A basic understanding of an applicant tracking system can help you understand how it works and why so many companies use it.

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are recruiting tools that help recruiters and hiring managers sort through hundreds of applicant resumes finding the best candidates. Depending on the system, it stores, ranks, and scores based on keywords, relevant job titles, and formatting.

Where Can I Find Information About Applicant Tracking Systems?

It helps to know what an applicant tracking system is and why so many companies rely heavily on them in order to understand how they work. In HR, applicant tracking systems simplify the hiring process by simplifying the process of tracking applicants. Before a corporate recruiter ever receives a resume, they pre-screen candidates using computer programs and equipment. Using these systems will allow you to sort and organize thousands of documents, bring the best and brightest to the top of your list of candidates to interview.

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How Does an Applicant Tracking System Help Companies?

The Applicant Pool Can Narrow Down Easily

A resume can now be submitted to a company more easily than ever before using job search engines. In some cases, applicants can submit their resumes with just one click! a typical corporate job opening received 250 applications, only four or six of which resulted in an interview.

The sheer number of applications submitted when a job listing is posted online can overwhelm recruiters. A hiring manager may not have the time or resources to examine each one, especially when they have to weed out so many unqualified candidates before they can stack competitive resumes against each other. By eliminating the obvious underqualified candidates, an applicant tracking system narrows down the applicant pool.

Time and money are saved by the business

A business can save significant time and money on the hiring process by reducing the applicant pool quickly and identifying the best candidates using applicant tracking systems. ATS systems are particularly useful when a large-scale company is hiring for a multitude of positions simultaneously across more than one department and needs to reduce recruitment time.

As A Compliment To The Internet Applicant Rule

Internet applicant tracking systems provide a simple way for employers to comply with the Internet Applicant Record-Keeping Rule, set up by the federal government to ensure that employers keep strict records of employees recruited via electronic means. This rule requires all companies with more than 100 employees to report information about their employee demographics annually to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. ATSs collect this information, making the reporting process much easier.

Application tracking systems: What are they and how do they work?

It’s probably at this point that you’re wondering how an applicant tracking system works and how it’s capable of performing all of these amazing tasks. Answering this question simply, an applicant tracking system enables recruiters to create job postings, publish them to company websites and job boards, screen applicants, track their status, store their information, and simplify the final steps of the hiring process when an offer is extended.

Many of these features vary depending on which software you use. ATSs are multifaceted and have many features. There are some brands with better reputations and more advanced features than others. Most of the top brands, however, tend to have some things in common when it comes to hiring, such as:

• Sourcing candidates
• Storage can resume
• Parsing has resume
• Using filters
• Search using keywords
• Communication with applicants
• Distributing job postings
• Customizing emails automatically

How to find the right candidates

You need to track down the most qualified candidates once you have made the decision to hire. Posting and distributing job openings in the right places makes it easier to find the right candidates with the skills you need. With an applicant tracking system (ATS), you can do this through company websites, job boards, and various email marketing methods.

Your ATS can better match you with applicants who fit the job description if you create a detailed listing for the job posting. You risk attracting the wrong candidates if you don’t specify exactly what kind of employee you want.

To eliminate such candidates, ATSs ask a series of “knockout questions.” These questions immediately eliminate those who aren’t a match. The ATS flags and rejects applicants who do not provide satisfactory responses to these questions. The answers can either be a short answer or a checkbox response.

Simulating human thought processes

The hiring process is not dehumanized by an applicant tracking system. An applicant tracking system, or ATS, is designed specifically to analyze resumes for key information in the same way that a recruiter would, but without wasting the recruiter’s time on tedious elimination tasks. The ATS can also do this more quickly and more efficiently than people and with fewer errors and oversights.

Keeping resumes on file for review

In the past, Human Resources departments received job applications via mail or email and ended up with stacks of papers on their desks and a dizzying amount of resumes in their inbox. You can import resumes from external websites or send out a call for resumes via email into your applicant tracking system quickly and efficiently. Keeping your applicant pool organized is a breeze this way.

Qualifications-based scanning and sorting of applications

It can be a waste of time to read hundreds of poor resumes, but ATS software can take care of that for you. This software recognizes that every resume is different. Using their built-in parsing features, they will scour out critical pieces of information about candidates and display them to you in a uniform format. In addition to letting you star-rate candidates as you review their applications, the ATS allows you to make notes about them for yourself and others involved in the hiring process.

There are several elements that you can scan for in your ATS, such as education level and specific skills that fit an individual for a position, or you can apply manual filters based on the skills that are most important to you. An applicant tracking system can categorize your pool of applicants based on the job description and identify the best candidates with the right skills and education for the job. By doing so, you will be able to see the highlights of your resume, your skills, and past jobs instantly and schedule interviews accordingly.

Searching for specific keywords in resumes

The software crawls each resume for keyword phrases within the job title and the skill summary. The company might be looking to hire a marketing manager, for instance. The applicant tracking system can give them a list of all candidates whose resume includes “marketing manager” if they want someone with previous experience in this field. In general, employers use the same keywords in the job posting as they want to appear on applicant resumes. They can even search social media sites for keywords to help them find the best candidates even faster with some ATS. Ready to start making better hiring decisions? Get a demo ats today!

Interviewing candidates and tracking their progress

After sorting and narrowing down your candidates into viable options, you can track them throughout the hiring process. It will show you, for example, if you’re deciding between five people whether they’re new applicants. Whether they’re in the interview stage or have been offered a position.