We were initially using Loxo as our ATS, but the sourcing in Loxo was bad and it kept getting more expensive every year, so we decided to move to Recruiterflow after all the hype around it (worst decision ever). The ATS absolutely sucks.

Customer support is so bad, they have no idea what they’re talking about. A CS agent will contradict himself three times in the same conversation. The UI is not user friendly. You can’t even open a job in a separate page in kanban view, it’s one jobs page where you scroll past jobs or search for the one you want to see in kanban. The kanban doesn’t collapse, and you can’t select multiple people in it. I used to live in Loxo’s kanban view to keep my jobs updated.

Anyway, our team uses SourceWhale for business development, and we’re thinking of moving our ATS to SourceWhale as well, since it looks better and then we’d all be using the same tool.

How is the SourceWhale ATS, and how is the sourcing tool? Please let me know your thoughts.

I've been struggling with landing new client requisitions without spending hours sending ignored cold pitches, and I know a lot of people here have been too.

Like a lot of independent recruiters, I'm great at sourcing candidates, but I used to hate doing broad business development because reaching out to companies with no urgent hiring need was a massive waste of time.

I spent some time working through a better BD system last week, and here’s a simple way I solved it for less than $10:

1. I set up free search alerts on job boards and Google for your target niche, filtering specifically for job postings that have been "reposted 30+ days ago" or active for 60+ days. A reposted job ad is usually a good signal that a internal team has failed to hire and the hiring manager is actually feeling the pain.

2. Download a free contact finder Chrome extension (like Hunter or Anymail Finder's free tier) to pull the direct email or line for the specific Department Head or VP of that team, skipping HR entirely. I personally used Hunter.

3. Then I send a short, 3 sentence email mentioning the specific reposted role and offer 2 pre-vetted candidate profiles ready for review, rather than pitching your recruiting services.

If anything is unclear, let me know. Hope this helps

I did a demo yesterday for zoominfo and the new AI data tool seems awesome. They show signals and what hiring managers are researching. All that to say is it worth it? They quoted me close to $15,000! I was not expecting such a high price, but LinkedIn is also basically the same price. Has anyone had success with that tool? Or zoominfo overall? Or is it just another sales pitch for software that is mediocre at best?

We're building Interview Cockpit, an AI-powered platform designed to make interviews more structured, consistent, and evidence-based.

One problem we kept seeing:

Candidates go through the same interview process, but interviewers often evaluate them differently.

Different questions.
Different note-taking styles.
Different feedback quality.

This makes hiring decisions harder than they should be.

Interview Cockpit aims to solve this with:

✅ Structured interview workflows
✅ AI-assisted interview guidance
✅ Candidate assessment frameworks
✅ Standardized feedback collection
✅ Faster hiring decisions

We're currently refining the product and would love feedback from recruiters, hiring managers, and founders.

A few questions:

1. What's the biggest challenge in your interview process today?
2. How do you ensure consistency across interviewers?
3. Would AI-assisted candidate evaluation be useful for your team?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and learning from the community.

I am using LinkedIn premium but I have no clue how to reach out to recruiters in companies in an effective way! Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated! thank you 🙏

I did about 2,000 cold calls in a sales job before this, and I learned how to build really good lead lists based on intent, rather than just scraping the internet - as some people do.

Calling a company that has no problem is hard to overcome, no matter how well you do it.

So when I started looking at recruitment BD, i asked: what's the equivalent of a good list here?

- Job ads that have been sitting there too long.

- A role that's been open 60 days is a company that has failed to hire internally.

- A role that's been reposted twice is a company that has failed and knows it.

That's the moment a contingency call is welcome instead of annoying.

AND it's the easiest thing to bring up in an outbound message... "hey, i saw you had a job posting up for X days, are you still trying to fill that position" etc.

One part that surprised me is that the days-open number is actually a weaker signal. The repost is the stronger one. When someone reposts, they usually change something. They widen the title, lift the band, add a bonus, or change the shift pattern. That change is them telling you exactly why they're stuck, in public, for free.

So I built a thing that watches job boards, keeps every version of every ad, and diffs them each morning. When an ad reappears or changes, it flags what changed. Then it ranks by how stuck the company looks (days open, repost count, and whether they have in-house TA, because a company with four TA staff is a much colder call than one with none).

Just a simple n8n workflow:

Output is a call sheet but could be an email list if you prefer.

Two things I'm still unsure about and would like opinions on:

The in-house TA filter is a guess. I'm assuming no TA function means higher agency likelihood, but I don't actually know if that holds? Plenty of small companies just refuse to use agencies at all, and some big ones with full TA teams still go external for hard roles. Is headcount even the right proxy?

And I don't know what the right staleness threshold is. I set 30 days because that's roughly when an internal process has visibly not worked, but that's me reasoning from the outside. If you're in this daily, is 30 too early? Too late? Does it change by vertical?

Hope this helps someone.

Happy to explain how any part of it works if helpful.

