For recruiters, the job of making placements comes down to successfully sourcing quality candidates. As recruiting continues to shift to the digital landscape, staffing firms, hiring managers, and recruiters are faced with ever-increasing pressure to adapt the way they gather applicants. Recruiting software and ATS products are crucial elements of this adaptation.
Whether as stand-alone software or as part of a human resources information system an ATS can be used by recruiters to easily visualize where a candidate is in the hiring process and streamline the flow of moving applicants through the candidate journey. ATS software can help reduce the burden on hiring managers by automating tasks that were previously done manually. But, that’s not all they can do. An ATS can prove hiring managers with valuable insights and data making it easier to take actions that can improve the overall hiring processes.
In short, they save businesses time and energy on recruiting and managing candidates. Now, let’s take a look at what exactly an ATS is, what it can do, and why you should always work with a partner that has AST integration.
What is an ATS?
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) or talent management systems, are a type of recruiting software that helps to standardize the hiring process across the board. They can not only handle but fully automate many of the hiring process steps. Most applicant tracking systems offer features like posting job openings and resume screening using keywords and other set parameters with natural language and artificial intelligence processing. Each feature of an ATS is designed to improve the hiring process for both recruiters and candidates. Many organizations use applicant tracking systems to analyze and improve their current hiring process. In fact, more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies are currently using an applicant tracking system.
How do Applicant Tracking Systems Work?
In today’s job market where there are more jobs than candidates, companies who have dialed in the hiring process and streamlined the candidate journey often come out on top. An applicant tracking system’s features will vary depending on what provider you use however here are some of the most common features offered by an ATS:
Job Posting
Before you can track candidates, you’ll first need to source them. An ATS will allow you to easily post or even automate open jobs on both your website and across top job boards. Once applications are submitted, your ATS will help to compile your candidate pool.
Email Marketing
Email marketing can be a great all-be-it time-consuming way to source candidates. An ATS can simplify and automate your emailing process with bulk batch personalized emails. You can use this tool to inform candidates of new or current job openings, provide an attached job description and encourage them to apply. Once the applications have been received they can be imported into your ATS.
Summary Importing
Once resumes are received through traditional channels, it can be difficult keeping track of them all. It’s possible you’re receiving them in your physical mailbox, your email inbox, or have them on your desk and in random files too. Most applicant tracking systems have a resume importing feature. Digital applications will go straight into your recruiting database and physical resumes can be loaded in easily. Once imported all of your resumes can be kept safe and organized in a single location.
Summary Parsing
Now that all of your resumes are in one place the top value of and ATS comes forward. Manually screening hundreds of applicants can be an arduous process. Resumes are rarely standardized. One candidate could have their skills listed under experience at the bottom of the page while another has a separate skills section listed at the top. Once resumes are imported into your ATS, the resume parsing feature can extract key information and reformate resumes to a universal layout.
Interview Scheduling
With an ATS even the process of interview scheduling is simplified. The system can perform the task of sending automated emails allowing candidates to choose a time that works best for both hiring managers and themselves.
Candidate Tracking
Once your candidate resumes are imported and parsed, your ATS can start tracking the applicants in your pipeline and filter for where a candidate is in the candidate journey. From there it will be easy to see where a given applicant is and help recruiters to take the best actionable next step for each candidate. With an ATS in place, even if a candidate is no longer being considered for a position, they are still part of your candidate pipeline. Once they are in your system, you have easy access to their information so you can reach out to them if they match future open positions.
What Are The Benefits of ATS?
As you can see by the list of functions an applicant tracking system can perform, it won’t take long for the software investment to pay off. With an ATS solution, you can save your organization both time and money. An applicant tracking system will allow recruiters and hiring managers to see all the information and metrics they need with a click of a button. With your hiring process streamlined you can achieve quicker placement of higher-quality candidates. The best systems will also include robust, user-friendly dashboards and configurable workflows including key performance metrics and industry benchmarks.
Why You Should Use a Partner That Has ATS Integration.
If you’ve invested, or are planning to invest in an ATS System don’t lose the value of that investment by partnering with a company that doesn’t integrate with your applicant tracking system. At Work4 our candidate lead generating system is designed to integrate seamlessly with many top ATS systems including Bullhorn, Avionte, iCims, Tenstreet, and DriverReach, to name a few. This integration can significantly reduce time-to-fill on any given position.
Having an online applicant tracking system can help simplify the hiring process and save recruiters and hiring managers a huge amount of stress. Working with a partner whose software can integrate with you or your client’s ATS can transform the way your business handles recruiting and help you in your search for the perfect new additions for your business. Find out how your business can benefit from partnering with Work4 today.
