Hiring has seen a decline in recent times. Employers are scrambling to find the right talent, making talent acquisition more important than ever. 

Engaging with the candidates throughout the hiring process is a key factor to make sure every hire is the right hire. It creates a positive experience and makes you an attractive employer, driving in qualified candidates instead of you having to chase them.

To do this efficiently and at scale, you need a candidate relationship management (CRM) software or talent relationship management software that can handle your organization's specific hiring needs. In this blog post, we will share the seven best CRM software and highlight their unique strengths.

What is a recruitment candidate relationship management system?

A recruitment candidate relationship management software is your dedicated hub for hiring, engaging, and nurturing connections with candidates throughout the entire hiring process. 

It goes beyond simply storing resumes and enables you to build genuine relationships through personalized communication and data-driven insights. Unlike traditional methods that often fall short in engaging passive talent or managing communication effectively, talent relationship management software streamlines the process and makes it hassle-free. 

It also allows you to:

• Proactively engage with potential candidates
• Build talent pools and track interactions
• Extract information from resumes and cover letters
• Gain valuable insights through reports and in-depth analytics to make informed hiring decisions.

Essentially, a talent relationship management software transforms your hiring process into a continuous cycle of relationship building, ensuring you attract and retain the best talent.

7 best candidate relationship management tools on the market 

Choosing the best recruiting talent relationship management software can be overwhelming, with so many options available. Here are the top seven we recommend:

1. Kula ATS

Kula is designed as an all-in-one solution for modern recruiting teams, solving common pain points such as, manual workflows, data silos, limited engagement, and weak sourcing associated with existing CRM and ATS tools. It offers automation for recruiting workflows, streamlining tasks such as scheduling interviews and sending assessment materials.Key features:

• Visual Workflow Builder: Effortlessly design automated workflows to streamline recruitment and save time. Create custom processes for everything from job postings to candidate communication.
  
  
• AI Interview Note Taker: Capture and transcribe interviews in real-time with our AI-powered note taker. Reduce manual effort and streamline feedback with automated transcription.
  
  
• Bespoke Career Portal: Design a unique career portal reflecting your brand. Customize everything to attract top talent and showcase your employer identity.
  
  
• Personalized Candidate Portals: Offer dedicated portals for candidates to track progress, access interview details, and collaborate seamlessly.
  
  
• AI-powered Candidate Scoring: Automate candidate screening based on your criteria. Kula's AI helps ensure only the most qualified candidates move forward.

Pros:

• Share everything (resumes, notes, profiles) within Kula for easy teamwork
• Plan hiring needs, track performance, and optimize recruitment with Kula's insights.

Cons:

• Mostly suited for fast-paced organizations with high hiring needs

Who is it for?Kula is perfect for mid-market and enterprise organizations, and is particularly suited for in-house recruiters in high-growth tech companies.Pricing: Custom pricing plans; free trial available.

2. Pinpoint

This platform enables recruiters to make faster, more informed hiring decisions by centralizing the entire recruitment process. It handles all the administrative tasks, from candidate communication to interview scheduling to onboarding, helping you build meaningful connections with candidates throughout.Key features:

• Streamlined workflow: Manage the entire recruitment process from a single platform.
• Talent pool management: Build and nurture a talent pool of qualified candidates, categorized by skills and experience for easy access when filling future roles.
• Frictionless communication: Automate candidate communication and keep everyone informed throughout the process.
• Data-driven decisions: Use candidate scorecards, reporting tools, and candidate experience surveys to make objective hiring decisions and gain valuable insights.
• Global reach: Provide a multilingual candidate experience through career pages, application forms, etc.

Pros:

• Has a user-friendly interface, making it easy for even non-technical users to navigate and utilize its features
• Offers a responsive customer support team to address any questions or issues that may arise

Cons:

• Transparent pricing information isn't readily available. You'll need to contact the sales team for a quote, potentially delaying your decision-making process
• Lacks comprehensive tutorials or training materials, which can hinder user adoption and proficiency
• The feature set isn't as comprehensive as other all-in-one recruitment solutions

Who is it for?Pinpoint is suitable for businesses of all sizes seeking to optimize their hiring processes and make better hiring decisions efficiently.Pricing: Pricing details are not provided. However, you can opt for a demo on the website.

3. Workable

Workable is a user-friendly cloud-based platform that streamlines your entire hiring process, from attracting talent to onboarding new hires. Its AI integration helps you find the perfect fit faster, while its collaboration tools and automated workflows keep things moving smoothly. Workable scales to your needs, simplifying recruitment and saving you valuable time and resources.Key features:

• Source and attract candidates: Utilize one-click job postings to over 200 sites.
• AI-powered recruiting features: Save time with AI tools for candidate sourcing, job description generation, interview question creation, email writing assistance, and more.
• Automate most of your hiring: Automate processes and manual tasks such as interview scheduling and approvals.
• Manage employees for free: Access key HR functionalities at no extra cost, including employee profiles, organizational charts, company directories, and company files.
• Mobile recruiting and collaboration: Enable hiring teams to stay productive from anywhere with Workable's iOS and Android apps.

