The need to access, acquire and retain talent means that companies are increasingly taking the recruitment process seriously. On the other hand, advances in technology have led to the development of different software applications that can be used to address specific needs of businesses. One of these software applications is the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This is a program that has been designed for one purpose: to help companies make the recruitment process a success.  

Features of an ATS

There are many brands of ATS that are commercially available. However, all the brands of ATS have some basic features. Some of the features found in all brands of the applicant tracking system are as follows:

• Archiving all the data of the applicants

• Tracking the progress that candidates make in the course of the recruitment process

• Keeping all the basic information about the candidates and making it easily available when it is needed

• Managing the communication activities that are carried out with the candidates during the recruitment process

In addition to these features, you will realize that there are some applications that come with advanced features. The purpose of including the additional features in the software is to help you do more with the software and benefit from the additional functionality that is made available by the advanced features. Here is a list of some of the most advanced features that you may find in some applicant recruitment software applications that are available in the market:

• Connectivity with social media platforms, which makes it possible for the new job openings that are available in your organization to be automatically posted on different social media platforms.

• The ability to extract the important information that is contained in the resumes of the candidates that are posted and organize it into important data fields.

Why your company needs to use an ATS

There are several things that make it necessary for your company to use an ATS, that is, if it not already using one. The first one is related to a common trend that affects many companies in general. Basically, as companies grow in terms of the scale of operations, the need to replace the manual recruitment processes with an automated system arises. Following growth, many companies are required to handle hundreds of applications during any recruitment process. Thus, to save on time and costs, many companies are turning to resume sorting software to help them when hiring candidates.

Second, companies are increasingly using ATS as a way of ensuring that they access and get the right candidates to join their teams. As an HR manager, you can effectively use ATS not only as a way of accessing a large pool of potential candidates, but also screening the candidates during the selection process. This increases the chance of getting individuals who are best suited for specific opportunities in your organization.

How job seekers can benefit from the process

Using applicant tracking system for your recruitment process will also be beneficial to the people you will be dealing with during the recruitment process – the jobseekers. On one hand, jobseekers find it easy to apply for jobs that they feel they are most suitable for when the entire recruitment process is based on the use of this software. In addition to this, the fact that the process is cloud-based means that candidates can easily get all their documents and testimonials to you relatively faster than it is the case when the recruitment process is carried out manually.

How to use the ATS for success

There are several things that you need to keep in mind when using an ATS. Some of the basic ones are listed below.

1. Take time to assess the nature of your needs before you settle on one applicant tracking software.
2. You have to consider the capacity of your organization as well as your budget and match them to the basic as well as advanced features of the products that are available in the market before making your final decision.
3. Once you have an ATS in place, you have to ensure that you use the additional time that this software will give you on meeting and interacting with the candidates that you intend to hire.

If you take these things into consideration, you will realize that using applicant tracking system will ultimately support your organization in choosing the right candidate to hire from a large pool of qualified applicants. And since this is the essence of a successful process of hiring candidates, then you have no reason to stick to the manual recruitment process and expect to achieve success when there is a better way.

Author Bio: Kelly Barcelos is a progressive digital marketing manager specializing in HR and is responsible for leading Jobsoid’s content and social media team. When Kelly is not building campaigns, she is busy creating content and preparing PR topics. She started with Jobsoid as a social media strategist and eventually took over the entire digital marketing team with her innovative approach and technical expertise.