Guide: How to choose social recruiting software:
Eight criteria.
You can spot the right social recruiting software by eight things: how much work it takes off your plate, how your jobs get in, which channels and markets it serves, how it distributes budget, what happens after the click, how far you can measure toward the application, how it handles data, and what's in the contract. Below, you can check in a few minutes whether HiCandidate™ fits.
Criteria
The criteria
at a glance.
| Criterion | Why it matters | How you can tell | How HiCandidate™ does it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Effort per job | Every job you set up and maintain by hand costs time. With many jobs, that's what decides it. | Who creates ads, audiences and budgets: you or the system? What stays on your plate? | Ads are created automatically from the job data, each with its own audience per job. Checking and reporting stay with you. |
| 2. Job connection | When a job changes, the ad has to keep up. Otherwise ads keep running for filled jobs. | A feed or API from the ATS? How often is it synced? What happens when a job goes offline? | XML/JSON feed or API, synced at least three times a day. Ads stop automatically when a job goes offline. |
| 3. Channels and markets | Candidates aren't equally easy to reach everywhere, and they aren't called the same thing everywhere. | Which networks are included? Can you include or exclude platforms and formats? Are there localized campaigns per market? | Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok for social, Google (Display, Performance Max) and Programmatic, depending on the plan. You choose the platforms and formats. Campaigns can be localized per market, with translation management from Enterprise. |
| 4. Budget control | Budget in the wrong channel won't bring applications. | Who distributes the budget: you or a rule? Can you switch the automation off? | AutoAllocation distributes the starting budget by job profile, and the Optimizer shifts it based on applications. You can switch off either one. |
| 5. After the click | The best ad doesn't help if the application fails at the form. | Where does the ad lead? Are there landing pages, a mobile application form, pre-qualification? | By default, the ad leads to the job ad on your website. On request, landing pages are built from the job data, with screening questions from the ATS or generated by AI (Performance Plus). |
| 6. Measurement | Clicks aren't applications. | Can you see costs through to the application, per channel and campaign? Is there an export and an interface? | Impressions, clicks, application starts, applications and costs in the dashboard. Export as Excel or PDF, data via API. |
| 7. Data protection and operations | Applicant data is personal data. | Is data processed in line with GDPR? Where does the system run? How available is it? | GDPR-compliant processing, hosted on Google Cloud, 99.9% uptime. |
| 8. Contract and support | Commitment and setup determine how fast you can start and how easily you can switch. | Minimum term, setup fee, onboarding: who supports you? | Minimum term 12 months, slightly shorter in special cases, one-time setup. Onboarding, review calls and updates are included in every plan, and setup usually takes about two weeks. |
Two of the criteria have their own guide: Applications from social ads into your ATS (integration) and Meta targeting for job ads (channels).
Software or agency
Software or agency?
Who does what?
An agency brings consulting, creative and experience. It sets up campaigns individually, talks strategy with you and steps in when something special is needed. Its output grows with the number of people working on your jobs.
Software handles the recurring work at scale: ads from job data, audiences per job, budget distribution based on applications, reporting across all channels. It works the same with ten jobs as with fifty, and new or changed jobs are picked up at the next sync, at least three times a day.
So the question isn't "either or" but: What has to stay individual, and what can run on its own? If you keep an agency for strategy and creative, you can automate the ongoing delivery.
What that means in euros and hours, our cost calculator works out with your numbers. This section is about performance: the table above shows how to tell whether a piece of software delivers it.
Suitability check
Does HiCandidate™
fit you?
Sixteen questions in four steps, one honest result. The check also tells you when HiCandidate™ doesn't fit, and names the right plan. You only see the result when you ask for it. Your answers stay in your browser.
Fits well.
Everything lines up.
Fits (16)
- You're a company, so your plans are Pro, Enterprise and Performance Plus.
- Meta (Facebook, Instagram), LinkedIn, TikTok and Google are included, depending on the plan.
