What Is the Purpose of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) in Recruitment?

Recruitment and hiring can be overwhelming for any human resources department, especially when hiring for many positions at a time. Paperwork quickly piles up, and screening, scheduling, and interviewing dozens of candidates means your recruiters have less time for making connections. Manual hiring processes make it harder to reach and hire top talent, especially in organizations that are consistently hiring for open positions. Many organizations are turning to software and digital tools to improve and accelerate candidate screening and selection.

One essential tool for recruiters in a digital world is an Applicant Tracking System. An ATS helps screen thousands of resumes quickly, ensuring you can spend your time interviewing and connecting with only the best-fit candidates. An ATS filters out unsuitable applicants and provides a defined pool of A Players who are likely to be a good fit for the position. Any company that wants to get better candidates in the door should start with a clear, efficient recruitment process — and they can get started by embracing an ATS solution.

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software that enables a database of qualified candidates and provides automated recruiting tools. In traditional recruiting strategies, the recruiter or hiring manager screens resumes, schedules interviews, and maintains timely communication with applicants. A huge influx of applicants makes it difficult for a recruiter to parse through, meaning some great candidates are bound to get lost in the mix. Nowadays, a strong ATS with a solid suite of features can automate many of these tasks and take the burden off your hiring team so they can focus on hiring great employees.

How An ATS Improves Candidate Experience

As organizations ramp up their hiring efforts, finding ways to attract and retain young employees is essential for success. Trends are showing that younger working professionals want to see that potential employers are using modernized hiring strategies. In fact, 54% of Gen Z candidates won’t apply for a job if they believe a company’s hiring methods are outdated. An ATS can automate much of your recruitment and hiring process, simplifying the pipeline, improving communication, and leading to a better candidate experience. This positively impacts your employer brand and helps applicants stay engaged during recruitment.

How Do Recruiters Use An ATS?

An ATS allows recruiters to increase their candidate search volume and focus on top candidates. Previously, recruiters were limited by the number of applications they could review thoroughly. They had to read through resumes and cover letters, handle candidate screening, and manually stay on top of communication and hiring stages. With an ATS, they can screen candidates fast, automate tedious tasks, and devote their time and attention to the best applicants.

Additionally, recruiters can use an ATS to automatically rank applications based on the provided job description. This allows hiring managers to rapidly assess their current talent pool and identify the applicants that would be the best match based on qualifications and culture fit. One of the best features of an ATS is the ability to use keywords to sift through candidates quickly and thoroughly. This allows recruiters to look for candidates by certain skills, locations, types of experience, and workplace habits.

Pick The Right ATS For You

The purpose of an ATS is to create more efficiency in the recruiting process, but your overall recruiting strategy can make an even bigger impact on your organization’s success. With the right ATS in place, organizations can benefit from improved organization of candidate information and a more streamlined interview scheduling and recruitment process.

Here’s what you should look for in an Applicant Tracking System:

• Easy implementation — An ATS that’s easy to set up and easy to use will help you hit the ground running. You’ll be able to get suitable candidates in the door quickly.

• Customizable screening guidelines — You’ll want to customize applicant screening guidelines based on benchmarks and skills to fit your company and the position. Different industries call for different recruiting strategies, and the right ATS should be flexible to your needs.

• Candidate profiles — A central candidate profile makes it easier for recruiters and hiring teams to assess each candidate. The profile should contain all necessary files, documents, and additional information.

• Interviewing tools — Features that make the interview process more efficient, like automatic interview scheduling, video interviewing, and interview guides, are essential to the right ATS.

• Advanced search capabilities — Easy and extensive search capabilities within your ATS can help recruiters find the perfect candidate according to the most important criteria. With a good ATS, you can search by keyword, skill, location, and many other factors that distinguish potential employees.

• Mobile tools and functionality — The best ATS offer features that support candidate texting tools and mobile application capabilities. The ease of applying from anywhere, at any time, can help attract more qualified applicants to your role and help you hire more quickly.

• Access to a wider net for talent — Your ATS should help you source and find more qualified talent than with traditional recruitment methods. Drawing upon lists of passive candidates for sourcing methods, job boards with both passive and active job seekers, and talent communities of previous applicants, the right ATS is one that finds candidates you may not have reached otherwise.

ClearCompany’s award-winning Applicant Tracking System works alongside the other tools in our state-of-the-art recruiting platform to support seamless, engaging recruitment and hiring. The ClearCompany ATS supports your company’s recruitment plan and helps recruiters engage with best-fit candidates to find the perfect hire.

Once the candidate field is narrowed, ClearCompany provides strategic interview guides, scorecards, offer letter management, bulk onboarding, task management, and more to ensure great candidates are interviewed and hired quickly.

The right ATS in recruitment can help your company find, engage with, and hire employees who are productive, engaged, and committed to the mission and vision of your organization. ClearCompany has a decades-long history of helping organizations meet their recruiting, hiring, retention, and engagement goals. Our best-in-class, award-winning Applicant Tracking System helps take the burden off of your recruiting and hiring teams by ensuring you screen for, communicate with, and interview only the best candidates for your open position. Let ClearCompany help you make your recruitment strategy more efficient and effective. Reach out to our team of experts to schedule your free demo today!