Understanding Applicant Tracking System (ATS) – The Whats And Hows

Applicant tracking system (ATS) is a software that manages the recruiting and hiring process, including job postings and job applications. It makes job seeker data searchable. ATSs follow candidates throughout the employment process. It schedules interviews, alerts candidates, and sends automatic emails to recruiters and hiring managers.

These systems do more than organize. ATSs also screen and propose candidates. It may screen applicants to discover the greatest fit for a position. It may also utilize keywords or AI-type algorithms to analyze job applicants. HR should review job applications and resumes faster with ATS.

ATSs organize candidates for employment and recruitment. These technologies let companies gather data, sort candidates by experience and skill, and screen applicants.

90% of Fortune 500 companies use applicant tracking systems. The finest ATS systems track all candidate communications. This simplifies resume searching and filtering, reducing time-to-fill and assuring firms hire the finest individuals.

How the applicant tracking system (ATS) process works

The following steps are typical of a recruitment process:

• The job requisition is created and, if necessary, approved within the system.
• The job is posted in one or more locations, including internally for employees, on the organization’s website and on external job boards.
• Candidates apply for the position on the organization’s website or directly on the job board if such functionality is available. They may have to answer questions related to the position, such as their work experience and education. Some systems can be set up to reject candidates automatically based on answers to certain questions.
• The ATS may parse resumes and rank new applications as they are submitted.
• The recruiter reviews applicants in the system and selects the candidates to pursue further. Candidates who are not selected may receive an automated rejection email.
• Interviews may take place with the recruiter, hiring manager and others as required. Notes can be entered in the ATS following each interview for future reference.
• When the preferred applicant is found, the recruiter will normally send the offer to the candidate via the ATS.
• If the candidate accepts the offer, they are “hired” into the human resources system. The newly hired employee is then given access to the ATS or HR system’s onboarding functions, where they can read and digitally sign policies, complete online forms, and learn more about the organization.

Importance of ATS in recruitment and hiring

Even small companies benefit from ATS use. First, most applicant tracking systems deliver a pleasant candidate experience and user-friendly application procedure, which applicants want. Second, ATSs streamline the employment process for recruiters, hiring managers, and approvers. Finally, an ATS can be used to search through applications for previous job advertising or to look up past candidates when they apply for new jobs.

An “applicant tracking system” (ATS) is a recruitment management system subset. The latter encompasses all recruitment technologies, including candidate relationship management systems. Candidates in the ATS who are not hired may be in the talent pipeline for future chances. Candidate relationship management keeps prospects in touch.

Benefits of applicant tracking systems

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is intended to organize and speed up the hiring process by delivering the following capabilities and benefits:

• It enables you reuse job descriptions for several roles, saving time and effort when posting jobs.
• It can post and manage job adverts on the company’s internal and external employment sites, Indeed, Monster, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
• It maintains a database of  incoming applicants and potential candidates.
• It creates a single candidate profile by combining past communications and job applications.
• It can also help sort and rank prospects by screening them for job fit.
• It can automate responses, recall interviewees, and notify database members of new job positions. Thus, the ATS manages customer relationships.

Key ATS features

Using an ATS’s features helps eliminate manual processes, engage prospects, and fill open requisitions faster and better. Many ATSes have hidden features and benefits.

ATSs can encourage applicants. Some systems assist applicants with chatbots. They may also try to engage candidates, update them on their status, and let them know if they need more information.

An ATS lets everyone involved in hiring track job progress and participate to candidate selection.

ATSs may sort applicants with varying intelligence. Keyword matching and algorithms that analyze candidate data are used. The ATS may ask applicants questions after receiving a resume to assist recruiters learn more about them.

Keyword-based ATS products are facing competition from machine learning and NLP systems. Some suppliers are adding tools to examine historical recruiting decisions to identify top performers. The ATS algorithm uses current employee data to find success trends in job history and education.

These ATS technology also eliminate unconscious bias in hiring. Machine learning and NLP are used in job adverts to prevent inadvertently discouraging applicants. Researchers say hiring is biased.

Job boards are becoming more like ATSs with tracking tools. Some rate applicants based on their job ad qualifications. Job portals may also integrate with ATSs.