These days, the hiring process is on everyone’s mind. The ongoing pandemic has flipped employment statistics on their heads, and the Great Resignation has put recruitment and hiring on the top of most businesses’ to-do lists. Additionally, younger generations of workers are joining the market and shaking up what potential candidates look for in a business.
These days, good employees are looking for more from the businesses they support with their work. The vast talent pool is looking for companies that take diversity and inclusivity seriously. They’re looking for businesses that have a future in the world of technology. And the most important thing for businesses to know is that — for now — good candidates have a lot of options.
Fortunately, there’s an option for employers to help you fill available roles successfully within your company. In fact, 99% of fortune 500 companies utilize this same option.
What Is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)?
Businesses have been using applicant tracking systems since their invention in the 1990s. Before applicant tracking systems were introduced to HR departments, those tasked with hiring new employees kept resumes in filing cabinets or piled high in a mess on their desks. Applicant tracking systems streamlined the whole process.
Applicant tracking systems help your hiring team filter and organize potential candidates for a job opening in your company. ATS software provides a central platform for your team to view and filter candidates based on different job requirements. It also helps to track their progress through your hiring process.
Over the years, the technology has evolved to meet growing demands on businesses. The incorporation of AI — artificial intelligence — has helped recruiters improve their time-to-hire and quality-of-hire. Applicant tracking systems now offer features. which are highly considered during the ATS Selection process. such as:
- Single-click postings to multiple job boards and social media platforms
- Automated email templates for candidate communication
- Detailed analytics on your hiring process
- A branded careers page for your company website to improve candidate attraction
- Integration with other business software such as HRMS, recruitment CRM, and VMS
- Google app integration
- Candidate research and background checks
- Automated resume screening
- Scheduling features
- Aggregate databases of applicants
How Does an Applicant Tracking System Work?
An ATS essentially emulates a human mind. This recruitment technology scans for keywords the same way a recruiter would and chooses applicants that fit the criteria set forth by you and your recruiting team. The ATS then sorts applicants based on their qualifications so that by the time your hiring staff begins their manual process, hours of work have already been done for them.
An applicant tracking system then tracks your candidates through their process. For instance, your hiring staff will be able to know at a glance if a given candidate is on the first or second interview. It will also archive an eliminated candidate for future available positions in your company.
Embracing the automation of applicant tracking systems streamlines some of the more time-consuming screening and organizational steps of your hiring process.
Benefits of Using an Applicant Tracking System
Like many user software programs, the benefits of an applicant tracking system is unique to the needs of each user. However, there are quite a number of universal Applicant Tracking System Benefits that recruitment and hiring professionals enjoy.
1. It Narrows Down Your Potential Candidates to the Right Candidates
Beginning the filtering process of candidates is a daunting prospect. Before ATS, recruitment staff would spend countless hours scanning resumes or application forms looking for any indication that a potential employee is worth a closer look. However, using ATS streamlines this process by implementing the keywords that you’re looking for. It also helps to eliminate candidates that have red flags on their resumes. This ensures that when your hiring staff first looks at a candidate; they’re looking at someone who is more likely to be the right candidate.
Knocking out this initial step saves your company hours of monotonous work. You save money, and with high volume hiring happening more frequently now, this time and money can seriously add up.
2. It Allows for a Better Overview of Candidates
There is no shortage of websites on which you can post your job listing. Keeping track of applicants through each of these websites is a waste of time, and candidates are bound to slip through the cracks with all the chaos of shifting from site to site.
Using an ATS allows your recruitment team to switch between job posting applications easily, compare multiple candidates, change their application status, and more, all without leaving the ATS program. Once again, this will save your hiring team untold headaches and save your company money in the form of average time spent on the hiring process.
3. It Reduces Your Cost-per-Hire
Fortune 500 companies got where they are by being smart and innovative. Do you wonder why over 90% of them use an applicant tracking system?
The average cost-per-hire without using an applicant tracking system is around $1,800, while the Fortune 500 companies who use them see their average cost-per-hire dropping to between $150 and $300. That’s a saving of around $1,500 per candidate Factor this in with the amount of high volume hiring that is currently happening, and you’ve got a vast difference in how much it could cost you to staff your business fully.
4. It Helps Make Your Company More Diverse and Inclusive
Diversity and inclusion have moved to the forefront of nearly every market in the world and that trend is due to continue in 2022. Creating a diverse and inclusive company provides your company with exponential benefits. In fact, a Mckinsey study shows that companies with a diverse workforce benefit greatly from the diversity of ideas.
Using tools such as intelligent writing, intelligent selecting, and intelligent assessment scoring helps you to reduce bias in your hiring process and embrace diversity in your workplace. The world is evolving in the 21st century and companies that recognize and evolve with the trends of the future are the ones that will succeed and last.
5. It Decreases Your Time-to-Hire
With all the competition for good employees it’s important that you stay competitive by moving good applicants from initial application to hired employee as fast as possible. companies with a slow time-to-hire risk good candidates accepting positions at other companies.
By organizing all of your candidates in one program, it makes it easier for you and your hiring staff to review, rate, and narrow down potential candidates. Streamlining this process will save you and your potential candidates precious time.
6. It Improves Candidate Experience
Websites like GlassDoor prove that applicants talk to each other. Just because a given candidate isn’t hired, doesn’t mean that they can’t have an impact on your business. Having a streamlined hiring process with excellent communication makes a candidate feel valued.
A candidate who feels valued will not only have positive things to say about your company — inspiring other candidates to apply — it also maintains a good relationship with that candidate. This increases the likelihood that a candidate will re-apply to your company if a more suitable role becomes available.
Applicant Tracking System Software and Oleeo
Oleeo Recruit is an ATS Software that empowers you to recruit the best candidates intelligently and efficiently. With Oleeo you can reduce your recruitment team’s workload, customize recruitment workflows, and hardwire diversity and inclusion into your recruiting strategy.
Request a demo and find out how Oleeo can help you outpace your competition in today’s hiring market.
