubleshooting and provide quicker technical support.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-5 of 5)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use SmartSearch as our primary applicant, job and client tracking system.
- SmartSearch is affordable. Most other systems like this cost more.
- SmartSearch has great staff, knowledgeable and long-term.
- SmartSearch automated tasks are very helpful.
- 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.
26.666666666666664%
2.7
- Initially it was great by providing the capability to work with candidates on line but this year in particular SmartSearch has demonstrably hurt our business because the job postings don't work as intended. As an example, we have currently waited eleven weeks for a fix to the job postings not going out to Zip Recruiter and we are still waiting.
- The cost of learning and developing reports has also been high. The built in reports are very limited and the report writer is difficult to learn and use.
We initially selected SmartSearch because it was more affordable than other options. Now, because we have invested so much in getting the reports and work flows to work, it is difficult to leave for another product. And yet, because SmartSearch is old and does not have all the tech features of new applications, we probably need to make a switch. They came out with a new user interface this year and we had been waiting for that for a couple years. But the new interface still does not have the current tech capabilities that other similar apps do.
We worked with another system, Tracker RMS, briefly last year as a trial and while it had lots of capabilities we were after, their technical support was lacking so we did not make the switch. We have also reviewed TempWorks, Avionte, AkkenCloud, ABD UltraStaff and Coats. All of them have more overall capability and more current tech capability than SmartSearch. If we did not have such a big investment in SmartSearch, we would make a change. And, if the level of their tech support responsiveness continues to decline, we will just have to deal with it and make a switch.
We worked with another system, Tracker RMS, briefly last year as a trial and while it had lots of capabilities we were after, their technical support was lacking so we did not make the switch. We have also reviewed TempWorks, Avionte, AkkenCloud, ABD UltraStaff and Coats. All of them have more overall capability and more current tech capability than SmartSearch. If we did not have such a big investment in SmartSearch, we would make a change. And, if the level of their tech support responsiveness continues to decline, we will just have to deal with it and make a switch.
6
Recruiting and placement, limited payroll and accounting.
1
To do basic online candidate applications and basic job posting and job management, SmartSearch is easy to use and does not require much in the way of technical skills. To make full use of the automated tasks and report writer requires more tech savvy and, in the case of the report writer, requires SQL skills. SmartSearch has tried to increase their support resources over the past few years but it is choppy and incoherent -- to figure out the best way to use SmartSearch for your organization or type of organization is pretty much up to you to figure out through trial and error.
- Basic online candidate application acquisition
- Basic job and client/contact management
- Basic hours or labor tracking
- We recently figured out that we can send emails out of SmartSearch into Zapier which has enabled us to take advantage of tech capabilities that Smart Search does not have.
- After a steep learning curve, we have been able to create some good reporting capabilities to make up for the lack of built in reporting.
- I understand they have a new email campaign feature coming, that will be helpful.
Yes
Replaced an old dBase system. We wanted to replace the old system because it was a very old in-house system and we thought a system like SmartSearch would be a better option than writing our own system again in an updated database.
- Price
At the time, several years ago, SmartSearch was considerably less expensive than other systems yet still offered the core functionality we were looking for. Their pricing has increased and today their pricing is similar to other applications that have much new interfaces and more capability.
I would learn more about the underlying technology and the vendor's commitment to staying current, constantly innovating and consistently providing responsive tech support. I also have a better understanding of the ways that this level of commitment outweighs cost considerations and would give more weight to these commitments than I would to price.
- Implemented in-house
Yes
Kind of. We initially only wanted/needed the basic functions of SmartSearch like applicant and job tracking. This implementation was simple and easy. As we progressed and wanted to start using the advanced functions we found that implementing them had a steep learning curve and that lots of things we expected to be possible were not. The training provided by SmartSearch was helpful but did not provide a road map for how to best use the application to drive staffing results.
- None - initial implementation with limited features and capabilities was easy.
Yes
Tech support responsiveness is spotty. Sometimes, they respond at lightning speed, within minutes. Then, out of the blue, it can days, weeks or even months. We are currently waiting on resolution to a glitch in getting our jobs to post out to Zip Recruiter -- it has been eleven weeks and nothing has been done. As a staffing agency, this really hurts our business.
Absolutely - they have great staff and they have come to my aid many times. In particular, their report writer guru has helped me learn and navigate the report writer.
- The new re-designed search function works well, fast and easy.
- Automated tasks on job tracks or candidates tracks are great once you figure them out.
- Texting out to candidates works well.
