An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) benefits organizations by streamlining and automating their hiring process. It is a digital assistant that enhances the candidate experience and finds a suitable candidate for a job listing.
ATS is a recruitment tool that helps you organize, manage, and track job applications, making your life as a recruiter or hiring manager much easier.
In fact, ATS systems make the recruitment process so much easier that 98.5% of Fortune 500 companies and 75% of recruiters[1] rely on them today!
Benefits of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
In this guide, we’ll help you understand why ATSs are such popular tools by exploring the key benefits they offer your recruitment strategy.
We’ll discuss how applicant tracking systems can streamline your recruitment process, enhance the candidate experience, increase hiring efficiency, and more. And by the end, you’ll understand why an ATS is a game-changer for businesses of all sizes.
1. Streamlined Recruitment Process
The first and most important advantage of an ATS is that it streamlines the entire recruiting process. Its purpose is to make it easier to find and hire qualified candidates for any open position.
Automation of Administrative Tasks
Recruitment and talent acquisition involves many boring, tedious, and repetitive tasks. The vast majority can be easily automated with an ATS, which saves you and your hiring team time and energy that could be better spent. With the average hiring process taking around 44 days[2], every day you can save is a win.
Things they can handle include:
- Resume Screening: Quickly scan resumes to extract key information like skills, experience, and education.
- Job Posting: Easily post job ads on multiple job boards with just a few clicks.
- Interview Scheduling: Effortlessly coordinate and host interviews with candidates and hiring managers.
Centralized Candidate Information
Keeping track of candidate data is something that has always plagued traditional recruiters. Cover letters, resumes, interview notes, references, and more. Add in the many different platforms involved, and all that info can quickly become scattered and disorganized.
ATS solutions solve this problem by storing all applicant data in one centralized database, which is easily accessible to everyone involved in the hiring phase.
Need to review a candidate’s resume again? Just search for their name. Do you want to filter ideal candidates by specific skills? A few clicks, and it’s one. This centralized approach saves time, improves collaboration, and reduces the risk of losing important information.
Improved Collaboration Between Team Members
Hiring isn’t a solo effort. When multiple people are involved in recruiting staff, it can be easy for things to fall through the cracks. Applicant Tracking Systems offer features like shared notes, integrated calendars and reminders for interviews and other built-in communication tools to make sure everyone is always on the same page.
2. Enhanced Candidate Experience
There was a time when recruiters and hiring teams held all the power in the job market. And candidates would go along with it, because that was just how things were done. But times have changed, and candidates have realized companies need them just as much as they need the jobs those companies are offering.
These days, employees demand a better experience. This extends to job applicants and 76% of employees[3] state that their experience during the hiring process influenced whether they accepted a job offer. With recruitment software like an ATS, providing that improved candidate experience is simple.
- Faster Response Times: ATS software streamlines candidate engagement by automating tasks like acknowledging applications and quickly screening resumes. This helps recruiters focus on top-quality candidates, who are often hired within 10 days[4].
- Improved Communication: An ATS keeps candidates informed with features like automated emails, portals, and status updates. This builds trust, reduces frustration, and keeps candidates interested in the job.
- Mobile-Friendly Interface: In 2023, 62% of job applications[5] came from mobile devices, which highlights just how important mobile accessibility is if you want access to the widest talent pool possible.
Thanks to the centralized database of candidate information, it is also possible to send more personalized communications to both active and passive applicants. While this might be nothing more than adding their name to a standard rejection letter, the personal touch makes candidates feel more valued.
When someone — whether an employee, candidate, or customer — feels valued, this increases your brand reputation. And when you have a strong employer reputation, it makes it that much more likely that a candidate will choose your offer over another.
3. Increased Hiring Efficiency
Many steps and tasks involved in hiring a new employee can take a lot of time out of a recruitment team or hiring manager. One small mistake or delay can have a roll-on effect that ends up costing weeks or days.
To establish hiring efficiency, you need to have dedicated and effective recruitment processes that make optimal use of the time and resources available. With Applicant Tracking Systems, you not only streamline your workflows but can also identify and address recruitment challenges early on.
Reduction in Time-to-Hire
Studies have shown that an ATS can reduce time-to-hire by 86.1%[6]. It does this by automating tasks like posting available positions to multiple job boards, parsing resumes, and scheduling interviews. This means that qualified candidates can be identified and hired more quickly, saving both time and money.
Improved Quality of Hires
ATS also helps to improve the quality of hires and is the key reason why 70% of companies invest in an ATS[7]. Features like resume screening and ranking allow recruiters to quickly identify candidates with the most relevant skills and experience. This ensures that only the most qualified candidates are brought in for interviews, reducing the risk of making a bad hire.
