Originally designed as a storage solution for job applications to aid in compliance, an applicant tracking system is a software application used to automate the hiring process. These applicant tracking software organize and streamline the hiring process from source to hire. It can be implemented or accessed online either at company or small business levels, depending on the demand of the department.
Some of the benefits of applicant tracking systems are:
- Posting and management of job adverts on an organization’s career sites across several job boards as well as on social media platforms.
- Reducing the effort required to post a job by allowing its users to reuse job descriptions for multiple positions.
- Automation of responses.
- Sorting and ranking of candidates by running scans to select candidates who best meet job requirements.
- Maintaining a database of new applicants and passive candidates.
- Aggregate candidate’s information to include any prior communication or jobs they have applied for in the past in order to create a candidate profile.
Every feature of applicant tracking software is programmed to improve the hiring process for both recruiters and candidates. A good tracking software can serve as a platform for hiring managers and recruiters to submit feedback and collaborate for faster selection of the best candidates.
There are several applicants tracking software available with features that can help reduce the manual process of engaging potential candidates. Some of the top applicant tracking software used in 2022 include; VidCruiter, Freshteam, Recruitee, Avature, Greenhouse, Workable, Lever, and Breezy HR.
Now that we have a fair idea of what applicant tracking systems are, let’s take a look at how they work.
How do applicant tracking systems work?
- First the job description gets created and approved, after which it is posted on various locations like the company’s website, job boards, or social media.
- Candidates can now proceed to apply for the positions available. Some tracking software may have questionnaires relating to positions for candidates to answer. The system can also reject applicants based on their answers to some of the questions.
- The applicant tracking system goes further to collect and store resumes in a database for hiring managers to access even long after the original job applied for has been filled.
- The hiring managers can then use the applicant tracking software to sort through the stored resumes via
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Viewing applications: in this case, recruiters take a quick glance at the job applications that comes through the system for things like a candidate’s past highlights, job titles, and companies. A tip for job seekers would be to make sure that your top skills and qualifications are easily identifiable.
Automatic rankings: some applicant tracking systems are designed to compare resumes with job descriptions. This way the recruiter can focus on the candidates that the applicant tracking software has identified to be a good match instead of reviewing every single application.
Keywords: most recruiters commonly use a tracking software to filter resumes by searching for key skills and titles. This will help in the isolation of candidates that have some experience with those specific jobs and remove any candidate that doesn’t have those exact words/terms in their resumes.
- Once the hiring managers have selected top candidates and conducted interviews, they can enter relevant notes into the applicant tracking system for future use.
- The hiring manager can also use the applicant tracking system to send an offer once a preferred candidate is selected.
- Should the candidate choose to accept the offer made, the on-boarding features of the applicant tracking software are made available for them to complete online forms, read and sign company policies.
Conclusion:
One key tool needed for an easy, stress-free, and successful recruitment process is an applicant tracking system. It helps with the optimization of the hiring process using artificial intelligence and technology. However, before you pick a tracking software ensure that you set clear recruitment goals and then proceed to do an in-depth online search for the software that can meet those goals.
You can even schedule a demo with some top applicant tracking system providers/vendors to see which software is best for you. Another way is to take advantage of applicant tracking software with free trial periods to see if they suit your needs.