Everything You Need to Know About Job Application Trackers

Job application trackers or commonly known as Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are software applications designed to simplify your company’s recruitment process. ATS tracking serves as a centralized platform for viewing job applicants and tracking their progress through your company’s hiring process. Job application trackers also allow you to sort thousands of applicants based on the criteria you’ve set.

As workers and consumers “evolve”, so should the hiring process that you are using to acquire new talents

ATS portals are useful for recruiters and HR people who have to sift through a large pool of applicants. These recruitment systems are also ideal for company’s who regularly hire to fill different positions. Job application trackers minimize all the labour involved by putting your entire recruitment process under one system.

Why You Should Use an ATS Portal?

Below are 6 reasons why your company should use an applicant tracking system today:

1. Make your hiring process more efficient

ATS tracking allows you to easily manage applicants by keeping data up to date, organized, and readily accessible to your HR team anytime. With job application trackers, it’s easy to search a large pool of candidates by various categories like location, skills, education, experience, etc. Furthermore, recruitment systems help standardize your entire hiring process — enabling you to find the best candidates to fill in a position and make the right hiring decision.

2. Save more time through automation

Automation is the future. ATS portals help you save time by automating job posting and CV submission. Every time there’s a new applicant all his data are automatically imported into your software platform so you don’t have to manually input data into spreadsheets anymore. Some high-end recruitment systems also use AI to pre-screen candidates saving you even more time by eliminating unqualified candidates.

3. Increase your productivity

ATS tracking platforms have many features that improve your productivity as a recruiter or HR professional. Some of these include the ability to post on multiple job boards, email templates for communicating with potential candidates, and collaborative functionalities like sharing and commenting. These features don’t only impact you as an individual but also your entire team’s productivity.

4. Find better hires

Bad hires can cost your company millions of dollars. According to Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh: 

 “One bad hire can lead to a domino effect of more bad hires and decisions costing a company millions. My bad hires have cost me well over $100 million.”  

Automatically identifying candidates that best match the requirements you’ve set don’t just help you save time and be more productive. It also helps you find better hires. ATS portals play a big role in improving the quality of your hiring process which ultimately leads to better employee retention rates.

5. Improve your hiring with performance reports

“When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates” – Thomas S. Monson

Most job application trackers come with analytics and reporting features. These allow you to create reports and track your progress using key recruitment metrics — giving you valuable insights on how to improve your hiring process. Performance reports help you identify which areas are eating away your recruitment spending and where you should be using it instead to gain better results.

6. Take advantage of employer branding

Using an ATS tracking software helps boost your employer brand through job posts, email communications, career pages, application forms, etc.

7. Provide a better hiring experience for your candidates

Nowadays, the job market has become candidate-centric. It’s no longer about your company anymore. If you want quality hires, you must be prepared to offer a more modern, organized, and more engaging hiring process. And recruitment systems can help you achieve just that.

How to Choose the Right Job Application Tracker for Your Business

There are many recruitment systems in the market. Choosing the right applicant tracking system for your business can daunting even for the most tech-savvy HR professional. Not using the right ATS tracking platform can be detrimental to your brand. Not to mention it is a waste of time and money.  Keep the following tips in mind when selecting the best ATS portal for your company:

1. Work within your budget

ATS tracking platforms come at many forms and prices. Make sure the applicant tracking system you’re buying fits your purpose. Ask yourself: Is the value you are getting worth the high price tag? Make sure you know what you are buying — the number of users allowed, job postings, limit to the number of applicants, and other hiring management details as these factors will ultimately affect your buying decision.

2. Know your workflow

Every business is different. And so are each company’s hiring needs. Before signing up for an ATS portal demo, make sure you understand how your company moves applicants through the pipeline.  Read product reviews. Compare different solutions. And then choose the one that fits your workflow as close as possible. Remember, there’s never a job application tracker that fits all the options. Choose wisely!

3. Evaluate each platform

Don’t get swayed by advertising. Many ATS tracking companies love to advertise their product as “the ultimate solution” and “user-friendly”. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Take advantage of free trials that most ATS vendors offer and the choose the one you think works best for your business.

4. Mobile recruitment is a must

Choose a job application tracker that offers a mobile recruitment feature as this is no longer a luxury in this fast-paced world. Remember that there’s a huge competition in hiring quality talent. You need to be able to track applicants, post jobs, and interact with candidates even when you are away from your desk.

5. Keep your data safe

Data security is a major concern for all cloud-based products, not just recruitment systems.  When choosing your own ATS portal, make sure that it uses the latest encryption technology available.  Keep in mind that recruitment systems contain a lot of sensitive information about your company and your applicants. Keep these data safe at all times.

6. Create an ATS tracking wish list

What would your perfect recruitment system look like? What features are a must-have? What are nice to have? List down your answers and use them as a guide for choosing the right job application tracker for your business.

Best Practices When Implementing ATS Tracking

Now that you’ve chosen your ATS recruitment platform, what’s next? Below are some best practices that will help you find the right hire for your company.

1. Don’t just rely on job boards

Job boards are great for finding active applicants for your vacant position. But as most successful recruiters would do, you must think beyond job boards and use all available resources you have. You can leverage employee referrals and social networks. Reaching out to passive candidates is easy once you’ve established your company as a respected brand.

2. Stay in contact

Communication is key. Even candidates can be a great source of referrals. So, stay in touch regularly with your candidates throughout the recruitment process.

3. Use your website

Your company website is the “face” of your business on the internet. Leverage it by portraying your company’s mission, vision, values, and goals. Candidates who resonate with your company’s message will eventually get in touch.

4. Automate your repetitive tasks

Automation is the hallmark of job application trackers. So, take full advantage of it! Automate recruiting tasks that are repetitive to increase your team’s productivity, accelerate the recruitment process, and reduce the associated costs of hiring an individual. Have a fast and efficient recruitment system is also a plus for your company’s employer branding.

5. Provide a thorough job description

If candidates can’t find the information they need or your job description is vague or generic, there’s a big chance that they’ll move on to the next company with an accurate job description. Leaving critical information out will only waste the applicant’s time and yours. Communicate clearly from the get-go so applicants will have a clear understanding of what’s expected from them.

6. Use a broad range of keywords

Job application trackers use keywords to help you sift through a talent pool and make the hiring process more efficient. Getting keywords to filter in your favor can be tricky. So, don’t just stick to one key phrase. Use a broad range of keywords to help you find resumes that you have missed otherwise. Remember that many applicants, even good talents, don’t know how to properly integrate keywords into their resumes.

Conclusion

Figuring out how ATS tracking works can be quite daunting and time-consuming at first. Like any HR tech, job application trackers have a learning curve which once mastered, can become very advantageous to your company. Keep in mind that ATS portals are tools that help improve your recruitment process. It’s not a quick fix for your broken hiring system.

Lenmark.

CakeHR is an award-winning HR software company that provides attendance, performance and recruitment management for customers worldwide. More information at www.cake.hr