Benefits of Applicant Tracking System for agency recruiters

Every day recruiters are flooded with hundreds of resumes for various jobs advertised. Now, they have this huge responsibility of selecting the right candidate for the company and the right company for the candidate. It is virtually impossible for recruiters to scan each resume manually and shortlist them. This is where the Applicant Tracking System comes into the picture. Since the job of a recruitment agency is two folds, to speed up the whole process of finding and hiring the right talent and to make sure the hired candidate and selected company makes the best fit.

A recent online survey conducted by Recruit CRM revealed that more than 98 % of recruitment agencies with 10 recruiters or more used and Applicant tracking system. The percentage was significantly lower at 76% for agencies with lesser recruiters.

                                         The difference between using ATS and not using ATS

The functionality of an Application Tracking system is somewhat similar to the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system but with a slight change in main focus towards the search functionality. This article aims to highlight 20 basic advantages of the Applicant Tracking System that will make you realize the importance of having one for your business.

1. Saves Time For Value Added Work

The topmost advantage of an automated Applicant Tracking System is that it saves a lot of time when compared to conventional application processing and hiring procedure. An average of 75-88 % of resumes received is not qualified for the job.  By eliminating the manual posting and listing on job boards, then filtering out the irrelevant applications, this whole process is done in a matter of seconds rather than spending hours on it.

Recruiter Time-Share Per activity

2. Flexible system for both Employer and the Agency

Recruitment agencies obviously gain a lot by using an Applicant tracking system. However, even for the client, it is a blessing as short listings, interview feedbacks and all other co-ordinations can be seamlessly handled online. Imagine the efficiency improvements if you do not have to deal with lots of emails, excel sheets and remember notings, appointments etc which are now handled on a single platform. 

Through keeping all the documents in the applicant monitoring program, you have all the details you need in one location. You can easily switch between apps, compare candidates, change candidate status, select candidates, and scan candidates without leaving the program. In turn, you remove the risk of a submission being missed or trapped on a team member’s desk, so you will be aware of any repeat applications. Many ATS have a simple Kanban view. 

4. Easy Job Posting

An Applicant Tracking System lets you upload the job advertisements on several platforms with a single click. You do not need to set up and manually log in to individual accounts from each social platform and post the job. Moreover, you also do not need to keep a track of each social media platform and results generated from each post individually. An automated Applicant Tracking System will gather the analytics from each platform and then represent it collectively. Various countries have their own popular job boards but the bare minimum requirement is that the  ATS must be capable of automatically post your jobs to google jobs which is one of the most searched places by candidates for jobs.

                                             Source: Google Jobs

5. Improved cost per hire

Since we all know most businesses cannot invest hundreds of dollars ongoing through the expensive screening process, every time they have to hire new talent. Similarly, these businesses cannot afford to hire the wrong resource because of an inefficient screening process, as it could cost them much more afterwards. Tim Sackett, one of the most famous recruitment experts in the world says Applicant Tracking System to be one of the most affordable and amazing recruiting technologies ever. He believes that this technology has made even SMBs able to carry out a competitive recruiting process. According to him: “SMB shops can move faster to integrate the latest and greatest tech on the market. It’s such an exciting time to be in talent acquisition, the availability of world-class technology is transforming how we all recruit on a daily basis.” Ever since the introduction of the Applicant Tracking System in the market, the cost per hire has reduced tremendously. 

Minimum Cost of Recruiter per month $2000- $3000. Cost of Applicant tracking system – $100 – $150 per month per user. Do you really think an ATS cannot improve your recruiter’s efficiency by more than 5 % per month and make-up for the cost?

                                     Benefits of using an Applicant Tracking System

6. Improved Quality of Hire

As a saying goes: “Early Bird Catches the Worm” According to research, 80% of recruiters claim to have an improved quality of hire ever since they incorporated Applicant Tracking System in their businesses. Another research says that the application of a talented and qualified class candidate stays for 10 days approximately. By speeding up the recruitment process that too with the high quality you can easily grab the talented opportunities which could have been occupied by other competitive business. And yes, organizations are now sharply defining their quality of hires using varied metrics-

                                                               Quality of Hire

7. Improved Inter-Department Communication

A strong interior is what leads to a confident exterior. One of the main problems faced during the recruitment process is insufficient information and poor communication between the departments. An Applicant Tracking System allows improved communication among the recruiting team members and also with others who are involved in the whole process. It also allows, to send messages easily to multiple people and assign tasks in an organized timeline. Moreover, all team members can participate, leave notes, ratings and also feedback on each applicant. Most ATS nowadays integrate seamlessly with google/outlook calendar and various email systems.

8. Faster and better decisions

When it comes to hiring a workforce for a company, there is no chance of mistake and a single wrong decision can prove detrimental to the company’s financial position. An Applicant Tracking System gives complete access to all applications and presenting them on the same front helps in making better and faster systems. GetApp, a comparison site for small business software, found that respondents who used an applicant tracking system (ATS) were seeing clear benefits — 86.1% said their ATS had increased the speed at which they hire. 

9. Promotes Collaborative hiring

Collaborative hiring allows a company to have a more organized approach towards developing a more diverse and talented team. Applicant Monitoring Programs come with innovative apps that make it easy to employ collaboratively. HR departments can effectively and efficiently exchange feedback and reviews with each candidate and lead a joint decision-making process in which each recruiter has a voice. Here is s list of collaborative tools useful for recruiting teams.

