As a recruiter, what drives you the most? Conversing with potential candidates and knowing them, or wasting your time filtering the applicants’ resumes on the basis of their location, education, skills, and other such factors?
As an HR Manager, you receive hundreds of application in a day and you seem to waste your resources by deploying them over monotonous, non-productive, and repetitive tasks such as filtering the resumes, sending emails, etc.
What if I told you there was free online recruiting software that can automate all these tasks and allow you to perform your core duties without any time constraints?
We are here talking about the Applicant Tracking System, better known as ATS or free online recruiting software.
Most of the time, job seekers get frustrated when they are not informed regarding the hiring status and end up having a bad impression of the organization. This ultimately leads to bad candidate experience and poor Glassdoor reviews, thereby hurting the employer brand.
The candidates do expect a quality human interaction for their interview process. Factors such as timely communication, transparency, feedback, etc play a crucial role in making or breaking the organization’s corporate image in the market.
Unless the filtering process is automated with a good AI tool, all the efforts made to source the best talent may be in vain.
Without boiling down to basics, you may just consider asking two questions before deciding on the right recruitment software:
Q1-“Are the candidates enjoying the application process?”
Q2-“Am I getting good quality candidates?”
Bingo! Now it makes sense.
Recruitment software is still considered underrated by many business evangelists. There are several misconceptions and myths floating in the market regarding an ATS.
When we talk about ATS, what are the things that pop up in your brain instantly?
A great interface? Robust applicant tracking abilities? Ease of use? Instant notification abilities?
They are definitely some of the most common answers.
But the benefit of every ATS lies in its features which make it real recruiting software.
This article covers some of the points you should consider before purchasing any recruitment software. Later, we will discuss some common myths regarding ATS that are prevalent in the market.
Things to Consider Before Buying a Recruiting Software
Because no two recruiting software available in the market are the same, you might find it a challenge to select the one that is most suitable to your needs.
Given below are some points you need to consider before buying any recruiting software.
Are you still hesitant? Check out our 15-day free trial of ATS here.
Usability
Just plan and work out your team’s workflow after ATS implementation. Will there be productivity or confusion? Analyze the comfort zone of your HR team with this free online recruiting software.
Will you be able to strike a balance between your team and ATS?
Fit
Is the UI of the software user-friendly or complicated?
Will the ATS hinder your communication or slow down your processes? (Worst case scenario)
Make sure that all your team members are present when you are requesting a demo. This will aid them in adjusting with the free online recruiting software to their comfort levels.
Data security
It is one of the very important characteristics indeed. You must do your homework well before buying an ATS. Make sure that your data is safe and secure.
- Is your ATS US-EU-Swiss Safe Harbor certified?
- Does the ATS support SSL encryption?
- Data security should be the first thing on your checklist.
Scalability
Your ATS should be completely flexible and scalable too. Once the company starts growing, the software should be able to export/import all the data.
Money
Survey the market. Cross check the prices of ATSs with similar features.
Does the ATS you plan to buy offer you right value addition at a given price?
Check out the parameters for which you would be paying such as job posting, number of resumes, etc. Consider using free online recruiting software trials as well. Top players, like Recruiteze, offers free trials.
Customization
Different companies have different needs. Make sure that the software you are buying is customizable as per your requirements.
Choose the applicant tracking system that is best suited for your organization and fits in your budget as well. Ideal recruitment software will help you eliminate the repetitive tasks and save you time, resources, and, of course, reduce your workload.
Common Myths Associated with Recruitment Software
1. Workflow management is badly affected
We all know that the recruitment journey is complex and nuanced. If you don’t have a proper workflow in place already, then it’s common that you may skip a necessary step in the process.
Ideal online recruiting software will enable you to enhance your existing workflow without reinventing anything. It will leverage best practices from the industry, thereby, helping you better manage the recruitment process.
The HR manager has to customize the ATS and configure it as per his organization’s workflow.
2. ATS is only for resume filtering
Resume filtering and formatting are just some of the diverse features of an ATS. With API support and integration, you can even view and send your emails. You can easily configure and attach your email accounts and use ATS to do your daily tasks.
In case you use LinkedIn, CareerBuilder, or a different job posting board, you might want to look for an ATS that supports the integration of these platforms. This will help you avoid adding candidates who are already there in your database. This certainly saves your time in shuffling from window to window.
3. ATS is just an electronic database of resumes
Applicant tracking systems are a lot more than that. It not only serves as an electronic database for the applications and resumes submitted to the organization but it also formats the resumes into desired fields before storing them to a database. This will give you insights about all the candidates regarding their qualification, location, skills, etc. at the time of hiring. Automation boosts your hiring process as you are able to identify the best suitable applicants in the most efficient way.
4. No changes can be made post-installation
Well, this is something you should ask the provider before making a purchase. You should consider buying it only if the provider is able to make the desired changes. Also, make sure that the product is developed in-house. The ATS you wish to buy should follow the agile development of bespoke functionality which allows tweaking and adjustments during any stage of implementation.
5. ATS acts as a barrier between recruiter and candidate
On the contrary, the effective utilization of ATS automation enables the recruitment team to focus on quality things such as more interaction with the candidate. With the help of ATS, the recruiters can free up their time and utilize it in engaging the candidates on a one-to-one basis.
Furthermore, an ideal ATS boosts the candidate experience and allow the recruiters to pe