- You want ads to be created automatically from your job data. That's exactly what HiCandidate™ does: copy, image or video, and target audience all come from the job.
- The minimum term of 12 months works for you.
- Your jobs arrive via XML or JSON feed. The sync runs at least three times a day, and ads stop automatically when a job goes offline.
- Visitors land on your job ad. That's the standard: campaigns link to the job ad on your own website.
- With 15 active jobs, HiCandidate™ pays off against both an agency and in-house in the cost calculator at the default values (Pro plan).
- One location, one brand: you start with one setup. Filter rules by location, department or job type decide which jobs get promoted.
- Social media reaches people open to a move while they scroll; Google reaches active job seekers. HiCandidate™ runs both from one setup.
- Static and video ads are created automatically from the job data. Image ads start with the Pro plan, video ads with the Enterprise plan.
- The Optimizer keeps shifting budget to the channels with the most applications, measured by application starts and applications, not clicks.
- The dashboard shows impressions, clicks, application starts, applications and cost per application for every channel and every campaign.
- The dashboard shows all channels in one place, and the data is usually updated several times a day.
- For ongoing hiring needs there's Always-on: one standing campaign instead of many single ones, and new and changed jobs come in automatically from your feed.
- You don't need multilingual ads.
- E-mail support is included in every plan, plus onboarding, review calls and updates.
Matching plan
You'll need at least the Enterprise plan for: video ads.
Text version of the check
The check asks sixteen questions in four steps (About you, Channels and ads, Control and measurement, Your framework) and evaluates them with fixed rules. Each answer produces a message with the level “Fits”, “Note” or “Doesn't fit”. If all answers are unproblematic, the result is “Fits well”. If there are points you should discuss, it's “Fits with limits”. For combinations that don't fit HiCandidate™ (for example, classic job boards only, building every ad yourself or a minimum term of just 3 months), it's “Probably not a fit”. Several open points together can also add up to “Probably not a fit”. The question “Who are you?” determines the plans and the default number of jobs (companies 15, staffing agencies 50, job boards 150). For job boards and aggregators, the question about the number of jobs is skipped. N stands for your number of active jobs. Some answer options only appear for certain answers to “Who are you?”: “Several brands” for companies, “Several clients” for staffing agencies and job boards, “Several locations” for companies and staffing agencies, “They are on my careers page or a job board” for companies and staffing agencies.
The check also names the matching plan: Pro is enough as long as you don't need video ads, Programmatic, landing pages or pre-qualification, reporting via API, several brands, multilingual ads or phone support. With video ads, API reporting, several brands, multilingual ads or phone support, you need at least Enterprise. With Programmatic, landing pages or pre-qualification, you need Performance Plus.
Default answers: Companies, 15 active jobs, export via feed, one location, ads on social media and Google, active job seekers and people open to a move, static and video ads, created automatically from the job data, budget split by applications, success measured by applications, numbers in the dashboard, visitors landing on the job ad, ongoing hiring needs, one language, e-mail support, 12-month minimum term. Result: Fits well.
All rules:
- Fits: You're a company, so your plans are Pro, Enterprise and Performance Plus.
- Fits: As a staffing agency, you manage all clients in one system, with budget by client, region or job group. The plans apply to companies and staffing agencies.
- Fits: For job boards and aggregators there's the Connect plan: HiCandidate™ as a white-label solution via REST API, with terms on request.
- Note: With fewer than 5 simultaneously active jobs, the fixed system fee doesn't pay off against an agency in the cost calculator with the default values (Pro plan). Check it with your own numbers.
- Fits: With N active jobs, HiCandidate™ pays off against an agency in the cost calculator with the default values (Pro plan), and against in-house only from 10 jobs.
- Fits: With N active jobs, HiCandidate™ pays off against an agency and in-house in the cost calculator with the default values (Pro plan).
- Fits: Your jobs arrive via XML or JSON feed. The sync runs at least three times a day, and ads stop automatically when a job goes offline.
