SeekOut review: Pricing, features, pros, and cons (+ a better alternative)

Key features:

• External and internal candidate databases: SeekOut provides access to a database of 800 million+ candidates and enables you to create additional databases of company alumni and current employees.

• AI-assisted candidate filtering: SeekOut’s AI turns your job description into search parameters and surfaces candidates who match your requirements.

• Candidate messaging: You can email candidates directly from SeekOut, and the platform’s AI helps you draft personalized messages.

• ATS integrations: SeekOut integrates with several major applicant tracking systems (ATSs) and provides advanced analytics when connected to Greenhouse, iCIMS, or Workday.

SeekOut pricing

SeekOut offers two plans: SeekOut Spot and SeekOut Recruit.

SeekOut Spot is a one-time-use recruiting service that delivers a slate of candidates for a specific role. Candidates are sourced by the SeekOut team using a combination of AI tools and human recruiters. 

SeekOut’s website doesn’t provide information about how much SeekOut Spot costs. But it does note that the plan doesn’t require a monthly or annual plan. I reached out to SeekOut for a price estimate, but never heard back. I wasn’t able to find any pricing details elsewhere online.

SeekOut Recruit is a talent sourcing platform that gives you access to the company’s candidate database and ATS integrations so you can source talent yourself. It requires an annual subscription, but exact pricing is by quote only. Online sources suggest it costs between $5,000 and $14,400 per year.

SeekOut’s user interface

I’m focusing my review primarily on SeekOut Recruit, the company’s DIY recruiting software. SeekOut didn’t get back to me about a live demo when I reached out, but I did take advantage of a pre-recorded walkthrough on the company’s website. I also leaned on videos of SeekOut Recruit posted online and customer reviews to better understand the software.

I found SeekOut’s interface to be mostly streamlined and easy to use, though there’s a slight learning curve for those new to sourcing software. All candidate search tools are contained in a single window, and the platform’s main navigation menu makes it easy to jump to candidate review and analytics tools.

SeekOut’s interface is streamlined and user-friendly, with all candidate search tools contained in a single dashboard.

Starting a candidate search in SeekOut is fairly simple. You can copy and paste your job description or use an AI-powered search tool to describe the candidate you’re looking for. SeekOut also has a wide range of filters to help you narrow your search.

However, when it comes to messaging candidates, SeekOut’s interface is a little clunky, in my opinion. (One user described it as “a bit more old school” compared to other sourcing platforms.) I’d also like to see more customization options or a drag-and-drop interface similar to those in email marketing tools.

I couldn’t test SeekOut’s screen reader compatibility, but the company has promoted accessibility in its software updates. Most recently, SeekOut increased color contrast on its platform and switched to more scannable fonts.

SeekOut talent sourcing

SeekOut offers features to help you source talent from external and internal databases and communicate with candidates you want to apply for your role. Let’s take a closer look.

SeekOut: Candidate discovery & matching

SeekOut offers a built-in database of more than 800 million candidates for you to search. The database is populated with public profiles from LinkedIn and GitHub, among other sources, so candidates haven’t opted in themselves. This can create issues around candidate quality, since resumes and contact information aren’t necessarily up to date.

Beyond the built-in database, you can create internal databases for company alumni and current employees. I like this because it lets you search through existing talent rather than only looking outward.

That said, SeekOut doesn’t offer a LinkedIn browser extension, which many competing platforms do. So, it’s not very easy to create your own database of external candidates.

When it comes to searching for candidates in SeekOut, you can enter your job description or simply describe the role you want to hire for. The platform offers many filtering options, including for required and preferred skills, location, work experience, education, and diversity criteria. There are also specific “power filters” that can help you find, for example, candidates who have degrees from Ivy League schools.

While I appreciate the specificity of these filters, they could introduce serious bias into the hiring process. For example, if you use a power filter for Ivy League-educated candidates, you could miss out on qualified candidates who simply attended different colleges. AI can be quite effective for reducing bias in sourcing, but it can also increase bias if not used carefully.

SeekOut offers a wide range of filters, including pre-made “power filters” and diversity filters.

SeekOut uses AI to identify candidates who match your filters and ranks them as full or partial matches – but it doesn’t provide numeric scores. 

Candidate profiles look a lot like condensed LinkedIn profiles. They include each candidate’s name, photo, current job title and company, location, and details about their experience and education. I was very surprised that SeekOut includes candidate photos since this can significantly increase bias in sourcing.

On the other hand, one feature I liked is the ability to “clone” candidates you like. SeekOut will automatically search for candidates who are similar to the one you’re cloning. It’s a neat way to hone your talent search without having to adjust your filters manually.

SeekOut’s clone tool lets you instantly search for candidates with similar qualities to one you select.

As you find candidates you’re interested in, you can save them to a shortlist. SeekOut lets you create multiple lists so you can organize candidates for different roles.

SeekOut: Candidate outreach

SeekOut offers several ways to contact shortlisted candidates. 

The platform automatically captures each candidate’s phone number and email address so you can reach out directly. Importantly, SeekOut’s messaging system relies on the email addresses captured in its database being correct. Users note that email addresses are accurate most of the time, but not all the time.

Another option is to send emails from within SeekOut. The platform will automatically draft a personalized email on your behalf using AI. You can adjust the AI settings to change the focus of your message or edit the text directly. 

I thought it was a little odd that SeekOut uses AI by default here since AI-sounding messages can be a turn-off for candidates. But it can save time, and I appreciate that SeekOut also lets you craft custom email templates you can reuse for multiple candidates.

SeekOut lets you send emails to candidates directly through the platform and uses AI to draft personalized messages.

