An Application Tracking System (ATS) optimizes the hiring process and offers features like one-click job postings, customized careers page, and helps in scheduling the interviews
Often when companies post a requirement for a job vacancy, they tend to receive hundreds and thousands of applications from candidates. These applications come from different kinds of prospects with varied skillsets and interests. It becomes difficult for the business to sort them all and shortlist the most relevant matches. That’s when the Application Tracking System or Applicant Tracking System comes into the picture. This system does more than just track the job applications for business.
Let’s learn about how an online Applicant Tracking Systems works, and try to understand why and how to choose the right software for your company. But before that, we will discuss what exactly is an applicant tracking system?
What is an ATS?
An Application Tracking System (ATS) is a recruitment software that accumulates data of all job applicants in one place. It helps in the process of recruitment and hiring by sorting all the collected job applications and organizing them based on skillset and experience. The primary purpose of an ATS is to ease the efforts of recruiting managers.
Research has shown that 98.2% of the Fortune 500 companies use ATS such as Taleo, Workday, SAP, ICIMS, and ADP to manage and track job applications. Moreover, the Forbes data says, as many as 75% of applicants get rejected based on incorrect resume formatting.
So, if you are a job applicant and your application never reached the hiring manager, then most likely it was rejected by the ATS. Therefore, you must understand its working to learn how to beat applicant tracking system.
How does the ATS work?
When an applicant applies for a job vacancy, the ATS asks them to answer certain questions which are called knockout questions. The purpose behind asking these questions is to knock out the applications that do not meet the criteria of the hiring organization. Upon filtering out the rejected applications, the applicant tracking system software lists the relevant candidates in an easily searchable manner.
The recruiting managers can then search these shortlisted applications that are stored in the ATS. The recruiters can then perform various actions such as viewing the application, ranking them, or running a scan to search any application based on the keywords. The ATS basically simplifies the life of hiring managers.
Why use an ATS?
Using an ATS is the need of the hour for many organizations today. The data says, as many as 75% of the recruiters use ATS. Handling multiple job applications can become very tedious and more often than not, the organizations miss the right candidate amongst the lot. For the companies that hire a workforce frequently for different tasks, switching to an ATS can be a game-changer.
As per the statistics, if any company scans more than 1000 applications in one year, then investing in an ATS can offer a value addition. Even for a business with a lengthy process of recruitment, using an ATS can offer a significant return on investment by simplifying the process. An online applicant tracking system solved administrative level problems in the process of recruitment.
If a small business does not want to invest in the ATS and just wants to try out how it works, then many websites provide the links for the applicant tracking system for free download. However, whether you purchase or use a free version, you must know how to select the right ATS. Let’s find out.
How to choose an ATS?
There are a bunch of software available online but selecting the best applicant tracking system is important to optimize the hiring process. You can lookout for the following features while choosing an ATS.
- Simple Job Posting Process: The best ATS should let you post the job offers across different platforms in one click.
- Setting up Interviews: An ATS should set up and schedule the interview with candidates that have been shortlisted and automatically communicate the details like date, time, and mode of interview with them.
- Communication with Candidates: An ATS should be able to initiate further communication with the selected candidates.
- Application Management: An ATS should simplify the process of tracking and managing the applications and candidates rather than dumping everything in the mailbox.
- Exclusive Career Page: It should build and manage a separate career page or banner where candidates find details of the company and job profile in one place and can be easily shared on social media for wider reach.
Choosing an ATS with easy process is crucial because as per the data published by Career Builder, over 60% of candidates quit online application process due to complexity.
Conclusion
Talent hunting is a tedious job but getting the work done right is of vital importance. The businesses need to ensure that the process of recruitment is optimized to select the most suitable candidate in the least possible time. Picking the right talent for a particular task with the help of an ATS not only saves resources but also time. The best applicant tracking system will help you improve the hiring process and increase efficiency.
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What is an Applicant Tracking System?
