What is an Applicant Tracking System

An ‘Applicant Tracking System’ or ‘ATS’ is a candidate management system. It is a software application designed to handle recruitment process electronically. Job seekers do not come from the same place. Job websites, social media or recruiting firms are some of the platforms to find the job openings. These separate outlets provide accumulated data but they are unstructured and they vary from each other. This overloaded information makes it very difficult for the individual companies to carry out the function of the recruitment process. This is where a solution named ATS which can be purchased for the company to select, recruit and hire the best candidates without much hassle. It can be accessed or operated by large-scale enterprises and also small businesses.

How exactly does ATS work?

As the applicant applies for various jobs online, he is also required to input information like their contact number, job experience, address, educational background, resume and cover letter which eventually are uploaded into the database. This information passes through each process of hiring. Companies can select the applicant by checking the resumes through online tests and interviews. This integrated system helps in the communication process by notifying the candidates through automated emails and also helps in resume analysis and candidate selection. If your resume contains the keywords of skills, qualifications and experiences and other information that the hiring company or the employer wants, then ATS will place you higher in the search results.

Benefits of Applicant Tracking System

• It helps to streamline the resume sorting process so that HR employees would not have to toil for weeks going through each individual resume.
• If a candidate is rejected for a particular role or their resume did not match the criteria, the applicant tracking system will hold and store the file and match other suitable options for that same candidate even in the future.
• Applicant tracking system saves time and money. It saves the time from searching for potential candidates and screening them manually and also saves the cost of job advertisements by automatically publishing ads on websites.
• It is beneficial to candidates also who are notified if their resumes are successfully submitted and selected. This helps to communicate easily.

Drawbacks of Applicant Tracking System

• One of the major problems is that it often fails to miss out the candidates with greater potential. It is designed in such a way that it chooses only the resumes for the requirement. Other valuable experiences, talents and skills are often ignored.
• It can be inaccurate and unreliable at times. If the scanners do not work properly the resumes cannot be read and interpreted or if the resumes are a bit complex, then they are rejected. This is disheartening for the candidates and also unfair for the business as it harming its productivity.
• Applicant tracking system has a limit for the applicant’s information. If the limit is reached, even the suitable resumes of the candidates are eliminated.

   Like all technology, there are benefits and also drawbacks of this hiring software. It is necessary to know the consequences before taking a decision to purchase an applicant tracking system. If the company’s target is to improve sourcing and recruiting, this is the right thing to implement. ATS is an applicant tracking solution built to better assist in resume management and candidate information. Latest advancements include the use of AI or ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and NLP or ‘Natural Language Processing’ for better search and sort the resumes.