With either option, the job application you direct candidates to in outreach messages is hosted on your ATS, not within SeekOut. There isn’t really a true “candidate experience” with SeekOut.

SeekOut: AI features

SeekOut uses AI throughout the sourcing process. Here’s a breakdown:

• AI reads your job description and turns it into filter parameters.

• An AI assistant enables you to describe the candidates or qualifications you want, then turns those details into search filters.

• AI searches SeekOut’s candidate database and your internal databases to identify full and partial matches.

• AI automatically drafts messages to candidates to encourage them to apply for your role.

• AI recommends steps you can take to better engage with candidates in your pipeline.

I found SeekOut’s AI to be most helpful when initiating a search and fine-tuning filters. It’s nice to be able to describe the qualities or skills you want in a candidate, then have the AI do the hard work of turning that into searchable parameters using SeekOut’s filter set.

Users report that the AI does a good job of identifying matches. However, I’d like to see SeekOut use AI to rate matches on a numeric scale, like from 1–10, based on their fit for your role. If you have hundreds or even thousands of matches, SeekOut doesn’t offer a way to identify the best matches quickly.

I’d also like to see SeekOut’s AI place greater weight on candidates’ skills rather than past job titles. Job titles don’t necessarily reflect candidates’ true potential. Competitors like TestGorilla focus more fully on role-specific skills, which can increase the quality of matches.

SeekOut reporting & analytics

SeekOut includes an analytics dashboard so you can track the performance of your sourcing and hiring efforts. 

You can see how many candidates are in each stage of your hiring pipeline and how long they’ve been there. It also provides summary statistics about your candidate conversion rate (i.e., the number of candidates you messaged who then applied to your role) and the diversity of your sourced candidates.

I like that SeekOut automatically breaks out these metrics by recruiter or hiring manager, so you can easily see if some members of your team are more effective than others. I also appreciate that SeekOut uses AI to make recommendations for better candidate engagement. For example, the AI may suggest responding to candidates more quickly to prevent them from losing interest in your role.

SeekOut reports on how well your business engages with sourced candidates and uses AI to recommend improvements to your process.

Just beware that many of these metrics are only available if you integrate SeekOut with Greenhouse, Workday, or iCIMS. Analytics aren’t available for other connected ATS systems, and the data available without an integrated ATS is minimal.

SeekOut customer support

SeekOut offers customer support by email and live chat from 7am–5pm (PT) Monday–Friday. I reached out via live chat and was connected with a support agent in about four minutes.

SeekOut also has an online knowledge base with plenty of support articles covering all the platform’s features. But it’s not well-organized, in my opinion. Many articles aren’t linked to from the knowledge base’s main directory and can only be found if you search for them. 

SeekOut’s help center isn’t well-organized. Most help articles are only discoverable by search and aren’t linked from the help center’s main navigation page.

SeekOut review

SeekOut enables you to source candidates from a built-in database of more than 800 million profiles and internal databases you create yourself. It offers various filtering options and uses AI to automatically identify matches.

However, SeekOut’s candidate profiles aren’t always up to date and may contain incorrect contact information, making it difficult to reach candidates you like. SeekOut’s filters and candidate profiles can also introduce significant bias into the hiring process.

Overall, users praise SeekOut’s speed and ease of use but note that the platform could benefit greatly from a more curated candidate database.

TestGorilla: A better SeekOut alternative

TestGorilla is an alternative to SeekOut that goes beyond LinkedIn profiles and outdated resumes to help you source candidates with verified job skills.

TestGorilla provides access to more than 2 million candidates who have completed science-backed skills assessments and are actively looking for new roles. It offers flexible, bias-free candidate filters and uses AI to surface top candidates based on skills. Built-in communication features make it easy to invite candidates to apply for your job. 

You can also use TestGorilla to assess your sourced candidates and evaluate them on a level playing field. TestGorilla makes it easy to create your own assessments by mixing and matching more than 350 tests for role-specific skills, personality and culture fit, language skills, and more. You can also add custom questions and conduct AI-powered video interviews to learn more about each candidate.

AI automatically scores candidates’ performance and highlights the most qualified applicants. Hiring decisions remain firmly in your hands: You can override AI scores and use powerful collaboration tools to get second opinions and buy-in from your entire hiring team.

TestGorilla also integrates with more than a dozen ATS platforms and includes built-in tools to help you manage candidates as they move through your hiring pipeline. Its powerful analytics capabilities help you ensure your sourcing efforts result in strong hires with high retention rates.

Lastly, TestGorilla has clear pricing – a free plan and scalable paid plans starting at $96 per month – and suits companies of all sizes, from startups to enterprises. 

Ready to find top talent? Try TestGorilla for free today or book a live demo.

FAQs

Does SeekOut have a free plan?

SeekOut doesn’t offer a free plan or free trial. You can request a live demo of the software or view a pre-recorded demo. 

If you’re interested in a free alternative, TestGorilla offers a free plan (alongside transparent, scalable paid plans).

Is SeekOut an applicant tracking system?

SeekOut is a talent sourcing platform, not an applicant tracking system (ATS). It integrates with ATS platforms such as Greenhouse, iCIMS, Lever, SmartRecruiters, SAP SuccessFactors, and Workday, but provides detailed analytics only for Greenhouse, iCIMS, and Workday. 

In comparison, TestGorilla combines sourcing tools with a built-in ATS and comprehensive analytics to help you manage candidates as they move through your hiring process.

How do SeekOut power filters work?

SeekOut’s power filters are pre-made filters you can use in candidate searches. They help you narrow your search to candidates who attended top-tier colleges, meet diversity requirements, have certain tech skillsets, hold security clearances, and more. Be careful using power filters, though, since they can bias your talent search.