- Fits: Your jobs arrive via API. Job status and application links stay up to date automatically.
- Fits: Your jobs are on your careers page or a job board. HiCandidate™ works even without an ATS feed: the jobs can come from there.
- Fits: One location, one brand: you start with one setup. Filter rules by location, department or job type decide which jobs get promoted.
- Fits: Several locations run from one feed. Filter rules by location, department or job type decide which jobs get promoted where.
- Fits: Several brands run in one account (multibrand). That's available from the Enterprise plan.
- Fits: Several clients run in one platform, with their own setup and templates per client and budget by client, region or job group.
- Fits: Meta (Facebook, Instagram), LinkedIn, TikTok and Google are included, depending on the plan.
- Fits: Programmatic job ads run on hundreds of publisher sites, steered by performance. Programmatic is part of the Performance Plus plan.
- Fits: Social media and Google are included, depending on the plan. Programmatic job ads on hundreds of publisher sites are part of the Performance Plus plan.
- Doesn't fit: You only want classic job boards. HiCandidate™ works with social media, Google and Programmatic, which is a different approach.
- Note: Classic job boards aren't part of HiCandidate™. You can build a setup that complements them, and we'll sort that out in a call.
- Note: You haven't chosen a channel yet. HiCandidate™ works with social media, Google and Programmatic.
- Fits: You reach people who aren't searching but are open to a move while they scroll on Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok, with their own target audience per job.
- Fits: Google Display and Performance Max reach active job seekers. HiCandidate™ is also strong with people who are open to a move but aren't searching.
- Fits: Social media reaches people open to a move while they scroll; Google reaches active job seekers. HiCandidate™ runs both from one setup.
- Fits: Static ads are created automatically from the job data, in your corporate design. Image ads are included from the Pro plan.
- Fits: Video ads are created automatically from the job data, with subtitles and motion text. Automatic video ads are available from the Enterprise plan.
- Fits: Static and video ads are created automatically from the job data. Image ads start with the Pro plan, video ads with the Enterprise plan.
- Fits: You want ads to be created automatically from your job data. That's exactly what HiCandidate™ does: copy, image or video, and target audience all come from the job.
- Doesn't fit: You want to build every ad yourself. That's not how HiCandidate™ works: the approach is automation from the job data. You set budget, duration, platforms and formats, and AutoAllocation and Optimizer can be turned off.
- Fits: The Optimizer keeps shifting budget to the channels with the most applications, measured by application starts and applications, not clicks.
- Fits: AutoAllocation and Optimizer can be turned off. Then you set fixed budget shares per channel, and HiCandidate™ follows your settings.
- Fits: The dashboard shows impressions, clicks, application starts, applications and cost per application for every channel and every campaign.
- Fits: Reach and clicks are in the dashboard, but HiCandidate™ measures and optimizes by application starts and applications, not by clicks.
- Fits: The dashboard shows all channels in one place, and the data is usually updated several times a day.
- Fits: Reports can be exported as Excel or PDF, for example for internal analysis or client reports.
- Fits: The data flows into your own BI tool via the reporting API, and you keep control of your data. Reporting via API is included from the Enterprise plan.
- Fits: Visitors land on your job ad. That's the standard: campaigns link to the job ad on your own website.
- Fits: With Lead Ads on Facebook and Instagram, the whole application happens inside the platform, with no drop-off. The data goes to your ATS automatically or to you by e-mail.
- Fits: Visitors land on a landing page with an application form that's created automatically from the job data, in your corporate design and optimized for mobile. Auto landing pages are part of the Performance Plus plan.
- Fits: Visitors answer screening questions up front, either pulled from your ATS or generated by AI. The answers arrive in your ATS with the application. Screening funnels are part of the Performance Plus plan.
- Fits: For urgent jobs there's Single Boost: the campaign starts without a long setup and stops automatically once the goal is reached or the run time is up.
