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Applicant tracking system (ATS)
What is an applicant tracking system?
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is an HR tech tool that helps HR teams manage and streamline their entire recruitment process, from sourcing and screening candidates to scheduling interviews, evaluating applications, and even onboarding employees. It consolidates all hiring activities into a single system, reducing administrative burden and providing an exceptional hiring experience for candidates.
What are the benefits of using an applicant tracking system?
Having an applicant tracking system:
Makes the entire recruitment process effortless
An ATS automates all of the manual and repetitive work associated with recruitment, like drafting job descriptions, parsing resumes, entering data, scheduling interviews, and more. This reduces the time spent on these tasks and eliminates bottlenecks.
Creates a candidate database
Use an ATS to gather all the necessary information about candidates from resumes and application forms and store it in a centralized database. This data can be accessed by HR teams at their convenience to meet their current and future hiring needs, building a strong talent pipeline.
Improves hire quality
Most applicant tracking systems come with powerful capabilities like advanced filters, keyword searches, and AI bots that can match candidates to open job roles. By consistently identifying the candidates who best fit the job requirements and company culture, an ATS helps organizations make better hiring decisions.
Provides data-driven insights
Most applicant tracking systems come with powerful analytics that can analyze recruitment data to provide key insights, helping HR teams improve their entire hiring process. For instance, these reports can highlight at which stage of the interview process candidates drop off and which roles have a higher time-to-hire.
Who uses an applicant tracking system?
An ATS is used by recruiters in the HR team to source and communicate with applicants, schedule and conduct interviews, shortlist candidates, and even initiate background checks. Hiring managers can conduct assessments and evaluate candidates during the selection process. Applicants use it to apply for job openings, get in touch with recruiters, submit documents, track their application status, set up interviews, and more.
When should an organization adopt an applicant tracking system?
It's time for organizations to adopt an ATS when they face the following challenges:
Large volume of applications
High candidate drop-off rate
Long time-to-hire
Manual processes that hinder candidate experience
Improper communication between recruiters and candidates
How does an applicant tracking system work?
Here's how an ATS can streamline the entire hiring process:
Job creation: An ATS makes it easy to create job openings with appropriate titles, departments, locations, and job descriptions.
Job posting: With just a few clicks, job openings can be posted across multiple sources, including job boards, social media, and career sites, ensuring maximum reach.
Application collection: The ATS collects job applications from suitable candidates, extracts candidate details, and stores them in the system.
Resume screening: Advanced filters help shortlist candidates whose skill sets and experience are consistent with job openings.
Candidate communication: Through the ATS, recruiters can communicate with the shortlisted candidates, send updates, collect documents, and schedule interviews.
Interviews: Recruiters can collaborate with hiring managers through the ATS to conduct interviews. An ATS also supports online interviews directly within the platform.
Assessments: An ATS helps recruiters and managers conduct online assessments to evaluate candidates and identify the right test.
Offer management: Once a candidate is selected, the ATS can generate and roll out offer letters.
Background verification: Applicant tracking systems are integrated with background verification applications, allowing recruiters to verify candidates seamlessly.
What to look for in your next applicant tracking system?
Select the best applicant tracking system by keeping in mind the following points:
Ease of use: The ATS has to be easy to navigate so that recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates can complete the required process seamlessly.
Key features: Look for all the features that help in sourcing, screening, interviewing, selecting, and verifying.
Compliance: Go for systems that work in line with local hiring laws and regulations like EEO and GDPR.
Integrations: Your ATS has to be integrated with your HRMS, meeting application, payroll system, and background verification app.
Scalability and flexibility: Look for a system that grows with your organization and is flexible enough to support workflows that are consistent with your organization's unique hiring needs.