What is an ATS? 10 Things You Need to Know About Applicant Tracking Systems

You polish your CV to highlight your abilities and expertise, because it is your best job-hunting weapon. Despite your efforts, obtain more interviews, even for qualifying positions. And why is that so?

After you submit your resume, it goes to a computer, not a person. A human doesn’t see your resume. It is because more businesses are now utilizing applicant tracking systems (ATS) to screen resumes.

What’s an ATS? Its software scans resume for keywords and eliminate those that don’t match. So if you want your CV to reach a person, make sure it’s ATS-optimized.

10 Things To Know About ATS

Here are ten things to know about applicant tracking systems: what they are, how they function, and how to “defeat” them!

1. ATS: What is it?

Employers and job seekers find the recruiting process time-consuming and irritating. Many firms use ATS to expedite processes.

ATS is recruiting software. Companies utilize it for HR, recruiting, and hiring. Thousands of resumes are sorted. The software collects, organizes, and filters candidates for recruiting organizations. It processes resumes and job applications sent online.

Using the ATS, recruiting managers screen prospects and follow their progress. ATSs save time and money by digitizing the employment process.

2. Function of an ATS

A candidate tracking system has four steps:

• ATS receives a job requisition. This request provides the position’s title, abilities, and experience
• The ATS then creates a candidate profile
• The ATS parses, sorts, and ranks resumes based on profile match
• Hiring managers swiftly find quality prospects and move them ahead

Recruiters scan resumes for essential competencies and job titles. This identifies applicants with relevant experience. Anyone without such a word is out of luck.

Recruiters often use job titles and competencies to run complicated searches.

If you forecast the CV keywords recruiters use, you boost your hiring chances.

3. How do ATS and CRM differ?

There are two types of recruitment software:

1. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
2. Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) Systems

Let’s examine each system.

• ATS software comprises resume processing, candidate screening, and evaluation tools
  ATS software only monitors applicants who have applied to your firm.
• Top businesses hire for many positions at once and receive hundreds of applicants. Many unqualified applicants apply online since it’s simpler than ever, thinking, “it’s worth a shot.”
• CRM systems target potential applicants who have yet to apply to your organization
  Email marketing, scheduling, and communication tools are part of CRM.
• CRMs allow you to add information you find about applicants, unlike ATSs. CRMs are more proactive than ATS.

Use both systems as both are popular.

4. Key components of an applicant tracking system

Applicants apply for jobs on any device without logging in to a system. Companies have a broader candidate pool.

Companies use ATS software to uncover and promote excellent applications automatically.

ATS software features:

• Resume parsing extracts resumes’ contact information, employment history, education, and abilities.
• Advanced search lets you filter applications by keywords, job titles, skills, experience, and more.
• Candidate sourcing lets you search for, identify, and contact possible job applicants.
• Multi-channel applicant sourcing allows you to find candidates through job boards, social media, and employee referrals.
• Some ATSs include built-in CRM software to meet all your demands.
• Most ATS include email templates to maintain professional communication with prospects.
• Advanced analytics and reporting help to generate reports on job searchers, hiring patterns, and other data.
• The ATS integrates with email marketing, accounting, and CRM applications.
• Automating interviews saves time rescheduling, sending reminders, and organizing numerous calendars.
• Real-time collaboration allows diverse segments of the business to participate in sourcing, screening and hiring decisions.
• Automation based on events and circumstances makes your ATS act only if a situation happens.

5. What is the accuracy of ATS software?

ATS saves recruiters time and effort, but they need to be flawless.

88% of recruiters said an ATS missed suitable prospects because they “didn’t fit the specific job description requirements.”

This shows that ATS prioritizes keywords over candidates’ abilities, experience, or credentials.

Many qualified individuals are missed because their resumes need keywords. You get an advantage of this by including employer-requested keywords on your CV.

6. Who uses ATS?

The majority of large organizations use ATS.

According to a survey, over 98.8% of Fortune 500 businesses utilize applicant tracking systems (ATS). In contrast, a Kelly OCG poll estimates that 66% of big enterprises and 35% of small organizations use recruiting software. And these figures continue to increase. The reality is:

When applying to a major firm, you will undoubtedly encounter an ATS.

If you apply using any online form, you apply through an ATS.

Even employment portals like Indeed and LinkedIn have integrated ATS.