Pros:

• Emphasizes features that promote diversity and inclusion in the hiring process
• Automates tedious tasks and allows for collaboration, leading to a more efficient hiring process
• Integrates with various tools like Gmail and Zoom, enhancing workflow efficiency

Cons:

• Limited onboarding functionalities compared to competing platforms
• Customization capabilities are limited compared to other options
• Lacks necessary features such as AI candidate sourcing, careers page builder, etc. in the basic plans

Who is it for?Although Workable offers a Starter plan, the features are extremely limited. However, the platform is perfect for organizations with high hiring needs.Pricing: A 15-day free trial is available. The Starter plan is priced at $149/month, and the premier plan starts at $628/month and is billed annually.

4. Lever

Lever combines the features of an applicant tracking system with candidate relationship management, making it a good solution for recruiting teams at growing companies. Lever helps streamline the hiring process, convert qualified candidates more efficiently, and build a scalable talent pipeline.Key features:

• Intuitive user experience: Access all your hiring needs through Lever's user-friendly interface, offering a single platform solution.
• Automated workflows: Eliminate manual tasks and streamline daily recruiting activities with customizable automation features.
• Nurture and engage candidates: Utilize the built-in nurturing tools to personalize communication and cultivate stronger relationships with top talent.
• Diversity and inclusion tools: Promote diversity and inclusion within your hiring practices with features like DEI/EEO surveys and dashboards.
• Extensive integrations: Connect Lever with over 300 popular recruitment tools to create a customized hiring ecosystem.

Pros:

• Easy to learn and navigate, reducing training time for recruiters
• Dedicated support team for exceptional assistance during onboarding and transitions, ensuring a smooth implementation process
• Allows for configuration and customization to meet your specific hiring needs

Cons:

• Pricing plans are directed towards large and enterprise companies only
• Features like analytics are add-ons and not built-in to the existing plans

Who is it for?Lever is ideal for growing businesses, preferably large and enterprise-sized businesses. Pricing: There are two plans available: Lever TRM and Lever TRM Enterprise. You can request a quote on the website.

5. Ashby

Ashby redefines recruiting with a user-friendly and powerful platform designed to empower hiring experts of companies of all sizes, from startups to enterprises.Key features:

• All-in-one solution for recruiting: Offers a comprehensive platform integrating all essential hiring functionalities, eliminating the need for multiple tools.
• Easy to use: Facilitates an intuitive interface, enabling your team to kickstart operations and enhance efficiency.
• Structured hiring: Guides you through a structured hiring process where all candidates are evaluated based on the same criteria, reducing bias and leading to a more objective selection process.
• Actionable insights: Generate powerful analytics that provide detailed reporting and insights, along with customizable alerts and forecasting capabilities to address all your questions.

Pros:

• Allows customization of your recruitment workflow, adapting to your specific hiring processes
• Automates repetitive tasks like candidate screening with Ashby's built-in features, freeing up time for more strategic work.
• Provides excellent customer support, ensuring you receive timely assistance when needed

Cons:

• Limited integrations with other HR tools you rely on, potentially disrupting your existing workflows
• Users might experience a learning curve to fully utilize the features.
• Limited reporting capabilities, hindering your ability to gain in-depth insights into your recruitment process

Who is it for?Suitable for all kinds and sizes of businesses, from startups to enterprises. Pricing: The All-In-One plan starts at $400/month. For custom plans, contact Ashby.

6. BambooHR

BambooHR simplifies HR tasks from hiring to performance management. Offering collaborative hiring and onboarding tools helps find top talent and engage with potential candidates. The platform primarily serves as a comprehensive human resources information system (HRIS).Key features:

• One easy-to-use platform: Centralize all your HR needs into one user-friendly platform, saving time and boosting efficiency.
• Hiring and onboarding: Enhance talent acquisition beyond simply attracting top talent. Streamline onboarding and employee management, all in one place.
• HR data and reporting: Gain valuable insights with comprehensive HR reports and data analytics.
• Employee experience and performance: Promote a positive company culture with tools to gather feedback, manage performance, and support employee development.

Pros:

• Access and manage essential information on the go with the mobile app for HR teams and employees.
• Streamline HR processes, save time, and minimize errors with built-in approval workflows and templates.
• Enjoy flexibility with no annual contracts, but only a monthly fee.

Cons:

• Pricing information isn't readily available on the website, requiring you to contact sales for a quote.
• Unlike some competitors, BambooHR doesn't offer a free tier, limiting its accessibility for businesses with very tight budgets.
• Candidate matching is not automated, requiring manual effort to identify suitable candidates.