- Basic candidate and job tracking are solid and reliable.
- Built in reports are limited and report writer, using SQL, was really hard to learn and use.
- Interface is rigid, users can't create a work space to their liking.
- Email campaign function is in development, current bulk email is easy but limited.
- Full database information like database names, fields, and relationships, is minimal and not complete so figuring out reports take a lot of time.
Yes
The mobile interface is just a fraction of the full product, very limited capability.
December 23, 2015
Great System, Great Service
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use SmartSearch ATS for our recruiting services as well as our CRM. It helps us keep our recruiting efforts in line and provides excellent reporting and tracking of activities. As a CRM, its been very helpful with tracking pre-close and post-close clients. We are about to launch our marketing program utilizing the various tools in SmartSearch.
- Easy to use and very flexible. There are a lot of ways to customize it to your company's needs - both on the ATS and CRM sides.
- Excellent customer service - every single SmartSearch team member has been professional, friendly and very quick to answer questions and help with solutions. Plus, they do great follow up!
- They offer wonderful webinars on how to better utilize the product and provide access to some industry experts that are extremely beneficial.
- 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.
82%
8.2
- Increased employee efficiency in the ATS realm. It allows us to provide updated information to our recruiting customers.
- Strong ability to use broadcast emails as a marketing tool to our clients.
- Bullhorn,Taleo,Bond,CareerBuilder,Compass,HireDesk,iCIMS Talent Acquisition Software Suite,Mindscope,PC Recruiter,TalentRover
SmartSearch did more of what we needed it to do and did it better than any other product at an affordable price with excellent scalability. The staff is easy to work with and it wasn't a hard push to buy their product. It's web-based and has a pretty decent mobile application as well.
5
A basic understanding of databases is helpful. Desire to simplify and streamline activities is good, too.
SmartSearch is probably the most intuitive ATS I've ever worked with from the back end administration, set up and maintenance. We have 2 brands in our company and it was easy to create the necessary templates with the appropriate logos, etc.
SmartSearch is probably the most intuitive ATS I've ever worked with from the back end administration, set up and maintenance. We have 2 brands in our company and it was easy to create the necessary templates with the appropriate logos, etc.
- Implemented in-house
September 30, 2015
SmartSearch ATS is SMART!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
SmartSearch ATS is being used in my company both as an Applicant Tracking System for my RecruiterGuy.com contract recruiter/consulting business and as a Customer Records Management System for my public speaking business SpeakBill.com. It solves my problem of tracking jobs, candidates, managers, posting jobs for Internet Aggregators to scrape, and tracking activity for clients and my businesses.
- When a company is a new client, SmartSearch ATS does an excellent job of bringing functionality to their client very quickly, usually within a couple of weeks. Their training program is designed so even non-technical users may use their SmartSearch ATS quickly.
- The Customer Support Team at SmartSearch ATS are off the charts great for jumping on problems quickly and solving them. Sometimes the problems are created by other vendors who link with SmartSearch ATS. Even then SmartSearch resolves the problem. My advice? Expect a happy resolution the rare times you have a problem.
- The Development Team at SmartSearch ATS have been around for many years. While the fundamentals of the SmartSearch ATS software are mature, the nature of the ATS software business is constant change. SmartSearch ATS does a wonderful job staying up to date. There is no need to bleed at cutting edge. Give me up to date and stability any day! SmartSearch ATS provides both.
- When you create a new job posting, you are required to pick a field from "miscellaneous export information". Camera Operator and Makeup Artists are choices. Web Developers are not a choice. I don't get that.
94.66666666666667%
9.5
- My business is a small business. I have been a SmartSearch ATS client since 2004, through good economies and poor economies. The return on investment has to be there. SmartSearch ATS has a great return on my investment.
- As I mentioned previously the customer support at SmartSearch ATS is off the charts great! That means less down time and much more UP time!
- I am recognized as an expert in recruitment or talent acquisition. SmartSearch ATS helps me keep that recognition.
I have used many ATS. Some clients needed me to help them select their ATS. SmartSearch ATS (in my mind) kills many of the newer upstarts because they are a confident, mature ATS that focuses on the needs of their clients and provides unparalleled support.. Some ATS are selected more out of convenience than functionality. ADP ATS is one of those. As a Recruiter, I would much rather use SmartSearch ATS than ADP's product.
SmartSearch ATS is reliable, cost effective, up to date, and focused on their clients' needs. Nothing more needs to be said.
