Applicant Tracking Tailored for Recruiters - Techstaff spins off Networkerspro.com

Management at the engineering and information technology recruiting firm Techstaff wanted an up-to-date computer system that would make their recruiters more effective. They couldn't find an off-the-shelf application to their liking, so they turned to chief information officer and network administrator Joyce Dieck and her staff and asked them to develop such an application.

That was three years ago. It took Dieck's team about a year to get the application up and running and rolled out to Techstaff offices. Since then, they've been tuning and tweaking Networkerspro.com in a controlled environment.

This software, though developed for and by a recruiting firm, also could be used by HR departments that do their own recruiting.

Earlier this year, with Techstaff's blessing, the team spun off to. become Networkerspro.com. The fledgling firm is offering its product, also called Networkerspro.com, as a hosted web application. The company claims the software is more useful to recruiters than a generic contact management system and less expensive and hassle-prone than multi-user applicant tracking system, especially for an operation like Techstaff. with a need to share candidate information among offices around the country.

Straightforward and Speedy

Networkerspro.com is essentially a centralized database containing data on applicants and on hiring departments or, in the case of recruiting firms, clients. The database also stores job requisition information and Rich Text Format versions of applicants' resumes.

The first screen that a user sees after logging in presents system messages flanked by function tabs: Update Utility, Hot List, Quick Entry and Clients on the left border of the screen, running from top to bottom, and Applicants, Job Orders, To-Do List and Miscellaneous on the right border.

Networkerspro.com is a straight-forward applicant tracking application, consistent in its presentation from one function to the next. Click on Hot List, for example, to see a list of the most "placeable" applicants. Another list shows the types of applicants most sought after by the hiring department or client.

The options available to a recruiter who clicks on Applicants include search, help and "quick find." Quick find allows recruiters to retrieve multiple screens of information on a particular applicant by keying in the applicant's name, or by keying in just a couple of letters, in which case Networkerspro.com displays a list of all the applicants whose names begin with those letters.

Applicant records display contact information, education, work history, notes, the applicant's s resume, submittals and miscellaneous information such as the applicant's last salary and desired salary.

Users can search their firms' databases of resumes by keyword or phrase. The user can perform a Boolean search on particular criteria, then save and later modify the search, which saves time in subsequent searches. The user also can count the number of resumes that meet the desired criteria, which is helpful when searching a large database. The user can choose to display relevant resumes.

With its letter processing function, Networkerspro.com automatically addresses and formats correspondence to applicants. Users can access letter processing from each screen in a candidate's record, selecting a form letter from a pull-down menu and then picking a transmission method (e-mail, fax or postal delivery). The letter processing function facilitates prompt and frequent communication.

Letter processing is just one example of how this application makes intelligent use of pull-down menus to speed data entry. In short, Networkerspro.com is built for speed, which is essential these days, when qualified applicants can be so hard to find.

Networkerspro.com presents a lot of information about applicants in readily accessible, easily digestible formats that should boost a recruiter's confidence when presenting an applicant to a client--or a hiring manager, if the recruiter works in-house for an employer.

Navigation is fast and easy. The ability to find a candidate without having to know how to spell the person's name is a real time-saver.

Optimized for Recruiters

With only eight tabs on a screen, it shouldn't take a user long to remember what's where, without having to read the label on the tab. But for new or occasional users, the vertical tab labels are difficult to read without tilting one's head. I also found the typeface a tad too artsy.

As a newcomer to the application, I'd have preferred to see the sequence of instructions match the order in which the tabs are listed.

I also expected an application designed for Internet Explorer to display the Internet Explorer toolbar. Since it does not, I took a minute and some fumbling to discover, for example, that "back" was accessible with a right mouse click. And the bottom of my screen, where open pages are displayed, was soon cluttered with myriad Explorer icons. Alt/tabbing among them, it was difficult to keep my place.

The application understandably seems optimized for recruiting firms. It includes features, such as billing screens, which a corporate HR department wouldn't need. A modified version might be more effective in corporate environments. And Networkerspro.com, with its price tag starting at $9,000 for 10 users, appears to be priced to appeal to larger organizations. Small firms may be tempted to look at less costly alternatives.

What's the bottom line? With competition for quality applicants so fierce, recruiters need every edge they can find. Quibbles about cosmetics aside, the functionality and highly relational nature of Networkerspro.com make it worthy of serious consideration, especially for recruiting firms.

John Day is a freelance writer based in Decatur, Ga. He regularly contributes to several technology trade publications.

Product Specs

Networkerspro.com

NEIWORKERSPRO.COM

126 West Commerce Blvd., Suite F

Slinger, WI 53086

Phone: (262) 644-4409

Fax: (262) 644-4338

www.networkerspro.com

PRODUCT USE

Internet-based staffing software provides a database of applicants, clients and job orders, facilitates searching, contact and correspondence, and generates management reports.

EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS

An Internet-ready PC with Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher and a letter-quality printer. High-speed Internet access is recommended, although the application will work on a dial-up line with a 56k modem.

RELEASE DATE

December 1998.

INSTALLED BASE

68 users in 12 offices of Techstaff, the recruiting firm for which the software was developed.

PRICE

For up to 10 users, $9,000, plus $900 for each additional user. An annual maintenance fee of $1,500 per user covers support and upgrades.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Society for Human Resource Management
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group