Even in periods of high unemployment, there are open jobs. Jobs that companies simply can’t fill. It’s not that candidates are unqualified for the positions necessarily, there are just too many of them for each opening. Recruiters and hiring managers are busy trying to fill these positions with candidates that not only have the necessary skills, but also the personalities to fit the company culture.

If it’s a lack of time that ails you, then robust Applicant Tracking Software is the remedy. After all, an ATS can save 20% of companies valuable time during the recruitment and hiring process. It stands to reason then, that their recruiting medicine cabinets are missing some key essentials. These recruiting basics can give you more time, and more time means easier filtering of applicants.

Your hiring process takes way too long…

A lengthy hiring process is not only frustrating for the recruiters and hiring managers who try to fill the position, but it’s also frustrating for the candidates who apply. Candidates aren’t afraid to share their poor experience with others; most of the time, they will immortalize it on social media. Subsequently, there is a direct correlation between the length of the hiring process, and the company’s employer brand.

“46% of candidates rate their experience poor or very poor, and 64% share their experience with a company via social media. People are sharing their candidate experience and it really does have a significant impact on the employer brand.”

Who needs integration anyway…?

If it takes more energy to assimilate the system into your recruiting process than the current system already takes, then the ATS isn’t doing its job. The whole point of using an ATS is to automate mundane recruiting requirements. Integration is key to saving time for other, more important practices. Are you missing integration in your ATS?

Your candidates are missing the simplicity they find in the other guys…

With a complicated or confusing job application, you’re running the risk of losing candidates. Running your job opening through your mobile responsive career page is more likely to get job applicants. This is because 76% of candidates prefer to apply through a career site. In fact, the full-bodied ATS some vendors provide, takes one more thing off of your plate, and places the job opening on the career site for you. Pretty great, right?

They can also post the job openings to social media and job boards automatically. Veteran recruiter, Randall Birkwood, said, “Ask the vendor to take you through their social networking and job posting capabilities. ATS vendors have made great strides in this area in recent years, which for lesser-known companies can be a very important asset as they can gain better candidate visibility.” So, it doesn’t matter the size of your company. If you post job openings to social media or job boards, let a little bit of automation take care of that for you.

The ATS you already have doesn’t quite do the job…

It’s true, ATS filters through resumes that don’t match keywords in the job description. Unfortunately, that means the software will also miss potentially well-qualified candidates. It is estimated that human eyes never see 75% of resumes. If the ATS you’re using isn’t quite what you had hoped for, there’s a very good chance you’re missing candidates who would have otherwise been perfect for the position. Most corporate jobs receive 250 resumes per opening… the question you should be asking is which applicants are you missing and why?

You’re wasting time. Actually, your ATS is wasting your time. Even if you already have an ATS, there’s a good possibility it’s not doing its job. In order to find your ideal candidate to fill the job, you need a good ATS. The ATS should be easily integrated into the current team, decrease time-to-hire, and ease the hiring process for both you and your candidates. The better the ATS fits your company, the happier your candidates will be. The happier your candidates are, the better your employer brand.

Bio: Raj Sheth, CEO/Partner

Raj Sheth is the co-founder of Recruiterbox, an online recruitment software and applicant tracking system designed especially for growing companies. Prior to Recruiterbox, he founded two other web startups -- a classifieds portal and an ecommerce site. He is a graduate of Babson College and spent the first three years of his career as a financial analyst with EMC Corporation in Boston. Learn more about Recruiterbox right now.

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