                                                                     Source: workable

10. Entire Recruitment Cycle speeds up

The benefit of having all applicant’s information centralized and organized in a single platform allows recruiters to have faster access to the hiring process overview. Once the Applicant Tracking System is installed everything from receiving applications to narrowing down the suitable candidates, scheduling interviews and hiring the right person for the job everything catches up a pace that makes the whole cycle faster. Automated contact capabilities also improve the recruiting process, allowing it easier to have general follow-up and transfer applicants to the next level. Finally, the Candidate Tracking Program helps recruiters to build and manage a more effective workflow.

11. Improved Candidate Experience

A user whether hired or not will have an impressive user experience with an automated Applicant Tracking System. A more efficient hiring and application process is the key to success for your business. These same candidates can speak favorable words about your business which will help you attain a strong position in the market. 

12. Improved Employer Branding

A strong Employer branding is what makes a favourable impression of the company. Having an attractive employer branding is so important that it helps a business secure a strong position in the market. A good employer brand will make a significant difference by encouraging a passive employee to join the business. Using ATS, you can evaluate, assess and develop your branding strategy by integrating it with career pages and providing a superior Onboarding experience.

13. Lower bounce rates on Job ads

Nothing is more frustrating than a job advertisement that gets bounced now and then. This throws away all the hard work in the trash. This could lead to starting the whole process from scratch. Applicant Tracking System is a simple and improved solution to a better understanding of how to post and carry out job advertisements and what ways to have a better result from them. Using ATS will help you maximize the time spent on the web page and thus increase the number of applications.

                                                       Bounce rates

Writing better job descriptions will also hugely help in achieving lower bounce rates. Glassdoor has created this resource page for writing great job descriptions.

14. Streamlined Recruitment Process

Applicant Tracking System makes the whole Recruitment process easy to manage and execute. With a streamlined development between the successive tasks, the HR department can easily manage and review multiple applications in a few hours which could otherwise take days.

15. Riddance from unnecessary resumes

Most of the time, people apply for a job blindly, without paying heed to what are the requirements of the job and whether the applicant meets all of them or not. in such cases, there is a lot of frustration on HR’s end who has to filter through hundreds of applications and then filter out the relevant to job applicants followed by filtering the most suitable ones for the task. For the Candidate Tracking Program, recruiters no longer need to continuously search their addresses for something else. Applicant monitoring software collects resumes you collect and displays applicant data in a manner that makes comparisons short and convenient. However, nowadays there are tools available that allow candidates to tailor resumes as per job descriptions so as to beat the ATS search algorithm. Therefore it could be important for recruiters to create their own search queries (rather than use automated ones that are based on Job descriptions). Boolean search can be a powerful tool to help recruiters with the shortlisting. Here recruiters can enter their own criteria for search each time and save that as well.

16. Easy interview scheduling

How wise it is to give chance to some of the most talented minds in the market, but how tough it gets when allotting time slots to each one of the candidates then making sure no time clashes with the other so each candidate gets equal opportunity to express their abilities. When taken from HR, most of them believe calling each candidate and fixing their interview timing is a lot of more hectic tasks than scheduling the interviews itself. This consumes a lot of time and also gives rise to much confusion leading one or two mishaps during the scheduling inevitable. Applicant Tracking System can send automatically generated emails to the shortlisted candidates which can inform them for interviews thus saving a lot of time and hurdles for the Human Resources department.

17. Better Utilization of Budget

When it comes to recruiting, it is difficult to identify the right direction as to where to spend the budget. This confusion can lead to a lot of unnecessary spending by a company which leads to losses for the company. By sending job advertisements to multiple mediums and channels a business can spend a lot of value when in reality it should have only invested in the right social platform. Applicant Tracking System finds out the most suitable platform to invest in through several personalized data collection techniques.

18. Wider Scope of Audience

A limited reach will only bring limited talent. If a business wants to hire the best, it needs to spread its wings in the market and let a wider audience know how they are looking for a compatible individual. And widening your scope in today’s competitive world is a tough task. With so many mouths to hear from, the audience often gets confused about what to pay attention to and what to ignore. An Applicant Tracking System makes reaching the right audience possible easily through SEO techniques. Moreover, it can easily source resumes from various social media platforms & job boards with automated integrations.

19. Auto-generation of Accurate Reports

Applicant Tracking System not only helps with the process but it also gives a hand when it comes to keeping a check and balance of the entire workflow. Applicant Tracking System is efficient in creating Auto-generated accurate reports in real-time. This is done by collecting data from different parts of the process containing job posting to monitoring the execution of the whole task. ATS system can analyze the efficiency of social platforms and how well they are generating performance while allowing analyzing each platform differently. This helps companies identifies loops and holes in the processes and use them to improve the lacking.

20. Improved GDPR & EEO

Data Privacy is the biggest concern when it comes to providing information to a new untrusted source. Especially when the whole procedure is automated most of the people are not convinced that their data would be not be revealed to any other sources or publicly which makes them hesitant towards proceeding with this medium. Despite new GDPR regulations being enforced and data security as a whole being more internationally regulated, it is important to find a way to manage the personal data safely and efficiently.  See how recruitcrm.io handles GDPR & EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) Compliance.

Having a secure Applicant Tracking System lets businesses stay away and safe from all unnecessary processes of shuffling through unwanted applications that waste a lot of time and resources. Besides that, it also speeds up the whole process. You can find all the tools that match your needs and interests and provide a user-friendly platform for both employers and agency leading them towards a market system of the improved hiring process. All of these benefits are crucial to your company’s long-term success.

Originally published at https://recruitcrm.io/blogs/top-20-benefits-applicant-tracking-system