Using an ATS is a no-brainer if you want to speed up your hiring process, keep it organized, and increase collaboration. However, many ATSs offer features that go above and beyond generic job posting software. Are you optimizing your hiring process by using all of the features your ATS offers?
What is an ATS?
An Applicant Tracking System, or ATS, is software that streamlines an organization’s recruiting and hiring process. Typically, an ATS will help post available roles, collect and sort applicant information, and even evaluate candidates. Some ATSs even have collaboration features, so your team can work together, from recruiters to hiring managers.
An ATS helps create a seamless workflow for the hiring process. It can help seek out and assess potential hires — that way, your hiring managers can focus on picking the right person from a group of qualified and pre-screened candidates.
So what else can your ATS do?
Assist with job posting, candidate sourcing, and interview scheduling
An ATS can post job openings on multiple job sites simultaneously, ensuring that job seekers using every platform see your open roles. It can link to your career page (which the ATS can also host), so your candidates can see your values.
ATSs also link to social media, so your business automatically posts when a role is available, letting even more candidates know they can apply.
Once the ATS has sifted through applicants and given you a list of qualified candidates, through the ATS, you can schedule interviews seamlessly through one software. That way, you don’t have to bounce from job site to job site.
Parse resumes, track applicants, and analyze applicants
Even though the ATS will post jobs on multiple job sites, it can pull all applications and resumes into a single dashboard and sort them by relevance, experience, and qualifications. More advanced ATSs might even use an AI or machine learning engine to find the best candidates possible.
If you use an ATS, you don’t have to worry about sorting through mountains of printed-out resumes. The ATS does the hard work for you, so you can focus on selecting the best candidate.
Plus, ATSs save the resumes in a database of all applicants. Even though someone wasn’t chosen for one role, the ATS will remember if another position opens up that they’d be perfect for.
Respond automatically to candidates, check their background, and onboard
ATSs will review applicants and create lists of candidates who are a good fit and who are not. From there, you can automatically reject unqualified candidates, and it’ll send that rejection email for you. For qualified candidates, the ATS can help send acceptance emails or interview requests.
Many ATSs will integrate with your background-checking software. Checking candidates’ backgrounds can be a seamless part of the workflow, ensuring you don’t seriously consider someone who’s been flagged. And some ATSs will show you every step of the process, from signing the background check disclosure forms to being cleared.
Once a qualified candidate has accepted their role, an ATS can finally help them onboard with your company. It can provide all of the new hire forms that the employee needs to sign, any resources the employee needs to look over, and any other onboarding media so that they can learn about the organization.
Does your ATS have any of these features?
If it’s been a while since you’ve upgraded to the most recent version of your ATS platform, it might be a good idea to reach out to your vendor and find out what you might be missing out on.
This won’t just save time — it’ll improve the candidate experience. ATSs help reduce unconscious bias in hiring, ensuring candidates are found based on merit and eliminating unintentional discrimination.
Using your ATS to the fullest extent can help curate a seamless candidate experience. Make sure you know what features your ATS offers so that you can optimize your hiring workflow.