Applicant tracking system for professional recruiters
4.3/5 (133 reviews)CATS is a web-based, intuitive applicant tracking and recruiting software optimized for internal HR and recruiting agencies with tools for building custom workflows, generating a branded jobs board, creating specialized applications, aggregating thousands of resumes efficiently, and more.
With CATS users can manage the entire recruitment tracking process from posting jobs to generating customized reports. Staffing and recruiting agencies can automatically submit candidates to clients for approval by fully integrating client submittals into the workflow. Direct employers can automatically invite team members to view candidate profiles, participate in interviews, or provide candidate feedback at any step.
In order to facilitate end-to-end recruitment management, CATS provides features such as the tools to create a custom branded and hosted career portal, custom application forms, interview scheduling, interview scorecards, email integration, client reviews, and more. Hiring managers can use CATS to view resumes, access notes, and approve or decline candidates, and custom approval processes can be setup to control the chain of review for each candidate.
Pros
Ease of in-house communication and interoperability. Each user can easily see the work of their colleagues which cuts down on a huge amount of unnecessary communication. We can seamlessly take over each other's work when colleagues are on leave or otherwise busy. The application portals are very easy to use and the workflow is intuitive and useful. Honestly, I'm not sure how we could manage with such a lean HQ staff without having CATs.
Cons
The only con I can identify with CATs is their search algorithm. The Boolean search functions can be improved. For example, if I'm looking for an "Education in Emergencies Specialist" within my database and search for this phrase using the Boolean quotation marks I will occasionally get results that identify anyone who has the word "in" somewhere in their resume. Yes, I also get "Education in Emergencies Specialists" but also a lot of people with completely irrelevant CVs. Some of this is mitigated by using the tags, lists, and custom fields but sometimes weird results are populated. Again, this is really the only issue I have with CATs and I'm really nit picking here. I don't find this to be a significant impediment to my work, and the pros heavily outweigh this one con.
CATSone is a great product and we recommend for anyone needing a applicat tracking system. its customizable to an extent. Fields are linked so you can't mess up data. Its good if you use it for CRM. Reports are odd, and email sync feature works 50% of the time. (adding emails to contacts in CATS with matching records)
Pros
Easy interface, great application site wizard , and great job site , built in, , customization of fields with restrictions (so you don't mess it up) . Status, and custom status available. Map custom status's to 'mapped' status. No cloud storage fees for resumes, or files that get attached to applicant / candidate records. API is useful but not without faults. Good custom reports per user.
Google drive link, and online MS word linked. Live previews of images. Easy to read reports (there are some faults) Reporting is best thought of as a gauge and not an accurate thing.
All around a great system. I recommend it to anyone whom has this need. Easy to use with live chat support per user for how to use it. Great training seminars. Etc. Good for when you hire 1 to 1. 1 hired applicant to 1 location.
Email sync feature is great when it works. 50% of the time. It may be related to email host. I dunno.
Reports are good. There are many. If you need New Applicants per user.. then you have to manually enter. But still many reports.
Great price point. Beats many more expensive systems .. its has faults as your gonna read. But don't let that get you down. It's still worth it.
Cons
Hired applicants are 1 to 1. Hired Applicant can only work in 1 location. It's just not set up for 1 applicant in many locations. Non hired applicants can apply to multiple places, just not work in multiple locations.
Its rare you need to hire one person in multiple locations.
Via API you could achieve 1 to many locations via API and custom fields. But it's not gonna be easy.
NO reports for new applicants per user if you use Live Job Application site.
Reports new applicants per user only by manually enter each applicant.
Reports can be difficult to understand. There are no white papers on it, and only some customer service reps understand it fully.
Email sync feature works maybe 50% of the time. (email sync places copies of your email communication in the contact whom has matching email) Results may vary depending on email provider.
Limited API calls per user, per hour. Need more ? They won't sell you more. You have to keep adding users. 500 API calls per hour per user @ $99 per user a month. but at least there are API calls. Really funky though. Be prepared to be confused. but eh , that's API ..
We appreciate being able to unify our process, helping streamline our process, provide our applicants with a consistent experience, identifying where our good candidates are coming from and unifying our recruiting team and efforts.
Pros
I appreciated the support through the set up process and the responsiveness of the team to our beginning processes. There is so much customization for your workflow and we have appreciated all of the improvements to the system over the time we have used it. (over 6 years)
Cons
Honestly - it's really hard find things we don't like about the software. Support has been great about helping us to work around things we thought we wanted.
Pros
We went from using the same ATS for over 17 years when we decided to make the change to CATS. It’s modern, sleek, easy to use and customer support is very easy to understand and knowledgeable.
Cons
I do wish there was a platform versus it being web based.
I switched to CATS more than a decade ago when it was a free beta program. It has been a part of my business on an almost daily basis. It's comfortable and hard to imagine switching to something different.
Pros
Great interface, comfortable to use. Becomes familiar quickly. Grown with the software.
Cons
No ability to drag and drop related emails or documents into a a candidate or client record.
Pro - $89 per user/month, best for entrepreneurs and small teams
Premium - $119 per user/month, best for larger teams
Compiling and tracking resumes and applications is a time-consuming task, taking professionals away from other duties. Technology has eased the process, but it has also made learning about and applying for a position simpler, as well. As a result, professionals and hiring managers often find they are overwhelmed with applications.
