Streamlining Recruiting Using an Applicant Tracking System

You’re a savvy HR professional. You know what an ATS is. But have you really thought about the pros and cons the ATS has in your recruiting process?

According to Glassdoor, a recruiter spends on average only six seconds scanning a resume to determine if a candidate is a good fit for a position.

While that is scary to a candidate, think about it as a recruiter. 

A mere six seconds can seem like forever when you add up the amount of time this will take to sift through hundreds of resumes multiplied by dozens of job requisitions.

For a recruiter, this can be a bit much when deciding who to weed out and “weed in.”

Here’s where you can put your ATS to work for you.

Many ATS platforms feature bots, allowing the recruiter to automatically screen resumes based on a certain set of criteria, focusing in on critical keywords in the candidates’ resume and matching them with your job description. 

When a candidate applies for your position or uploads their resume, the ATS will then determine whether their information matches or contains your set of keywords in their resume or application. 

While it’s not a perfect replacement for the human touch, this form of AI will help your recruiters eliminate candidates that don’t match what you are looking for, focusing instead on candidates that are a better fit, at least on paper. 

Resume review – check!  Perfect science, no. 

Although you’ll save time in the short term, if you’re relying on the system to tell you who is a perfect “fit” for your company, you may overlook the ideal candidate because you’re not physically looking over their application and resume.

In recruiting, there really is no replacement for the human touch.

It is important to mention that since an ATS relies on keywords, specific file types and document formatting, you may miss out on quality candidates because their documentation may not be ATS suitable or friendly.

To combat this, HR Dive offers a few recommendations for screening candidates if using an ATS:

1. Consider flexibility with your eligibility requirements, so that you focus more on what a candidate can do versus how long they’ve done something. This will help your ATS system pick up keywords in a candidate’s application or resume that match the skills or “competencies” you’re looking for.
2. Don’t forget phone interviews. An ATS may be a simpler way of signaling a “yes” or “no” for whether a candidate is a match with the job requirements, but you as the recruiter still decides who to move through the various stages of the interview process.  You can learn a lot more about a person’s soft skills by actually speaking with them.
3. Give candidates an opportunity to answer screening questions through your ATS.  Many ATS platforms allow recruiters to set up questions for candidates to answer as part of the online application process. Use this as an additional time-saving screening tool upfront but make sure your questions are compliant with today’s laws. You can visit the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s website for examples of questions you should or should not ask.

Are you still looking for the perfect ATS solution for all your hiring needs? 

Our sister company Cello HR offers a full HCM suite including an HR module to help you source, evaluate and track the best-fit candidates.  

Want to know more? Click here to schedule an introductory meeting. 

Disclaimer

The Orsus Group blog is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be comprehensive, and is not a substitute for and should not be construed as legal advice. The Orsus Group does not warrant any statements in this blog. Any statutes or laws cited herein should be read in their entirety. You should direct to your own experienced legal counsel questions involving your organization’s compliance with or interpretation or application of laws or regulations and any additional legal requirements that may apply.