Sourcing Software ... what's the best ie. egrabber, talenthook, diver etc?

I'm trying to decide on the best sourcing software and have over the past few months done demo's on egrabber, talenthook, broadlook diver and was hoping to get users perspective on pro's and con's. Admittingly the diver tool requires a lot of experience with search strings, cheat sheets and other hands on tools which I don't have so it maybe too much work for me to learn. I do have monster/careerbuilder access so to be able to use one of the tools like talenthook does have its pro's but not sure how good of a tool it is to source the net and social sites. Just wondering if I am missing another software tool and what others would consider to be the best application? Thanks for the help.

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Permalink Reply by Irina Shamaeva on July 9, 2009 at 1:20pm

Hi Jason,

I just posted a reply to your question on the ERE forum.

I totally agree with Jessica on both points about Broadlook. It's a great tool but don't expect it to do any magic for you unless you get to a strong level of advanced web searching. That doesn't really mean having "the right" cheatsheets or samples; it means having mastered the search. (I have seen a number of sourcers unhappy about Diver because their expectations were to delegate their work to it.) One can learn this, of course, and become a search expert; and the key points (I think) are:

1) practice
2) learning the correct web/DB syntax.

My 2c

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Permalink Reply by Jason Urban on July 9, 2009 at 2:15pm

Irina,
Thanks so much and thank you as well Jessica. Are there tools other than cheat sheets then to becoming a master of the search. I run a small agency which means my own desk and am not a dedicated sourcer so I like the "plug and play" approach. But if I could pick it up with trial and error without it becoming a full time occupation I would dedicate efforts to it. Any thoughts on material out there?

Irina Shamaeva said:

Hi Jason,

I just posted a reply to your question on the ERE forum.

I totally agree with Jessica on both points about Broadlook. It's a great tool but don't expect it to do any magic for you unless you get to a strong level of advanced web searching. That doesn't really mean having "the right" cheatsheets or samples; it means having mastered the search. (I have seen a number of sourcers unhappy about Diver because their expectations were to delegate their work to it.) One can learn this, of course, and become a search expert; and the key points (I think) are:

1) practice
2) learning the correct web/DB syntax.

My 2c

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Permalink Reply by Julia Tverskaya on July 9, 2009 at 4:05pm

Jason,
I agree with Jessica and Irina: Broadlook Diver is a powerful tool, the best I've used. To unleash its full potential, users do need to know how web search works. I highly recommend Irina's training DVDs http://booleanstrings.wordpress.com/dvds/ if you want to really understand how to search on Google. They are designed with sourcers and recruiters in mind and targeted toward their (our) everyday needs.

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Permalink Reply by Donato Diorio on July 9, 2009 at 6:10pm

Before picking any company I suggest calling each company unannounced and see how responsive they are to your query. Call their support, etc. 1/2 of any solution is the technology. The other 1/2 is the support *after* the sale.

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Permalink Reply by chandra bodapati on July 9, 2009 at 8:04pm

Hi Jason

We at eGrabber make tools that are easy to use out of the box.
They also allow expert users to add their own scripts and customize the products for their needs.

Our product development goal is "Make it Easy to Use. Easy to Teach"
We cater for the masses. Which means our prices are always going to be very competitive.
We have also been in business for 12+ years.

I feel our ResumeFinder/ResumeGrabber combination is the best sourcing tool combination that exists for a recruiter. It packs a lot of punch at a small value.

Send me an email if you have any other questions.

Chandra
chandra@egrabber.com
CEO/FOUNDER eGRABBER

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Permalink Reply by Jason Urban on July 10, 2009 at 3:10pm

Geoff,
Much appreciated advice!

Jason

Geoff Webb said:

You know it depends, personally I don't like to put my sourcing into the hands of a tool/software, however, I do sourcing for a living and I'm a geek and not everyone is. I'm not familiar with the Talenthook tool so for me that's a write off....I have used both egrabber and broadlook tools. If you are a beginner-intermediate sourcer I would recommend egrabber (they also have a really good lead generation tool), if you're a intermediate-advanced sourcer I would recommend using the Broadlook suite. Once again, I'm just generalizing, Oh, and if you want to learn more about sourcing take an AIRS course or watch for Tooltime here on Recruitingblogs.com

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Lucas on July 13, 2009 at 11:54am

Hi Jason,

I am a researcher for a recruiting firm and could not live without AutoSearch. This web-based name generation tool writes search strings behind the scenes based on the keywords you choose. This tool is fairly new to the market. In the short time I have been using it I have experienced a huge impact on the quality of my work as a researcher. I am finding great passive candidates quickly. Resulting in less time searching and more time talking with candidates. Not only that I am a Mac user and its compatible with Safari.

I think this tool could potentially be a great fit for you - it's very user friendly with no experience in writing search strings necessary.

I would defiantly recommend getting a demo of AutoSearch. You can request one through the AutoSearch site at www.getautosearch.com

Sarah

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Permalink Reply by Suzanne Kaupa on July 14, 2009 at 9:40am

Another sourcing tool to consider is AutoSearch

(http://www.getautosearch.com) - it is easy for both beginners and experts

to pick up and use. We've had great success with it

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Permalink Reply by chandra bodapati on August 7, 2009 at 1:30pm

The eGrabber recruiting solution (ResumeFinder + ResumeGrabber) costs less than $695.
Forgot to mention that in my post.
The price/value is very important.

Chandra

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Permalink Reply by Julia Stone on August 7, 2009 at 2:58pm

Honestly, I would consider hiring a sourcer if I were you. It is difficult keeping on top of all of the search tools, syntax, boolean strings, etc. There are some that charge per name, you can pay someone hourly, and some will probably work for some form of commission. Sourcers can also help you identify new job orders if they are so inclined, they are extremely versatile folks, if I do say so myself.

Think about what you need the most. Is it to save time during the process, but you have the resumes you want already? Do you need better quality candidates or more quantity?

Finding candidates on the social sites is a completely different search than "googling" for geeks. Do you have a way to track profiles of candidates before you have their contact information? Do you have ways to cross reference them to get the needed information?

I hired a sourcer, but I learned how to source first, then I trained her so we had a consistent way of doing things.

Just make sure that you are solving a particular need with a tool. Like, "I need more candidates with PHD's in attaching lasers to sharks head" so I need X tool to help me do that.

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Permalink Reply by Melody Anicich on August 7, 2009 at 3:02pm

Forget eGrabber. I paid $750 for it and it never worked. The company is totally disorganized and has the poorest customer service I have ever endured. Melody

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Permalink Reply by chandra bodapati on October 19, 2009 at 1:47pm

Hi Melody

My company, eGrabber, prides on providing one of the most responsive phone support in the industry. So I was surprised by your comments. I had our support people go through the support logs. It shows your License expired in March 2009. Prior to that you made one support call in AUG 2008 and it was responded to. Is that the call where you had bad experience? Or was there a call or email you made to our support that you did not get response to?

My name is Chandra Bodapati and I am the CEO of eGrabber,
I would love to get more details from you. We are always interested in closing any support gaps we have.
Please feel free to send an email direct to me

We would love to have you back as a customer.
We are innovating constantly to increase the daily productivity and efficiency of candidate sourcing and lead generation professionals.

Chandra
chandra@egrabber.com

CEO/Founder of eGrabber

Melody Anicich said:

Forget eGrabber. I paid $750 for it and it never worked. The company is totally disorganized and has the poorest customer service I have ever endured. Melody