ZipRecruiter can be easy, but not always efficient.
December 19, 2018

ZipRecruiter can be easy, but not always efficient.

Erin Holm | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with ZipRecruiter

As our recruiter, I've used ZipRecruiter to post jobs and attract candidates. ZipRecruiter is one of the job boards our ATS is integrated with, and we see quite a few candidates come to us through this platform. We've used it as a free job board, done the free trial, and paid for job postings. We chose to use it as an option to further publicize our open roles.
  • It is a well-known product. More and more candidates select this as where they heard about our company. It's hard to ignore the fact that it's becoming a very reputable job platform. They do quite a bit of advertising, so I'm interested in seeing how it will grow.
  • Because it's grown in popularity, the candidate pool is quite large. Depending on your criteria, there are a lot of potential candidates to find.
  • There is a way to rate candidates using the thumbs up/down/middle options. I enjoy having this right on the platform, rather than having to make notes about candidates.
  • Fairly user-friendly - it's not the sexiest interface, but it's also not difficult to use, which is nice.
  • Quality of candidates - one of the reasons we stopped using this platform is the lack of quality/qualified candidates. ZipRecruiter has an option where candidates can one-click on a type of job and their resume is posted to a variety of roles. These tools tend to make recruiters cringe, as resumes are splattered across job postings that aren't truly related to their skills. More filters for job applicants would be incredibly helpful, especially as the platform grows!
  • Price - for smaller businesses that don't hire hundreds of people, the price seemed a bit high. It just wasn't worth it for us.
  • Overall, just more ways to filter criteria and candidates. I struggled with finding filters based on location and/or if candidates were willing to relocate. We had candidates applying from all over that had no intention of relocating.
  • ZipRecruiter did not provide much positive impact. For sponsored posts or during our free trial, we did not receive any qualified candidates. Our ATS posts to the free ZipRecruiter board, and we have had candidates come through there, but have actually hired very few.
  • ZipRecruiter would have had a more negative impact on our ROI had we continued using the paid option. However, we felt it was not worth it and discontinued. Others may find it more beneficial, but for our hiring patterns, it wasn't necessary.
Compared to other paid job posting platforms (LinkedIn, Indeed, etc.), ZipRecruiter does have it's positives. Their customer service appears to be better, but my experience with it is limited. It continues to grow and have a lot of candidates, so that may be more helpful to other companies. Given the amount of advertising they do, I imagine it will continue to grow and work out any kinks it still may have. My concern would be that as it does grow, recruiters will continue to get applicants that are not qualified for their jobs. Hopefully, they will find a better way to filter and pull qualified candidates.
ZipRecruiter does have a large number of candidates and only seems to be growing. If you're looking for more general roles, I think it would be a useful tool. The more specific you get, the less likely it seems you get the right candidates. Most of the applicants I received from ZipRecruiter or applicants applying on their own were not even remotely qualified for the role.

Additionally, although not an outrageous fee for companies that hire in large quantities, if you're putting up just 1 or 2 jobs a month, the price can be steep (especially with what you're getting).