Who is it for?BambooHR is specifically designed to meet the evolving HR needs of small and medium businesses (SMBs), startups, and early-stage companies.Pricing: For pricing plans, get in touch with the BambooHR team.

7. Greenhouse

Greenhouse simplifies high-volume recruitment for large hiring teams. Offering more than just applicant tracking, it includes powerful candidate sourcing, streamlined workflows, and customizable interview processes. While it demands investment and user familiarity, Greenhouse focuses on enhancing overall candidate experiences and centralizes talent management.Key features:

• Source top talent: Simplify large-scale hiring by automating outreach, utilizing diverse candidate discovery tools, and centralizing talent pool management – all within one platform.
• Collaborative hiring: Enables a smooth collaboration between teams to identify and evaluate talent.
• Continuous improvement: Provides valuable insights and data to continuously refine hiring practices and optimize recruitment strategy.
• Integrations with the best possible tools: Connects with over 500 pre-built integrations.
• Superior candidate experience: Provides a positive and engaging experience for candidates throughout the hiring journey.

Pros:

• Easily track the progress of each candidate throughout the hiring pipeline with instant insights, recruiting reports, and automatic updates ensuring no one gets lost in the shuffle
• Customizable workflows for each specific job opening
• Set up approval workflows for offers and job creation

Cons:

• Does not support highly complex customizations desired by some businesses.
• Implementing Greenhouse can be a complex process, requiring significant time and resources
• While user-friendly, Greenhouse's extensive feature set may have a steeper learning curve compared to simpler CRM options

Who is it for?

• Greenhouse is ideal for midsize to large organizations seeking a powerful and feature-rich platform.

Pricing: The pricing plans are not available on the website. You can, however, sign up for a free demo.How to source using a candidate relationship management systemBuilding a strong talent pool is the foundation of successful recruitment, true. But in the current market, you must go beyond simply analyzing applications.Here's how you can use your candidate relationship management software to source top talent:

• Create your talent pool

Your candidate relationship management software isn't just for tracking current applicants. Think of it as your employer's talent magnet. Using a CRM, you can import past candidates, industry connections, and event attendees, creating a rich database of potential hires. Kula, for instance, helps you use skills, location, and experience as parameters to categorize candidates, ensuring you have the right talent at your fingertips when a new role opens.

• Activate social recruiting with CRM integrations

Connect your candidate relationship management software to social media platforms like LinkedIn. This allows you to search for qualified profiles directly within the CRM, saving you time and effort. Kula integrates with LinkedIn Recruiter System Connect (RSC) to help you search for the top talent. Moreover, it comes with an advanced search option across integrated resume databases for optimal candidate discovery

• Automate outreach and continue nurturing 

Gone are the days of manual outreach. The candidate relationship management software allows you to automate personalized email sequences based on skills and interests. With Kula, you can create and schedule branded email campaigns to engage passive applicants before they apply. You can also nurture talent pools for upcoming opportunities and measure your overall outreach efforts with insight reports and data tracking.Moreover, you can schedule follow-ups and track engagement metrics within the platform, guaranteeing positive candidate relationships throughout the process.Key benefits of talent relationship management softwareWhat other benefits do you get from using a candidate relationship management software apart from improving the quality of hires? Here are a few:

• Reduced time-to-hire

According to research, time-to-hire is on the rise. Talent relationship management software streamlines the process with automated communication workflows. From swift candidate outreach to scheduling interviews and expediting decision-making, a recruiting talent relationship management software helps you fill roles faster. Plus, your pre-screened talent pool within the software eliminates extensive sourcing for open positions.

• Enhanced employer branding

A candidate relationship management software lets you send out personalized communication, showcasing your organization's commitment to each candidate. This individualized attention attracts top talent who value a company that invests in its people. Additionally, by nurturing these relationships, you are showing your investment in talent development, further solidifying your employer brand.

• Improved candidate experience

A positive candidate experience can significantly improve your quality of hire, as well as your employer's brand perception. A talent relationship management software facilitates seamless communication, keeping candidates informed and engaged throughout the hiring process.

• Data-driven decision making

Talent relationship management software provides invaluable data on candidate interactions, preferences, and engagement metrics. These insights allow recruiters to identify trends and patterns, anticipate future hiring needs, and make strategic talent acquisition decisions.In short, a talent relationship management software can transform your entire hiring strategy, attract exceptional talent, and build a future-proof workforce.Improve candidate relationships with KulaTalent relationship management or CRM software is a must-have for modern recruiters. It improves hiring quality, streamlines communication, and provides valuable insights through data analytics. If you are a recruiter seeking an all-in-one platform that seamlessly integrates with Kula Flows to automate outbound recruitment, Kula is the solution for you. With Kula, you can make smarter hiring decisions, create robust talent pools, and engage with qualified candidates. Its comprehensive features empower recruiters like you to optimize their recruitment processes effectively.What to do next? Book a free demo, and get started with Kula today!