u/Jaymar_TV

Hi all,

I run a small but growing recruitment agency in the UK focused mainly around Education, SEN, Care & Support staffing (schools, alternative provisions, SEN schools, councils, residential care etc).

I’m currently trying to choose the right CRM + ATS system and honestly feel like I’m going round in circles.

I’ve demo’d a few systems already and whilst some look impressive on the surface, a lot of them seem built more for corporate sales recruitment or high-volume temp industrial recruitment rather than relationship-led education/SEN recruitment.

I’d really appreciate honest feedback from actual users within education/care recruitment if possible.

This is roughly what I need the system to handle:

• Candidate database with proper compliance tracking (DBS, RTW, references, safeguarding checks, expiry dates etc)
• Easy onboarding workflows Ideally candidates complete registration forms digitally without endless PDFs and attachments flying around
• CV parsing + AI formatting Would love candidates’ CVs to automatically pull into a branded format with our logo/header/footer
• Strong temp recruitment functionality Around 90% of our placements are long-term temp bookings rather than perm
• Schools/client management Track schools, conversations, bookings, departments, hiring managers, SENCOs etc properly
• Workflow automation Chasing references, missing compliance, candidate follow-ups, availability checks, booking confirmations etc
• Bulk mailshots Segmented properly (for example SEN schools, primary schools, care homes, behaviour mentors etc)
• Timesheets Ideally candidates submit online timesheets and clients approve them through a portal without me manually chasing constantly
• Finance integrations Ideally Xero integration or something similar
• AI tools that ACTUALLY save time Not gimmicky AI just slapped onto a CRM for marketing purposes

The workflow I’m trying to achieve is basically:

Candidate applies/registers → uploads docs → compliance gets tracked automatically → candidate gets cleared → consultant markets candidate quickly → school books candidate → timesheet submitted online → client approves → invoice/payroll flow becomes easier.

Simple in theory… but finding one system that genuinely does this well for education/SEN recruitment is proving harder than expected.

Systems I’ve looked at so far include:

• Recruit CRM
• Recruiterflow
• Loxo
• Recruit With Atlas
• Manatal

I’d genuinely love to hear:

• what you use,
• what frustrates you,
• what’s overrated,
• what’s genuinely worth the money,
• and what you wish you knew before migrating.

Bonus points if you’re specifically in education/SEN/care recruitment because I think our sector has very different operational needs to most recruitment agencies.

Appreciate any help massively 🙏