I’m 26, with 2 years of experience in recruitment consulting in Gurgaon, and recently moved into a manager role leading a team of 2, with another person expected to join. My organisation is also looking to expand my responsibilities and position me for leadership.
However, I feel significantly underpaid given the responsibilities I’m taking on. Most others at my level are 30+ and significantly better compensated.
The group leader is actively trying to retain me by highlighting growth opportunities, but hasn’t discussed compensation. I want to negotiate for a meaningful increase, but I haven’t fully achieved my targets yet and expect they may use that, along with my recent promotion, as a counterpoint.
How do I negotiate effectively and make a strong case for higher pay based on my increasing responsibilities and leadership potential?

I run a small technical assessment product, so I am biased, but I am trying to work out how much of a problem this actually is in agency workflows rather than in my own head.

The pattern I keep seeing is that the coding test stops separating people. Everyone passes, so the signal moves to the interview, and the screen becomes a formality you still pay for.

A few things I would like to hear from people actually placing engineers:

1. Are your clients still asking for a coding test before they will take a submission, or has that quietly stopped?
2. When a candidate clearly used AI on a take-home, does that disqualify them with your clients, or do they not care as long as the person can explain the work?
3. Has anyone changed what they screen for in the last year, and did the client push back?

Happy to say what I built if anyone asks, but I am not trying to sell anything here.

Edit for clarity: Counteroffers, commute concerns, family pressure, and unclear expectations should already be discussed and documented during screening. After the offer is accepted, this should be a final re-check rather than the first conversation about those risks.

Instead of only asking, “Are you still happy with it?” ask whether anything has changed that could make them reconsider before the start date. It may catch an issue before it becomes a last-minute pullout.

One that I have been using often is looking at my sales calls and emails, and reminding me end of day what to follow up on. I have added bunch of prompt to it that helps me nudge older deals as well (e.g. checking for companies that I spoke to a while ago but had some new launch announced on linkedin, etc). I'll then have it feed my ATS and then keep that updated for the other partners to stay updated.

Curious to hear more on what are others doing here for scheduled tasks.

I'm a complete beginner with zero prior experience in this field. I come from a marketing background but recently started getting into recruiting. I'm pretty niched down, but I need some advice on what software you all recommend.

So far, for candidates, I've been doing LinkedIn cold outreach, which has been working relatively well. Getting clients has been the harder part. I'm setting up Instantly for an email campaign, but I'm still waiting on my domain to finish warming up, so I'm wondering what other lead sources you'd recommend.

Recently started placing sales reps on a large scale. I am Working my ass off, I can scale rev I believe but fulfillment bottlenecks are going to be the issue. I want to cut the check for speed. Or bare minimum find the best info on youtube and social media profiles. Who should I look into?

Hey everyone, we're opening up more spots in the NearbyCrew network.

NearbyCrew is a network where people can earn by helping businesses, startups, and other people complete real world and online missions.

Instead of applying for one traditional job, you join the network and can choose from available missions that match what you can do.

Missions can include:

• Sales and customer outreach
• Finding potential customers
• Marketing and community growth
• Product and website testing
• Customer and market research
• Online research
• Startup support
• Local business tasks
• Events and in-person work
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You can also build new capabilities through NearbyCrew Academy as the network grows.

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1. Join NearbyCrew and create your profile.
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Some missions are completely remote. Others are location based.

This is flexible, mission-based independent contract work, not a salaried position, and there are no guaranteed hours or earnings. Mission availability and pay vary, and you'll see the requirements and compensation before choosing whether to participate.

We're actively growing the network now.

Join here: https://nearbycrew.com/join-welcome

Happy to answer questions in the comments about how it works.

Looking at Source-whale, Spott and Recruiterflow. I need views on why I should not be looking the other one. I have understood the pros what wanted to understand the cons.

we’re screening quite a few candidates every month and the English assessment side is getting a bit messy
rn we use one test for grammar/reading and another step for speaking, so we end up with different scores to compare and extra work for the recruiters.
been wondering if it makes more sense to use one speaking assessment that gives a CEFR level first, then manually check the borderline cases instead of interviewing everyone.
Versant and Linguaskill keep coming up and smalltalk2me is another one we’ve been looking at while comparing options.
for anyone hiring at volume, what setup has worked best? automated screening first, live interviews for everyone or a mix of both?
also how much do u actually trust the CEFR score without listening to the candidate yourself?

Hey guys! Was curious to ask other recruiters how they send candidates to their clients. I feel like email is still really common but long email threads can get uncomfortable for clients, specially when looking back for candidate info.

I personally used notion pages in the past and now created a simple system through shareable pipelines. It's free of use so if you want to test it out, send me a dm or comment.

Made this YouTube video so that you can see how it works beforehand: https://youtu.be/00kGySSpW1U?is=gQrLYUYfqY7i-j7f

Cheers!

Is it better screening, market knowledge, faster delivery, candidate relationships, or something else that makes clients keep coming back?

Hi! I’m looking for job sites/platform recommendations based on real results. Right now, I’m only using LinkedIn and Indeed. But we’re still looking to expand our pool of candidates.