1
I am the owner, recruiter, consultant, trainer, and public speaker. SmartSearch ATS solves my tracking, posting, reporting, CRM, and resume storage needs.
SmartSearch ATS provides my support. This is a software product that only requires a person who understands basic technology to use easily. If the understanding is not there, SmartSearch ATS does a great job training that person or those people to become proficient. Any other ATS that requires a support staff is not cost efficient for a small to medium sized company.
- Posting positions for internet aggregators to scrape
- Tracking candidate activity
- Tracking resumes
- CRM for clients
- As a CRM for my public speaking business - SpeakBill.com
- Right now I feel I am fully utilizing SmartSearch ATS but I will try new solutions with this product when I face new problems.
Yes
It's been so long I do not remember the name of the ATS. Suffice it to say, they are no longer in business.
SmartSearch ATS provided my business with all of the functionality I needed in an applicant tracking system. Additionally the customer service is such a strong SmartSearch ATS strength that converting over to SmartSearch ATS was a pleasure - not a pain.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
- Third-party Reviews
For my business the single most important factor was confidence that SmartSearch ATS would take care of my business needs at a reasonable cost.
Actually I am happy with my process for selecting an ATS. I have been a third party recruiter since 1981. My process asks the right questions that enable me to make the best selection for my client or my business. SmartSearch ATS obviously is the best selection for my business since 2004.
- Implemented in-house
No
Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled
SmartSearch ATS staff handled my change management to perfection so the transition was not an issue.
- None
No
Their support is premium at all times!
Once I had a suggestion in the middle of the night - nothing important really. In the middle of the night I heard back from the SmartSearch ATS CTO saying he had implemented the suggested change. I hope he is getting more sleep these days! Great support!
Yes
The very few bugs I've found were resolved quickly and to my satisfaction - even when it was caused by a vendor that linked to SmartSearch ATs. See my note about the middle of the night solution by the CTO.
SmartSearch ATS ALWAYS provides me with exceptional support. I believe I have documented that fairly well. If we could just figure out the miscellaneous export information that is controlled by a third party, life would be excellent!
- Loading resumes is easy.
- Searching resumes in my SmartSearch ATS is easy.
- Posting positions on RecruiterGuy.jobs is easy - and I also use it to demonstrate why clients should consider a .JOBS TDL.
- None
Yes
The SmartSearch ATS mobile interface works fine for me when I need it.
August 20, 2014
SS rocks.
It is being used by the company that I work for to manage the applicants. It is used across the whole organization.
- Organization
- Easy Navigation
- Well Built
- More customization in the tool. An easier way to edit and put any box in whatever format on the dashboard.
- All good.
- iCIMS,avature
Stacks up equally.
30
Recruiting
5
It is really simple. User Friendly.
SmartSearch is being used by the organization as a whole. Its main purpose is to increase productivity throughout the company. As there are a lot of documents in play at an insurance company, a program like this brings a lot of value. The business problem it addresses is the lag that exists between way-points in the various business processes. With SmartSearch, there is a level of automation that significantly decreases this lag time, and diminishes the possibility of documents falling between the cracks.
- Organizational Automation - Too often a stack of paperwork on someone's desk takes a long time to process. This decreases the lag time by automatically routing paperwork to the proper party.
- Business Process Transparency - Along with the lag time mentioned above, other parties down the assembly line from a lag point are usually kept in the dark as far as where they are in a given business process. SmartSearch provides everyone involved in a business process or document workflow a clear view of its status, and who to talk to if there is a lag.
- IT Skill Needed - Although the basic functions are easy to implement for anyone regardless of their IT skill level, it takes someone with significant IT aptitude to implement the best parts of the software.
- Increased employee efficiency
- Increased business process transparency
100
SmartSearch is used by all aspects of the company, regardless of their function within the organization. One group that uses it possibly more than the others is the accounting department - specifically, the accounts payable specialists.
1
IT specialist
- Accounts Payable (Purchase Requests, External Orders Placed, Routing of Items Ordered, Invoicing, Paying Invoices)
- Customer Re-activation
- Human Resources
No
- Product Features
- Product Usability
Now that I have experience with paperless document management systems, I would be better able to ask questions that better point to my business needs.
- Implemented in-house
No
Change management was minimal
- Reluctance to adopt a new business process
- Limitations in ability to implement by non-IT specialists
- The end-user aspect of SmartSearch is very easy to use - especially when using the web view.
- The higher-end functions of the program are best implemented by an IT specialist. Non-IT specialists would have a difficult time gleaning the full value of the program in its implementation stage.