By Jennifer Hicks

What is it that you need to make your recruiting life easier? Is it simple resume management or do you really need candidate tracking capabilities?

Many programs exist to help manage resumes. There are software applications you can buy, services you can hire or file drawers you can spend hours on.

In essence, it's tracking the applicants that takes so much time. Automating the tracking process can be a boon - if you have the time and staff needed to adequately define essential fields and handle the data entry.

While applicant tracking software can make you feel ultra-organized, such organization comes at a cost -- in time and dollars. If you know you don't have the staff to handle the data entry, look into packages that simply manage and retrieve resumes.

Or, as Rick Miller of CareerCast suggests, "Many [companies] determine that their current HRMS platform (Peoplesoft etc.) handles the tracking side quite well but lacks the resume management module." So check yours out before making another big-time investment.

Below is a comparison chart based on the results of our research and interviews with some of the leading applicant tracking software developers. The table should enable you to see easily which one(s) have the features you need and the pricepoint of each.

Characteristic	Resumix 5.0	Restrac	Personic
Major pieces	One package includes: Manager's Desktop, Operator's Desktop and Recruiter's Desktop	A variety of packages including: Hire for Intranet; WebHire Network; WebHire; SWIFT; Hire 3.1	Personic Workflow; Personic WebLINK
Incoming Resumes	Via scanning, fax, email, Internet, Intranet or kiosk	Via email, fax, Internet, or scanning	Via scanning, email, Internet
Categorization of Resumes in Database	Resumes converted to text files; summaries created. Candidates assigned to categories based on combination of skills, education, and work experience. Categories can be searched to find candidates with the specific skills, background, and discipline. Can specify required, desired, or excluded skills.	Stores resumes including full resume text and image, contact information and supporting documents - in a central repository, so authorized users can tap into this valuable data resource	Auto-extracts contact information; files resume in 3 versions: text, formatted, and image; no auto-sorting
Creates Web-based Resume Database	No (pages look like Web pages, but are not connected via WWW)	Yes, with WebHire	No
Resume Mining Capability	No	With WebHire Network can search several Internet pools of resumes	Yes, with Resume Agent (add-on)
Applicant Tracking	Uses customizable tracking actions and status labels to track each step through the hiring process.	Link activities, such as requisition posting, interview scheduling and offer letters to build a customized, automated staffing workflow. Over 20 pre-created activities.	Selected resumes return to recruiter with electronic review sheet indicating next action, for example "set up an interview" or "phone screen before interview." Automatic prompting reminds hiring managers of resumes needing review.
Requisition Entry	Via Manager's Desktop	Online	From Windows apps or from WebBench (an add-on Intranet tool)
Job Posting Capability	Yes; drop down menu; auto posting to Resumix's partners' boards.	Generate and update Web-ready HTML job postings automatically.	With WebLINK
Ability to Add Notes to Resumes	Yes, can also scan in interview notes.		Yes; plus interview summary & electronic review sheets.
Search Capability	More than 120,000 rules identify skills, terms, phrases, abbreviations, acronyms, and common OCR errors. 10 million predefined skill terms. Ranks results. Concept-sensitive.	a) View open req and do a one-click search for req's requirements. b) Select job function, industry, experience level, education, from Query Wizard and fill in free-form requirements. c) Advanced search with pre-defined, hierarchical Topic Library.	Limitless field searches; tab-based, many user-defined. Keyword. Concept. Code. Uses Boolean operators.
Candidate Email Process	Automatic responses and labels.	Uses templates for acknowledgements, offer letters, competitive offers and more.	Letters created in Word can be stored in Workflow.
Able to Import Web and Email Resumes	Yes, from Operator's Desktop	Yes	Yes, with WebLINK
Archive Capability	Yes, resumes can be archived flexibly by your DBA based on sample SQL scripts provided by Resumix	Yes	Yes, dependent upon system's memory.
Integration into HRMS	Specific partner integration programs exist for SAP, PeopleSoft, and Oracle HRMS systems, with flexibility for others.	Only with purchase of Hire Link which works with PeopleSoft and, soon, SAP	Requires additional consulting; successful with PeopleSoft, ADP, and others.
Training Time	Standard training is 2 days		4-day training package
Average Data Entry Needs	because of auto OCR corrections, minimal.		tries to minimize the need by providing shortcuts for routine entries.
Demo Available	Yes; online and immediate after registration at the site.	Yes; for WebHire, register first here.	Yes, on CD-ROM.
System Requirements	Client: Netscape Navigator 3.0 or higher or Microsoft IE 3.0 or higher Server: Windows 95 or NT Database: Oracle, MS SQL Server or Sybase	Restrac Hire for Intranet: Client: Netscape Navigator 3.0 or higher or Microsoft IE 3.02 or higher, Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT Server: Windows NT 4.0 IIS Service Pack 3.0 Database: Oracle 7.3 or higher SQL Server 6.5 or higher Windows NT 4.0 compatible ODBC	Client: Microsoft Windows '95 or Windows NT 4.0, Pentium class processor 133+ MHz, 32 MB RAM, 40 MB free disk space Server: Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 or UNIX, Pentium 200+ MHz, 128 MB RAM, 1.5 GB free disk space for Personic Workflow application files and Oracle files, 300 MB per 10,000 candidates, and space for stored image files (size varies by image type) Database: Oracle
Cost	starts at $75,000		base price: $37,500 plus $3,500 per seat
Contact Info	1-800-988-0003	781-869-5000	1-888-326-3270

-- Jennifer Hicks, a seasoned Internet researcher who writes extensively on the use of the Internet for job hunters and recruiters, writes RealTools for AIRS.

About AIRS
AIRS teaches recruiters and high-growth companies to find passive candidates hidden inside directories, databases, archives and the public Web servers of over 400,000 companies and organizations on the Net. For more information about our cutting edge training seminars, publications, or web applications please call 1-800-466-4010 or check out our web site at http://www.airsdirectory.com.

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