- Fits: For ongoing hiring needs there's Always-on: one standing campaign instead of many single ones, and new and changed jobs come in automatically from your feed.
- Fits: For employer branding and your talent pipeline, Brand Campaigns promote category, benefit and initiative pages.
- Fits: You don't need multilingual ads.
- Fits: Multilingual ads with translation management are included from the Enterprise plan. Campaigns are localized per market, not just translated.
- Fits: E-mail support is included in every plan, plus onboarding, review calls and updates.
- Fits: Phone support is available from the Enterprise plan, and every plan includes onboarding, review calls and updates.
- Fits: The minimum term of 12 months works for you.
- Note: The minimum term is 12 months. If you're thinking 6 months, let's talk: in special cases, we can agree somewhat shorter terms.
- Doesn't fit: 3 months is a stretch: the minimum term is 12 months, though in special cases we can agree somewhat shorter terms.
To be fair
Who HiCandidate™
isn't for.
- You don't have a digital job source. Whether it's an ATS, a careers page or a job board: without jobs online, there's nothing to promote automatically.
- You want to be able to cancel monthly. The minimum term is 12 months, and in special cases we can agree somewhat shorter terms.
- You're not a company. The offer is for companies only. For job boards and aggregators, the Connect plan is available on request.
- You only have a few jobs. The system fee is fixed. In the cost calculator, with the default values (Pro plan), it pays off from 5 jobs against an agency and from 10 jobs against in-house.
- Classic job boards are your focus. HiCandidate™ works with social media, Google and Programmatic.
- You want to build every ad yourself. HiCandidate™ takes a different approach: automation from the job data.
Checklist
Ten questions
for the vendor call.
- How do my jobs get into the system? Feed or API, how often does it sync, what happens when a job is filled?
- Which channels does it run on, and can I include or exclude platforms?
- How are the ads created? Automatically from the job data or by hand, and what stays with me?
- Which formats are available, static, video, story, and in which plan?
- Where do the ads lead? To my job ad, to a landing page, to a pre-qualification with screening questions?
- How does the software handle several languages, markets, locations, brands or clients?
- Who allocates the budget, and can I turn that off?
- What do I see in reporting? Cost per application, by channel, with export and an interface?
- How does the vendor handle applicant data? Processing under GDPR, place of processing, data processing agreement?
- What's in the contract? Term, setup, cancellation, support.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about
choosing.
Which social recruiting software is easy to use?
Easy mostly means little manual work per job. Check whether ads are created automatically from your job data and whether onboarding is included. With HiCandidate™, jobs come from your ATS feed, and an onboarding team guides the setup, usually in about two weeks.
Which social recruiting software suits a small HR team?
One that needs as little ongoing work as possible. With HiCandidate™, ads, target audiences and budgets run automatically, and you handle review and reporting. The cost calculator shows how much time that saves, based on your numbers.
Is there a best social recruiting software for mid-sized companies?
There's no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on what you need: ATS integration, the channels your target audience uses, what happens after the click, reporting down to the application and a contract that suits you. The eight criteria on this page help you compare, and the suitability check shows whether HiCandidate™ fits.
What should I look for in social recruiting software with ATS integration?
The type of connection (feed or API), how often it syncs and what happens when a job is filled. HiCandidate™ imports jobs via XML or JSON feed or API, syncs at least three times a day and stops ads when the job goes offline.
What does recruiting software need to consider under GDPR?
Applicant data is personal data. Ask how it's processed under GDPR, where it's processed and whether you get a data processing agreement. HiCandidate™ processes data in line with GDPR and runs on Google Cloud.
Where can I test social recruiting software?
With HiCandidate™, you start with a demo: 30 minutes online on Google Meet. Then an onboarding team sets everything up with you.
Demo
Is it the right fit?
Let's find out together.
In 30 minutes we'll work out online whether HiCandidate™ fits your recruiting.
Book a demo →