If you’re thinking of purchasing a small business applicant tracking system, you may be very confused by the mentions of the:
- Applicant tracking system, ATSs.
- Candidate relationship management systems, CRMs.
What’s the difference? Aren’t they both software for helping people manage their candidates?
Yes, they are.
The difference is that they do different things with the candidates, serving separate hiring process steps. So while we just answered that question, it gets a bit more complicated. Sometimes one software will combine the features of the other type.
In this informational guide, we will talk about:
- Similarities between ATS and CRM.
- What exactly is ATS.
- What is CRM.
- The pros and cons of each.
- How to choose the right system, so you get the best of both.
Read on to learn more.
ATS vs. CRM – Similarities
They are the same in several ways.
They both store and manage resumes, helping you stop wasting valuable time, optimize hiring efforts, and improve candidate experience.
It’s nearly impossible for a hiring manager not to be swamped. This can result in not doing as good of a job as you should because you’re rushed. However, so many of the tasks that you find yourself doing could easily be automated. ATSs and CRMs do the mindless tasks for you and provide organizational functions for the rest.
You can simply type in a keyword in both types of software, rather than having to manually go through resumes, at least scanning them to figure out if they match specific criteria, whether for the initial reading or to revisit later. That’s a lot less time and a lot less potential for overlooking something.
With both types of software, anyone using the system can quickly see where everyone is in the hiring process, so multiple managers and replacement managers can do their jobs with peak efficiency.
You can share notes on candidates to eliminate re-readings, keep all your information on the candidate in one place, and let anyone using the system know what you know. No backtracking and no searching for information. It’s all at your fingertips.
Both combine resume from the same candidate under that candidate’s file. This is known as deduplication. It eliminates issues that can arise when the same candidate has sent you multiple resumes, either because they didn’t like the first one or because this is not the first time they’ve applied to one of your jobs.
Typically, it would look like multiple candidates. Still, the software combines it into one candidate file with all of their information, including times you may have communicated with them and even interviewed them in the past.
Both provide reporting and analytics to help you measure and optimize your hiring process. For example, you might discover how long it takes you to fill a position, how many people who apply to your jobs get interviewed, and more. Without them, you would either have to try to measure all these metrics yourself or use some other software.
To sum up, the both:
- Store and manage resumes.
- Allow you to search through resumes easily can buy one that covers more features.
- Let you quickly see where everyone is in the hiring process.
- Share notes with other teammates.
- Deduplicate content.
- Provide reporting and analytics.
What Is Applicant Tracking System?
Applicant tracking systems are on-premise or cloud-based software that automate and optimize the collection of resumes.
This typically covers job postings, careers pages, uploading, parsing (making it available to be searched), storing resumes, and automatically communicating with candidates.
One job posting can be instantly submitted to many job boards with a click, saving you so much completely wasted time. I mean, why would anyone need to submit the same job posting to several sites manually? That’s just a time suck.
A careers page with online job applications gives candidates a convenient method for applying to your job opening and provides you with fantastic branding opportunities. Using an ATS makes creating your careers page and integrating it with your recruiting software easy and highly cost-effective.
An applicant tracking system automatically uploads all resumes received to its database and parses them for searching and for pairing up with job openings and relevant managers. It can even send the appropriate candidates to the correct manager.
Applicant tracking systems also automatically respond to candidates. It will send all candidates an immediate notice of receipt for their application. It also facilitates the next step of the hiring process, rejecting candidates and sending them a rejection letter or inviting candidates to interview.
An ATS also gives you communication options from within the software, meaning you can quickly contact a candidate from the same place you’re looking at their resume and the notes you’ve collected about them. No more searching for scattered notes or pairing resumes with notes and getting them out for an interview. It’s all right there.
What Is a Candidate Relationship Management System?
