The vast majority of staffing firms are using applicant tracking systems (ATS) in the hiring process, both to collect information on potential candidates and organize that information in a way that saves time and money for recruiters, hiring managers, and business owners.
This type of software is the first point of contact for applicants, and for many, it’s their last point of contact with your business. Many job seekers never complete the application process thanks to an ATS littered with obstacles and time-consuming data entry procedures. To find talented applicants, having a frustration-free ATS is crucial.
There’s no shortage of choices for ATS’s either; with nearly every major corporation using them to organize the hiring process. For many small to medium staffing companies, such extensive options can lead to choice overload and poor decision making. This ATS buyers guide will eliminate some of the headaches that come with choosing such a vital piece of software, how different businesses interact with it, and how to go about choosing the system that best suits your company’s needs.
Applicant Tracking System by Industry
Despite the hundreds of ATS options available to employers, just a handful dominate the market. Traditional industries like commercial and healthcare, are more likely to utilize the most popular software. With each entity containing dozens of departments, they need a cohesive hiring environment to ensure a smooth transition for employees moving between them.
Smaller companies, those with very distinct departments and very few employees moving between them, can make use of whichever applicant tracking system is most beneficial to their needs.
Large companies and tech businesses typically require a customized ATS rather than purchasing an off-the-shelf product. Both their workforce size and tendency toward higher salary positions make them weary of software that isn’t customized to their needs.
ATS Buyer’s Guide: Choosing the Right Software for Your Business
With hundreds of resumes coming in for several open positions, recruiters and hiring managers struggle to make heads or tails of the information they’re receiving. They need a system that’ll organize all of the incoming information and bring the best candidates to the top of the paper pile.
Any good ATS can do that, but how it’s done, how easily it’s done, and at what cost, varies widely between different products. These are some of the things you’ll want to consider when purchasing an ATS.
Keeping It Budget-Friendly
Your applicant tracking system will surely save you money in the long run, but that doesn’t mean there’s space in the budget this year for expensive software. Before committing to an ATS, research the software’s features and consider whether the company needs every one of them. There are plenty of ATS options out there, and there’s probably one with fewer features that’s just right for your needs and budget.
Providing a Good Candidate Experience
To attract top-quality talent, you need an applicant tracking system that encourages them to complete the application. If the applicant needs to enter redundant information or has to go through the drawn-out process of creating a user profile, they’re likely to give up and apply for a job elsewhere. It might seem like a petty detail, but there are literally hundreds of other positions your prospective employee could be applying for.
Utilizing Employee Referrals
The very best place to look for new hires is with your existing employees. They’re more likely to know who’s looking for a job, what that person’s character and abilities are, and if they’re someone this employee wants to work with. Employee referral programs are an essential component of any hiring process. Applicant tracking systems that integrate these referrals and reward the employees providing them are crucial to implementing a successful hiring process.
Integrating With Existing Web Presence
Unless your business is just getting off the ground, you already have a corporate website that customers and prospective employees are familiar with. Changing the site significantly risks alienating them, which is why it’s so important that your ATS integrates seamlessly with it.
Prospective employees may also encounter your ATS through a social media or job board posting. It should be easy to navigate and only take a few key strokes for job seekers to find these postings and start entering their relevant information into the ATS. Again, systems that require job seekers to create a profile or take unnecessary steps before applying for the position, frustrates the user to where they’ll give up on the application process entirely.
Meeting Compliance Standards
ATS’s organize sensitive data like background checks, salary records, and other forms of personal information. Federal and state laws vary by industry and location, but in any case, you need an ATS that keeps this data secure and limits access to only the employees that need it. Before purchasing any software, review your company’s data protection standards for confidential information.
Demanding Excellent Customer Service
Purchasing an applicant tracking system is not a one-and-done deal; it’s an ongoing relationship between your company and the software developers. There will always be incremental improvements. There might be times when the software isn’t performing the way it needs to, and you’ll need some customer support to sort it out.
Seek out ATS providers with a solid track record of supporting their software with easy-to-reach representatives.
How Senegal Software Can Help
Senegal Software’s applicant tracking system helps recruiters and hiring managers find talent faster, ensures that said talent is highly-qualified, and provides a smooth onboarding process (tax documents, contract signing, etc.) once the candidate is hired.
With Senegal Software solutions, businesses can automate numerous tasks that waste hundreds of hours and cost the company untold amounts of money. Instead of pouring over piles of unqualified resumes, managers can focus on the interviews and hiring decisions that will grow the company.
If you’re ready to implement applicant tracking systems in your company, contact Senegal Software for a demo today and see for yourself how we can streamline the hiring process.