What is ATS – Applicant Tracking System, and how does it work?

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a piece of software that businesses use to help with human resources, recruitment, and hiring. Despite the fact that each system has its own set of capabilities, applicant tracking systems are largely intended to assist recruiting organizations in organizing and navigating big groups of applications.

Online job seekers are looking for answers after submitting many job applications and not receiving a response. What they’re learning is that the software used by recruiting organizations to collect applications is standing in the between of them, a corporate recruiter, and a job interview. Job searchers will have a harder time getting their resume in front of a decision-maker as a result of these application monitoring systems.

What is an Applicant Tracking System, and how does it work?

Companies use applicant tracking systems to aid in the recruitment and hiring process. Each system has its own set of capabilities however ATS are largely intended to assist hiring organizations in collecting, organizing, and filtering candidates.

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is used by job seekers who submit their résumé and application using an online form.

Applicant tracking systems are used by businesses for a variety of reasons.

For recruiting organizations, the relative simplicity of completing an online job application has presented a hurdle. Hundreds of applications can be generated via online job advertisements, many of which are from unqualified job searchers who believed “it was worth a shot.” Recruiters and hiring managers to use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to stay organized and efficient instead of wading through a stack of paper resumes or a clogged email inbox. This solution is especially important for larger businesses that are simultaneously hiring for various positions and departments.

ATS includes CRM-style tools to help expedite hiring pipelines, communication with applicants, distribution of job advertisements, and proof of government compliance for agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, among other functions.

Why Do Job Seekers Have a Problem With Applicant Tracking Systems?

Corporate recruiters can have their applicant tracking systems (ATS) take data from an applicant’s résumé to create a digital applicant profile that can be searched, filtered, and ranked. The purpose is to immediately weed out everyone who is underqualified, reduce the applicant pool, and discover the best applicants as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately for job seekers, most applicant tracking systems (ATS) lack sophistication and are unable to accurately search and select prospects. Because their CV has formatting flaws or lacks the relevant search keywords, some highly competent candidates slide through the cracks and are wrongly excluded from the application pool.

For many hiring professionals with limited time and resources, this is a necessary tradeoff. Job searchers must optimize their resumes for ATS in order to be discovered.

Best Applicant Tracking Software

There are dozens of ATSs in use by both large and small businesses. Among the most well-known ATS are:

Taleo is a fictional character (Starbucks, Boeing, Nintendo)
iCIMS (Intelligent Computerized Information Management System) (Southwest Airlines, Uber, Amazon)
Hydroponics (Airbnb, Pinterest, WeWork)
Jobvite is a website that helps people find jobs (Zillow, Spotify, Logitech)
ring made of brass (Disney, GE, Lockheed Martin)
Leverage (Indiegogo, Lyft, Shopify)

Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook, for example, have developed their own application tracking systems.

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