CATS Applicant Tracking System automates applicant tracking, putting everything a manager needs in one place. Using CATS, recruiters and managers can import resumes and applications, publish to multiple job boards, customize their jobs website, and much more. Once imported, CATS uses built-in intelligence to detect the candidate and contact information included in resumes for use within the system.
The ultimate goal of CATS Applicant Tracking System is to make the hiring process as easy as possible for businesses. Through searches and reports, hiring managers can easily locate candidates who fulfill a set criteria or possess certain skills. Email integration automatically tracks and records emails to your candidates within the system.
The process of filling a vacant position can be chaotic, with numerous candidates coming and going over the days and weeks. With CATS, recruiters can track all pending candidates on the main dashboard, including a five-star rating system that will ensure the best candidates stand out from the crowd.
Multiple team members often work together on filling a vacant position, but it can be difficult for one employee to know where a particular candidate stands. Through CATS’ activity tracking, employees can see all of the latest communication between recruiters and candidates to more easily track each phase of the hiring process.
Within the activity screen, items can be sorted by team member, status, and type of contact. From within the activity tab, a team member can send an email to one candidate or a group of candidates. Lists can be created within CATS to make it easy to send emails relating to one job. All recipients are captured in the BCC field of the email, so no candidates can see the other candidates who were sent the message.
In order to build its database, businesses must first get the information into it. CATS provides an easy-to-use import tool that can pull in an existing Word, Excel, Adobe, or other compatible file with just two clicks. Once this information has been imported into the system, it can be manipulated using CATS search and reporting tools.
CATS browser extensions: Firefox and Chrome Automatically add candidates and resumes to CATS from social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Monster. Simply click the CATS browser extension icon and it will pull information from that page, including name, phone number, work history and much more. Then click “Add to CATS” and the extension will add that candidate to CATS or prompt you if it looks to be a duplicate. If it is a duplicate, it will show you the candidate in the system and allow you to add/update their current profile and resume in CATS.
Within CATS, professionals can post job ads to a wide variety of job sites easily. CATS offers templates for crafting professional-looking job ads, but custom branding can also give a career portal the business’s desired look. While the portal would be hosted on the CATS server and use CATS’ state-of-the-art technology, the look and feel matches the remainder of a business’s site.
If a business prefers to create a new look for its jobs website, CATS can help with that, as well. The app has pre-made themes that are both eye-catching and professional. This creates a consistency that will attract customers and help them become familiar with a business’s job openings section.
Within CATS, recruiters can develop and deploy job ads through simply filling out a form and choosing options. This is done through clicking “Add Job Order.” If a position is open only to internal employees, that can be chosen, but it can also be opened to an external candidate pool. Separate applicant types can be created for each position classification to make adding jobs easier.
Once created, job ads can be posted to a wide variety of job portals, including Facebook, CareerBuilder, GlassDoor, Indeed, Monster and many more. Some job sites allow advanced posting options that can be configured directly within CATS.
One of the most valuable features of CATS is its applicant tracking. Once an applicant’s information has been added, the information is searchable by candidate name, skills, location, and a variety of other keywords. Keywords can even be combined to find all applicants who have a desired combination of skills—sales and marketing, for instance.
Detailed reports provide insight into the applications regularly being collected. At a designated time, HR can pull a report that shows how many new candidates used the job portal during that period, as well as how many applied and were placed. This advanced reporting can help an HR department maximize its hiring process.
As mentioned, CATS has the ability to import from Microsoft Office and Adobe products, among others. Add-ins are also available to allow for CATS operations to be conducted directly within Word and other programs. CATS has numerous integrations that allow you to get the most out of the system. These integrations include Slack, MailChimp, Constant Contact, Berke Assessments, BambooHR, and many more.
Toolbars are also available for popular web browsing services like Google Chrome and Firefox.
CATS Applicant Tracking System is affordable, but the company places an emphasis on providing high-quality services. Each account comes with a free trial, no credit card required.
The rate for recruiters is $99 per user per month. For direct employers, the cost is $99 per user per month, $10 per hiring manager per month. Both versions of the software come standard with all features and email integration, no setup fees or extra costs.
Below are some frequently asked questions for CATS.
CATS offers the following pricing plans:
Starting from: US$89,00/month
Pricing model: Subscription
Free Trial: Available
Pro - $89 per user/month, best for entrepreneurs and small teams
Premium - $119 per user/month, best for larger teams
CATS offers the following features:
CATS has the following typical customers:
Freelancers, Mid Size Business, Non Profit, Public Administrations, Small Business
CATS supports the following languages:
Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
CATS has the following pricing plans:
Subscription
We do not have any information about what devices CATS supports
CATS integrates with the following applications:
BambooHR, Constant Contact, DaXtra, Google Drive, LinkedIn, Mailchimp, Slack, Twitter, Wordpress, ZipRecruiter
CATS offers the following support options:
FAQs, Knowledge Base, Online Support, Phone Support, Video Tutorials
Excellent, the sales and support staff are always on point. I hate calling tech support in general, but really don't mind with CATs. Always affable and helpful. We have yet to have an issue that wasn't promptly resolved by the CATs tech support.