Does your job create a paper mountain? I'm a notorious list-maker and sticky-note writer and at the end of a busy day I'm buried under an avalanche of notes and thoughts - all listed on scraps of paper. All this note taking may start out as a helpful exercise to record any ideas, but by the end of the day that volume of paper can be less than helpful (and maybe not so good for our forests).

Thank goodness there's software available to help! Now I can find my desk when I sit down to work! Now, even at the end of an incredibly busy week, everything is in its place. Gone are the days when I'm searching for that truant scrap of paper while on the phone with a client or candidate! ("Yes, Ms. Client, I do have the perfect candidate for you. They're available to meet with you... uhhh... hang on; it's here somewhere.")

That's the value of an applicant tracking system (ATS). An ATS is like having your entire desk on your computer! Calendars, to-do's, lists, client positions, potential candidates. It's like project management software - but it's specifically designed to meet the needs that we recruiters have.

An application tracking system truly transformed my business, making me more productive because I was more organized. (And I don't need to tell you, when we're more organized we're more successful). If you have not implemented an ATS into your recruiting business, now is the time to do it. (Why now? Because now is always the time for successful action!)

Using an online application tracking system is really exciting because web-based applications allow you to access them from anywhere. (Can you say, "Hello Starbucks!"???). It means you can meet with a client and maybe have a few candidates already scheduled for an interview before you even leave their building! It means the perfect match between client and candidate is just a mouseclick away.

When founding Jobboo.org, it was important to us that we provide our users with services and resources that would help them to be more successful, so it was only natural that we include an application tracking system as part of our offering. If you're a regular user of Jobboo, you probably know that we offer a subscription to an application tracking system. Now, I'm not here to "pitch" you on it. I do want to let you know about a few of its special features because I am dedicated to helping recruiters be more successful.

Did you know that the Jobboo ATS comes with a plug-in that will send candidate information from your Outlook inbox to your secure ATS account? And, there's our free conversion functionality - Jobboo's online ATS will transfer data from other systems so that you can keep all your information in one handy place. You'll also find the option to share portions of prospective candidate or position information to others on the Jobboo network, which might help you to close more deals.

If you don't have an ATS yet, let me encourage you to transform your recruiting business with software designed for your unique needs. You will thank me for it.-Julie