ATS is here to stay. Because of this, it is crucial to use the appropriate keywords and arrange your resume so that it is easy for ATS software to understand.

7. Reasons why companies use ATS

Modern firms have a formidable challenge when it comes to acquiring new personnel.

This is because the Internet has made it simple for job searchers to submit applications. Therefore they offer a large number of them. Many of these candidates are unqualified, but they believed “it was worth a shot” to apply.

As a result, corporate recruiters now receive hundreds or even thousands of resumes for each available position. Therefore, they require an ATS.

These automated technologies streamline and accelerate the employment process, saving employers time and money.

The best ATS offers several advantages, including:

• Facilitated communication between recruiting managers
• Accelerated candidate screening
• Reduced time spent doing routine chores
• The increased net hiring rate
• Enhanced candidate participation
• Enhanced perspective on applications
• Easy job posting
• Improved per-hire cost
• Improved hiring standards

As a result of these advantages, ATS have become indispensable in the modern recruitment process.

The relative simplicity of completing an online job application has presented recruiting organizations with a hurdle. Online job advertising generate hundreds of applications, most of which are from unqualified applicants who believed “it was worth a shot.” Rather than going through a stack of paper resumes or a cluttered email inbox, recruiters and hiring managers use ATS to stay organized and productive. This strategy is crucial for more prominent firms concurrently hiring for many roles and divisions.

ATS includes tools resembling CRM to assist in speeding hiring pipelines, contacting candidates, disseminating job advertisements, and verifying government compliance for entities such as the EEOC.

8. Why are ATS problematic for job candidates?

Corporate recruiters have an ATS that automatically extracts information from applicants’ resumes to create a searchable, filterable and sortable digital application profile. The objective is to immediately eliminate unqualified individuals, reduce the application pool, and discover the best candidates.

Unfortunately for job searchers, most ATS need more sophistication and accurately search and filter prospects. Some highly competent individuals fall through the cracks and are inadvertently removed from the application pool due to resume formatting errors or the absence of the proper search terms.

Many limited time and resources recruiting experts are forced to make this compromise. To get recognized, job applicants must improve their resumes for ATS.

9. What is a resume geared for ATS?

No uniform method exists to “beat” ATS.

To get past an ATS and secure a job interview, have a well-written CV that considers the ATS’s algorithms and the individuals operating the system.

Here are some recommendations on how to defeat an ATS:

• When you apply for a position, carefully adapt your CV to the job description.
• Optimize your resume keywords for ATS search and ranking algorithms by aligning them to the job description.
• Use both the long-form and acronym versions of keywords (such as “Master of Business Administration (MBA)” and “Search Engine Optimization (SEO)” for optimal searchability.
• Use a chronological or hybrid approach for your resume (avoid the functional resume format).
• Tables and columns frequently result in significant parsing issues.
• Utilize a standard resume typeface, such as Helvetica, Garamond, or Georgia.
• Avoid using headers and footers since the information they contain gets lost or creates a processing issue.
• Use standard section headers on your resume, such as “Work Experience,” instead of being charming or witty (“Where I’ve Been”).
• Save your file into a .docx.

Automate a significant portion of this process by using a resume scanner, which instantly provides feedback on improving your resume for optimal outcomes.

10. ATS prospects

There is little doubt that AI is fast altering the recruiting industry. Currently, ATS driven by AI are screening resumes, finding possible applicants, and performing first interviews.

As AI advances, ATS software becomes more complex.

In the future, it is anticipated that these systems will be more thoroughly connected with social networking sites such as LinkedIn. This allows them to identify active and passive candidates for available positions.

In addition, more businesses use AI-powered chatbots to answer inquiries and offer details on the application procedure.

AI is ultimately positioned to revolutionize the recruitment scene in various ways, making the process faster, simpler, and more efficient for everyone.

Know more about ATS

If you look forward to knowing and understanding the ATS better, this guide to applicant tracking systems will address all of your frequently asked questions regarding ATS, and it includes advice from subject-matter specialists.

Applicants tracking systems: ally or adversary?

Applicant monitoring systems expedite the recruiting process for recruiters, reducing the time until a hiring manager contacts applicants who appear to be qualified for the position. It is only possible to automate the recruiting process for some posts fully. If you believe that your finest talents are only shown when you meet potential employers in person, improve your chances by ranking well in ATS. Before applying, it is most effective to conduct employment research and optimize your CV with keywords.