What are the benefits of an applicant tracking system?

One of the biggest problems for hiring managers is not only finding the best talent for their role(s), but also managing the great swathe of applications they receive.

Therefore, hiring managers and recruiters need a solution that can help them to manage the candidate acquisition process and track their recruitment campaigns. They need a centralised platform that integrates with their existing processes. Enter, the Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

In the past, an ATS would be utilised primarily by big enterprises, but gradually, more and more small businesses have been adopting these platforms, helping them to find high-quality candidates and manage the entire recruitment process.

In this blog, we will discuss the benefits of an Applicant Tracking System – and how it can empower hiring managers and recruiters with the functions they need to attract and manage the best talent in the marketplace.

To find more about how you can access an applicant tracking system for your recruitment campaign, click here.

Streamlined candidate acquisition and management

The principal purpose of an ATS is first and foremost to provide a centralised location and database for a company’s recruitment efforts. It enables the seamless integration of other recruitment technology and tools, providing hiring managers and recruiters with a truly all-in-one platform for their recruitment needs.

An ATS relieves the administrative burden on recruiters significantly by providing the tools to identify qualified applicants, screen CVs, post jobs online, schedule interviews and much more. Using an ATS, recruiters and hiring managers can streamline the candidate acquisition and subsequent management process, reducing cost and time-per-hire.

With the ATS managing the most arduous aspects of the recruitment campaign, hiring managers and recruiters have more time to engage with candidates and conduct interviews.

Candidate filtering and improved quality of hire

Using an ATS, hiring managers and recruiters can build a talent pool of only the most qualified, high-quality candidates and discard those who do not meet the business’ requirements.

Furthermore, with the ATS streamlining the candidate acquisition and management process – making it significantly quicker – applicants are engaged with sooner in the recruitment cycle. This enables hiring managers and recruiters to not only maintain a candidate’s interest in the position, but also gives them the best chance of securing/placing that candidate, as they may have applied to multiple opportunities. 

Centralised candidate communication and social media automation

An ATS provides recruiters and hiring managers with the means to automate social media sharing, create branded emails for candidates and monitor social media activity. This means hiring managers and recruiters can quickly share and distribute jobs across all major social media networks, advertising the latest opportunities in real-time, as well as reach out to more ‘passive’ candidates directly from the platform. 

End-to-end visibility of recruitment campaigns and analytics

Once the recruitment campaign is complete and a candidate is hired, it’s essential that you evaluate the success of your recruitment campaign(s) to improve future ones.

Another functionality that an ATS provides is end-to-end visibility of recruitment campaigns, as well as actionable data recruiters and hiring managers can use to improve future recruitment campaigns.

An ATS enables recruiters and hiring managers to analyse the overall performance of their recruitment campaigns through advanced analytics, including (but not limited to): which job posts were most effective, how many applicants were selected for interview, applications at each stage, application source (i.e. job board, referral) and cost and time-per-hire.

Ultimately, the benefits of an ATS cannot be overstated. It delivers the necessary functionalities hiring manager and recruiters need in the modern, digital world, providing them with a robust and sophisticated means to acquire, retain and manage the top talent in the market place.

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