Applicant tracking systems (ATS) source, screen, and build pipelines to manage candidates for open positions. Recruiters, HR teams, and hiring managers use these tools to create and distribute job postings, parse resumes, schedule interviews, and manage documents like cover letters and references.
Core Capabilities of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
To qualify for inclusion in the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) category, a product must:
- Collect, sort, and screen resumes, parsing associated candidate information
- Flag qualified candidates and match them with opportunities
- Build talent pools within a customizable workflow
- Enable communication between HR personnel, hiring managers, recruiters, and candidates
- Track, analyze, and manage the candidate experience
- Allow for interview feedback such as notes or scorecards and include or integrate with interview scheduling
- Provide reporting and analytics on the effectiveness of the interview process, composition of the talent pool, or time-based metrics
- Post jobs on relevant boards or integrate with job posting software
Common use cases for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
In addition, an ATS also automates time-consuming manual tasks like scheduling interviews, communicating next steps, and sending alerts to candidates. An ATS also tracks and reports metrics like time-to-hire and cost-to-hire, enabling companies to optimize the return-on-investment (ROI) of recruiting software investments. Recruitment professionals across industries use applicant tracking tools to extract a candidate’s educational background, skills, and work histories from a resume, enabling recruiters to find the most qualified candidates for their organization. These tools allow hiring teams to acquire and manage candidates from multiple sources, including social media, referrals, and job board websites. An ATS also ensures collaborative hiring, coordinates multiple calendars while scheduling interviews, and integrates with existing recruiting software to boost hiring process efficiency.
How Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) Differs from Other Tools
To best secure top of funnel hiring, this recruiting software ties into greater recruiting features such as job boards, employee referral software, recruitment marketing platforms, video interviewing software, interview scheduling software, onboarding software, and recruitment platforms. Some ATS may offer candidate relationship management software capabilities to help recruiters proactively discover and nurture potential candidates via email marketing, scheduling, and periodic communications.
Related categories include recruiting automation and AI recruiting.
Insights from G2 on Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
Based on category trends on G2, resume parsing and customizable hiring workflows stand out as the most valued capabilities. Faster interview scheduling and reporting on time-to-hire and cost-to-hire are key reasons recruiting teams adopt an ATS.
