An application arrives. Someone registers the candidate, checks their availability and works out who should call them. Start your recruitment tech-stack review with that piece of work.
Write down where the information arrives, who checks it and where it needs to go next. Then assess each subscription against the job it does. Use the checks below as a suggested buying framework, adapted to your agency's desks and clients.
Start with the record your team works from
Take a recent job through your CRM or ATS demonstration. Find the client contact, candidate history, current stage and next action. Ask a colleague to pick up the record and explain what happens next.
For a temp desk, include availability and a changed booking. For a perm desk, include interview feedback and an offer. Choose examples your team can judge from experience.
Ask which features are included in the quoted package, which need configuration and who owns the data when another system updates it. Talisman's recruitment CRM brings candidate, client, job and placement records together; test the details that matter to your own process.
Sourcing: inspect the candidate behind the match
Bring a job brief and a permitted sample of candidate records. Check why each result appears, whether the underlying information is current and how a consultant records their decision.
Follow a sourced candidate into the working record. Test an existing candidate as well as a new one, so you can see how the tool handles potential duplicates. Confirm access to each external source with the supplier.
Outreach: follow the reply
Draft a message using the role and previous conversation as context. Have the consultant check it, then use approved test recipients to follow the reply back into the system.
Check who sees that reply, how follow-up stops and how communication preferences are respected. Ask the supplier to distinguish delivery information from an actual response. Decide which evidence your team will use before judging a campaign.
Screening and scheduling: try the candidate's side
If you are considering video screening, complete it on a phone. Check the instructions, recording controls and the route for someone who needs another way to respond. Let recruiters assess whether the answers help them make the next decision.
Test an interview booking, a reschedule and a cancellation. Include the calendars and time zones your agency uses. Ask who gets notified and which record is updated. These are evaluation questions for the tools you are considering, not a list of promised Talisman features.
Job posting: trace the application back
Ask the supplier to demonstrate your required boards, including the account setup and any separate charges. Follow a test advert through publication, a change and closure.
Then follow an application back to the candidate record and job. Check the source, documents and the person responsible for review. Talisman supports job-board connections and applicant intake where configured; agree the specific boards and setup as part of the scope.
AI writing and automation: include the checking time
Use an approved job brief to test a draft advert or candidate summary. Compare the output with the source. Record the corrections required and the time spent checking them, alongside the time spent producing the draft.
For an automated task, ask what starts it, what information it uses, who approves sensitive actions and where failures appear. Our recruitment automation guide gives a practical starting point for defining those steps.
Price the whole process
Request the subscription, usage charges, setup, training and support terms together. Include the work your team will do to maintain the connection, check exceptions and export data if you leave.
Map the exact point where recruitment information moves into payroll, finance or another service. Agree the fields, format, timing and owner. Review Talisman's integration options against that requirement; approved connections and configured exports need an agreed scope.
Pick a bounded trial and record the starting position. At the review, compare completed work, corrections and team effort with that baseline. Keep, change or retire a tool on evidence from your agency's work.