5 Considerations for an Applicant Tracking System Vendor
If your organization is exploring the use of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), or if your company has taken the first step towards internal efficiency by approving the investment of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), it might seem like a daunting challenge. Many questions resonate as implementation can be a bit overwhelming even for the most seasoned tech users. What should I do next? Where do I go from here? How does this product work?
Don’t let fear get in the way of efficiency. Implementing an ATS into your organization is an investment of time and financial resources. As HR professionals explore the caveats of an ATS, it is essential to find the tool that works best for your organization with a support team that defines ongoing value.
When evaluating a system, here are five items to consider:
1) Applicant Tracking System Support
If you are asking yourself, “How do we use this new product?”, that’s an essential question that needs to be answered in depth, in addition to other questions centered on product support. What type of training will we receive from the product vendor? Is training personalized to meet our organization’s needs? After training, if we still have questions, will we be able to contact someone in the United States?
Best-in-class vendors offer personalized training by a Client Success team composed of professionals who are genuinely vested in your organization’s success. Training is provided to your team, and follow up questions, which are expected, are supported by the Client Success team. The Client Success team lives up to its name; they are a bonafide, dedicated team who wants to make your lives easier by using employment software solutions. Relationships are important, and those are built here. Tap into their wisdom and expertise to help guide your use of the ATS.
2) The Applicant Experience
Applicants won’t waste time. Can job seekers apply quickly on mobile devices? If a job seeker finds more than one job to which they want to apply, do they have to start over again?
Convenient for the job seekers you are attracting, look for an ATS that is mobile responsive so that your applicants experience a seamless application process. No passwords should be needed by the applicant; the applicant can use their contact information, such as an email or phone number, to access their applications.
More than one job of interest to your job seekers? Not a problem – top of the line HR Software will offer multi-apply where the applicant can apply to more than one job at a time. And since the best HR Software offers an organization the ability to use different applications to collect data essential for screening, the applicant will complete the questions you specify in one experience without interruption even if the applicant is applying to multiple jobs based on different application templates.
3) ATS Job Board Integrations
Visibility of my jobs is important in this competitive job market. What type of boards are available? To which boards are my jobs automatically sent? Does the ATS offer diversity and niche job boards?
The best HR Software offers the ability to automatically push jobs to free boards like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Snagajob, Job Inventory and indexed for Google for Jobs. No effort needed on your part for those job boards. Interested in other job boards? Some of the best ATS software offers other options to automate job postings to various boards such as diversity boards, niche boards, and many other options.
4) Building Applicant Pools
An applicant today might be the fit for tomorrow’s opening. How can I search for applicants’ talents and skills for my current and future roles? When I find applicants that meet our requirements, how do I communicate with them?
As you screen your applicants, you can “tag” your applicants’ skills and talents using keywords of value to your organization. Best-in-class HR Software offers ways to navigate your view of applicants and jobs to filter to the criteria you are seeking at the moment.
As you find applicants you want to move forward, you’ll need the option to communicate with them via texting (ideally without additional fees). But not all applicants will want to be texted, so integrated email with customizable communication templates will be required as well. Be sure that your vendor allows you to attach the files with your email communication as well. Finally, you’ll want to find a software solution that provides communication history displayed on the applicant’s record; however, be sure that HR Managers can restrict access to this area if necessary.
5) ATS Compliance Reporting
Subject to Affirmative Action reporting? Compliance to EEO guidelines and internal company parameters is crucial. Will I be able to analyze data?
You absolutely should! Whether an organization is subject to governmental reporting requirements or simply if they want to keep track of data to fulfill internal parameters, Best-in-class HR Software will offer robust Affirmative Action Plan reporting and reporting compliant with Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines. Whether you are seeking reports for formal reporting, or if you are looking for data specific to particular job(s), top HR Software allows users the opportunity to delve into data using distinctive insights.
An ATS is meant to make HR, hiring managers, and other system users’ lives easier. ExactHire HR Software offers the ability to effectively screen applicants, communicate with those of key interest and identify the talent you seek to fill existing vacancies. ExactHire HR Software can save you time and money through automation and simple quick clicks to perform tasks confirming that an ATS is not an expense but an investment that yields a plethora of rewards.
To see a demo of ExactHire HR Software, click here.
Photo by Timothy Muza on Unsplash
