You're Wasting Money On An ATS If It Doesn’t Have These Features

Is your current Applicant Tracking System (ATS) delivering the value it should? Because if it’s not equipped with these 7 features, you might be throwing away your hard-earned money! 

An ATS should not just support your recruitment process, but streamline admin work, stimulate efficiency, encourage collaboration, and save your organization time to focus on more strategic endeavours. 

So, in this blog, we’ll unveil the key features that your ATS needs to ensure you’re not wasting your money on a sub-optimal tool for HR, but investing wisely in a software that aligns seamlessly with your unique organizational needs and meets the demands of modern recruitment. 

Let’s dive into the elements that make sure you get the most bang for your buck!

Essential Features Of An ATS

1 – User-Friendly Interface

A user-friendly interface is arguably the most important component of an applicant tracking system (ATS). If managers, employees, and the HR team can’t use it without spending countless hours on training sessions, then what’s the point? It should be a platform that is easy to navigate so that everyone intuitively knows how to use it for their specific needs. That’ll unlock efficiency and deliver greater value to your organization when using the modules that come with it – request-to-hire approval workflow, job multi-posting, custom career site management, and more. 

2 – Real-Time Collaboration

For an ATS to be an effective part of your HR tool set, it needs to facilitate real-time collaboration so that users can work together on the latest documents without worrying about duplicated information or conflicting edits to documents, that may surface and need to be changed again later. With everyone on the same page, working harmoniously, and seeing updates in real time, you can bid farewell to delays, back-and-forth email headaches, and misunderstandings. It’s a way to ensure coordination and clarity in recruitment processes, and even when it comes time to onboard employees. 

3 – Job Multi-Posting

As one of the reasons many people invest in an ATS is to help with recruitment, it should allow for the multi-posting of job advertisements to job boards and social media platforms simultaneously. Without this feature, you might find yourself going to each and every portal, having to go through the tedious process of creating a job posting multiple times. So, to save valuable time during recruitment, ensure your chosen ATS comes equipped with this efficient multi-posting capability.

4 – Branded Career Site

Does your ATS allow you to create a branded career site to implement directly on your website? For it to give you the greatest return on investment, it should. This exclusive and customized space for advertising positions not only enhances the visibility of your job postings attracting a wider pool of applicants, but it also communicates the professionalism and established reputation of your company, leaving a positive impression on candidates and clients alike.

Plus, for larger organizations handling hundreds of job listings, some ATS platforms offer advanced filtering options, making the recruitment journey even more clear and efficient. This will help optimize your ability to source top talent by making your vacancies easily accessible to candidates, as well as give you more opportunities to find star candidates.

5 – Custom Forms

Custom forms are key to making sure your ATS meets your needs as a unique business. Recognizing that each business has different requirements and standards, this tool empowers you to create forms that perfectly align with your distinct organizational needs. Whether it’s to collect important documents or other essential information, flexible forms allow you to collect data in the way that suits your business best.

For instance, an ATS should allow you to easily create an application form that includes a video response component, a certificate upload section, and more, enabling candidates to effortlessly provide you with the information you need. The use of custom forms extends to internal workflows as well, such as when initiating and approving requests-to-hire. They help to streamline approvals and promote smooth communication between hiring managers and approvers. Your forms, your way – an essential ATS feature.

6 – Automations

Automations eliminate the burdensome admin work for HR teams and make an ATS a tool definitely worth investing in. They save your team heaps of time and money by lightening the workload and allowing you to focus on more strategic endeavours that will help propel your organization forward. For example, ATS automations can streamline communications with candidates using auto-triggered emails and text messages to make sure they stay informed about what’s coming in the recruitment process and eliminating any chances of candidate drop off or unintentional “ghosting”.

It also optimizes your talent search by allowing incoming applications to funnel into a centralized hub for analysis and feedback, allowing you to fill positions faster and avoid having another employee add to their workload taking over tasks for that vacancy. So, let automations help lift that administrative burden off your shoulders, making your ATS a valuable investment.

7 – Integrated Modules (HRIS)

For an ATS to be a successful investment, it needs to be able to integrate with other modules. Take an HRIS for example – some are equipped with a built-in applicant tracking system, as well as other modules such as an organizational chart, position library, employee database, onboarding software, and more. And it isn’t just for convenience; it’s a necessity for the smooth flow of data between different tools, ensuring accuracy and ease in managing recruitment processes and the entire employee lifecycle.

So, whether it’s connecting your ATS with modules within your HRIS or linking up with external software tools like Zoom, integrations pave the way for enhanced efficiency and compliance. Experience the ease and comfort of having a system that is always up-to-date and in sync with your other tools.

Key Takeaways

If your current ATS lacks these essential features, you’re selling yourself short and wasting valuable time and money. Beyond merely supporting your recruitment endeavors, an ATS should be a powerhouse that streamlines admin tasks, fosters efficiency, encourages collaboration, and empowers your organization to focus on more strategic initiatives.

Don’t settle for a tool; invest in an ATS with these 7 essential features, making it a dynamic solution that accommodates the demands of modern recruitment and contributes to the success of your organization!

Contributors: Kyra Jay, Anwar Khalil