Automated Interview Scheduling
Scheduling interviews via traditional methods can be a frustrating process that takes ages for both recruiters and candidates. With integrated calendars and automated reminders, an ATS can automate the process. This reduces the back-and-forth required and makes sure the interview stage moves along smoothly.
4. Data-Driven Decision Making
When it comes to modern business, data is key. Without data-driven insights guiding your decision-making, you run the risk of making a choice that seems wise now but could cost you in the long run. And when the average cost per hire is nearly $4,700[8] — that can add up.
Advanced Analytics and Reporting
Applicant Tracking Systems provide valuable insights into your hiring metrics, such as time-to-hire, source of hire, and candidate pipeline. This data can help you:
- Identify bottlenecks in your process so that you can take steps to improve efficiency.
- Measure the effectiveness of different recruitment channels so you can allocate your resources accordingly.
- Track key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess your hiring efforts’ success.
Real-Time Data Access
With access to live data, you can make more informed decisions in real-time. This includes information on:
- Time to hire: Track how long it takes to fill positions.
- Most effective candidate sources: Identify where to focus your sourcing efforts.
- Application drop-off rate: Pinpoint areas where potential candidates quit the application process.
- Number of candidates: Monitor the volume of applications at each stage of the funnel to ensure a steady pipeline.
- Quality of hire: Measure the effectiveness of your selection process.
- Cost per hire: Track your hiring expenses to ensure you get the most out of your recruitment budget.
5. Cost-Effectiveness
There are many benefits of ATS software, and each of these help reduce your hiring and employee retention costs. This long term cost effectiveness is another key reason why so many businesses believe that an ATS is a worthwhile investment.
- Reduction in Manual Work: An ATS cuts down on administrative overhead and manual labor by automating tasks like resume parsing, job posting, and candidate management features. This means you need less staff to do the same amount of work, and they’ll still have time for more strategic activities.
- Minimization of Bad Hires: ATS helps prevent costly hiring mistakes by improving candidate matching and screening. When avoiding a bad hire saves a company about $12,489[9], reducing turnover and improving employee satisfaction is crucial.
- Scalability of Hiring: As your business grows, your hiring needs will change. An ATS can scale with your company, supporting increased hiring without a proportional increase in recruitment resources. This helps you maintain a high-quality hiring process while keeping costs in check.
6. Scalability and Flexibility for Businesses
It’s a common myth that ATSs are designed with massive corporations and complex hiring needs in mind. But whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise, an ATS can help you manage your hiring process and scale your recruitment efforts.
Adaptability to Business Size
Small business employees often wear many hats, which means they have limited time for each task. An ATS can automate the most time-consuming aspects of the recruitment process, giving small teams more time to focus their attention elsewhere.
For larger enterprises, an ATS can handle even the most complex recruitment needs, such as tracking hundreds or thousands of candidates and managing multiple hiring teams.
Flexibility
ATS are highly customizable, allowing you to tailor them to your specific industry and needs. Some features that let you make your ATS your own include:
- Job Postings: Easily post jobs to multiple job boards and share them on social media using branded templates.
- Customizable Workflows: Tailor the hiring process to your exact needs, such as gathering multiple approvals, collecting external documents, or more.
- Integrations: Connect additional HR software you may use such as an human resources information system (HRIS) and candidate relationship management (CRM) systems.
Support for High-Volume Hiring
If you’re a growing company or experience seasonal hiring spikes, an ATS can help you manage your organization’s recruitment needs. By automating repetitive tasks and streamlining processes, you can handle any volume of applications without sacrificing efficiency or quality.
7. Compliance and Legal Protection
Compliance is a top priority for any business. An ATS can help you meet your legal obligations and protect your organization from potential risks. Here’s how:
Ensuring Adherence to Hiring Laws
By automating many of the elements involved in a recruitment strategy, you can reduce the risk of human error that may cause liabilities later.
With customizable workflows that leverage conditional logic — staying compliant with local, national, and industry-specific regulations is easy.
Documenting Hiring Processes
An ATS keeps records and logs of everything from candidate interactions and interview feedback to hiring decisions and onboarding process progress.
This means you can easily demonstrate that you’ve followed fair and equitable practices in case of any future legal disputes or audits.
Mitigating Discrimination Risks
By using automated screening and pre-determined selection criteria, you can reduce the potential for unconscious bias and ensure that all potential candidates are evaluated fairly from the start.
Additionally, ATSs can track diversity metrics, helping you monitor your progress toward creating a more inclusive workplace and identify any patterns of discrimination.
Final Words
In today’s competitive job market, having the right people in the right places is more important than ever. An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is your secret weapon for streamlining the hiring process, improving candidate experiences, and making data-driven decisions that improve your business rather than cost it.
From automating admin tasks to providing valuable insights, an ATS offers many benefits that can transform your recruitment strategy. By leveraging the power of technology, you can reduce time-to-hire, enhance your employer brand, and ultimately achieve your business goals.