With today’s crop of recruiting software, the memories of filling out those tedious job applications by hand are but a thing of the past. Once a job prospect fills out an application online, the recruiting software kicks into high gear. The best recruiting software allows for pre-qualification based on job-specific questions. With the right software, companies screen and rank job applicants before the proverbial stack of applicants reaches the recruiter’s desk.

Solid candidate, requisition, and interview management functions are some of the key pieces to consider. Recruiters should have access to the complete database of candidates and must be able to easily manage each job opening. It’s essential to keep the applicants and requesters in the loop with regard to interview scheduling. Kind and competent recruiters don’t want to leave anyone hanging …

Serious recruiting software lets companies take charge of their career website, complete with online job postings, applications, and a high-level of applicant feedback. The best software allows for a fully customized appearance that fits in with the rest of the company website. Needless to say, complete security and privacy of applicant data is mission-critical.

There’s a trend to move enterprise hiring management functions from in-house operations out to a service model. This cuts down on the level of support necessary within the corporate walls.

Recruiting software is typically not an inexpensive proposition. Some recruiting software developers, such as Recruitforce.com, sell their software on a monthly or yearly plan, on a per-seat basis, while others sell their software on a per-server/site basis.

Some of the more popular developers in the recruitment space include Recruitmax, Cluen, Projectix, Main Sequence PCRecruiter, eEmpACT, and mindSCOPE.