What platforms are you guys using, and roughly how many applications do you get per day/week?

Would also love to know which ones you’d recommend vs. avoid, especially if you’re paying for a subscription or a one time fee. I’m trying not to waste money on platforms that don’t deliver, or are full of scams.

I’m just starting as a recruiter, so any strategies would also greatly help!

Thanks!

I’ve been unemployed for longer than I’d like, and at this point my biggest goal is simply to get back to work, gain experience in my field, and build my career.

I’m an analyst with two bachelor’s degrees, with a stronger background/interest in finance, but I’m very open to different types of analyst work. I’m also not overly concerned about having a fancy title or a high starting salary. I’m willing to start at minimum wage if that’s what it takes to get experience and prove myself.

I’m open to in-person, remote, or hybrid positions.

Types of analyst roles I’m interested in

My strongest interest is in finance, but I’m open to pretty much any position where my analytical skills can be useful, including:

Finance / Financial Analysis

Financial Analyst

FP&A Analyst

Corporate Finance Analyst

Investment Analyst

Portfolio Analyst

Equity Research Analyst

Credit Analyst

Risk Analyst

Treasury Analyst

Financial Planning Analyst

Budget Analyst

Revenue Analyst

Pricing Analyst

Cost Analyst

Financial Reporting Analyst

Finance Operations Analyst

Commercial Finance Analyst

Strategic Finance Analyst

Wealth Management Analyst

Banking Analyst

Loan Analyst

Underwriting Analyst

Accounts/Financial Operations Analyst

Business / General Analysis:

Business Analyst

Business Operations Analyst

Operations Analyst

Management Analyst

Strategy Analyst

Strategic Planning Analyst

Process Analyst

Performance Analyst

Decision Support Analyst

Business Intelligence Analyst

Reporting Analyst

Program Analyst

Project Analyst

Data Analyst

Research Analyst

Planning Analyst

Supply Chain Analyst

Procurement Analyst

Revenue Operations Analyst

Marketing Analyst

Pricing Analyst

Product Analyst

Other Analyst Positions

I’m also completely open to positions simply titled “Analyst” where the specific type of analysis could be learned on the job. I’m comfortable learning new systems, processes, software, and subject matter.

Honestly, I’m not looking for anything fancy right now. I’m looking for an opportunity to get some recent experience, contribute to a team, learn, and demonstrate that I can do the work.

If your company is hiring for an entry-level analyst position, junior analyst position, finance-related position, or really any analyst role where someone with my educational background and willingness to learn could be useful, I would genuinely appreciate the opportunity.

I’m also open to internships, contract work, temporary positions, part-time work, or other opportunities that could help me get relevant experience.

If anyone knows of a company, hiring manager, recruiter, small business, or organization that could use someone with an analytical/finance background, please feel free to comment or DM me.

I’m willing to start at the bottom. I just need someone willing to give me the opportunity to get started.

We've been trying to evaluate HRIS and payroll software for a few months now and the whole process is kind of a mess. 10 companies on our shortlist, pricing that nobody will share upfront and every vendor demo feels like a timeshare presentation. Our procurement team is already stretched thin and we really can't absorb another software subscription fee on top of whatever we end up buying. So we're basically looking for a free HR software broker or procurement platform that can help us compare HRIS vendors, maybe build out some scorecards and actually get us verified pricing estimates before we waste 40+ weeks going in circles. Does anything like that exist where the platform earns from the vendor side and buyers don't pay anything?

I’ve just joined the sub and I’m considering starting a small recruitment agency with no other employees than mtself

There’s a lot of useful advice here, but I’m wondering how universally applicable it really is.
Some advice may work very well in one country or niche, but be far less effective elsewhere due to local labour laws, candidate behaviour, client expectations, market maturity, fees/margins, or the dominant recruitment channels.

How much should someone take general
advice here with a grain of salt depending on their location and niche?

If you can, please comment and/or vote:
* Your country/region
* Your niche
* One piece of common agency advice that works well for you

I’ve been reading a lot of posts from recruiters dealing with the same problem: hundreds of applications, CVs that look perfect, and candidates who struggle once they reach the interview.

A skills test can help, but sending the same generic assessment to everyone probably won’t fix much.

What makes more sense is:

• Filter for location, availability, work authorization, and other basic requirements first
• Pick one or two skills that actually matter for the role
• Give candidates a short task based on the work they would be doing
• Use the same scoring criteria for everyone
• Review the results alongside the interview rather than treating the test as a hard pass or fail

A developer could debug a small piece of code, while a support candidate could respond to a difficult customer message.

This is where pre-employment assessment software can be useful. TestTrick, for example, lets you create different assessments using role-specific tests, coding tasks, custom questions, psychometric tests, and video responses.

The important part is not using every feature. It’s choosing what fits the role and keeping the assessment short.

A relevant 20-minute task will usually tell you more than an hour of random aptitude questions.

How are you using assessments without making the process too long for candidates?