Applicant Tracking System - Why Do We Need It?

An Applicant Tracking System (“ATS”) is a software application also called Recruiting Software enables the electronic handling of corporate recruitment needs. Majority include a career site of a corporate, which allows companies to post jobs onto their own website, as an avenue to lure candidates. Candidates have choice of applying to a job of specific nature or in general to the company. The effective searching, filtering, and routing of applications is done through the database of the candidate which is stored.

The largest organizational benefit of an applicant tracking system is improved productivity of the recruiting team. Managing of requisition and candidate data electronically which is an automated process reduces significantly the inefficiencies. Further, the improved organization of candidate information allows quicker decision-making. All this results in cost reduction and saving of time per hire.

There is a difference in the applicant tracking systems drawn keeping in mind the recruiting and staffing firms from those with a corporate HR orientation. These factually are inclusive of tough reporting tools, and more comprehensive aides for contact management and client and candidate management. These additional features put them on priority for contract staffing firms and/or companies with higher employee turnover.

As compared to the bigger firms, small and medium enterprises should have more competitive spirit. There should be an assurance from them about more productivity and utilization of resources to the maximum extent. Willingness of the pool of skilled workers to work for SMEs is on decline due to the demand they are getting from bigger companies in developed countries. The pinch is harder for SMEs with the increase in demand for candidates.

Accordingly, it is an acid test for SMEs to maintain and increase the quality of their hires as well as reducing the cost and drawbacks in their recruitment process.

There is an advantage for SMEs with technology adaptation, which keeps them in fray. Help comes from process optimization, which ensures management and retention of knowledge. This can be easily achieved by inexpensive productivity software. The inefficiencies of manual systems is removed by this productivity software which helps to implement processes and generate profiles.

Recruitment automation helps to maintain a centralized candidate repository, so that at the time of skill shortage, company has access to resources and quality data about the resources, collected over a period of time. Knowledge can be retained and managed in addition to maintaining design of effective processes for candidate tracking, when there is increase in recruiter attrition. With good MIS reports, managers can do a better decision-making and they can point out where the results are coming from and where from not with the money spent.

The very purpose of an applicant tracking system is to help the administration of organizations, chiefly the HR department to keep track of the applications coming in for job, which in turn help them hire right people.

Generally, an ATS maintains particulars about the job openings in the organization, the hiring workflow, applications that come in and bio-data, and all correspondence with applicant. Storing of applications is based on the resumes and details gathered when they applied for job. The applicant tracking systems to make users to filter, sort and search applications, to make it simple in tracking the correct candidates, uses this information.