The Importance of Applicant Tracking Systems for Your Business

16 Nov, 2021 | 4 minutes read

The hiring process – then and now

The process of hiring people changes fast. This occurs due to the great technological advancements which happen daily. As an example, we can take the job postings. As we can see from a present perspective, they are much more available than they were in the past – social media, and the Internet have made them accessible by almost every person, which can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the hiring departments have access to a pool of qualified resources, and on the other hand, everyone can apply, even those people that do not have the required skills. This makes the hiring process daunting and tiring for the hiring department especially if they receive the candidates’ resumes in their inboxes, have to manually review them, and find those that would fit the position perfectly.

Thus, how can you ease this process, save time and money, and at the same time automate the hiring process? There are two ways: 1) implement an Applicant Tracking System, or 2) customize your JIRA to take on the role of an applicant tracking system. In the following lines, we will outline the benefits of having an applicant tracking system.

The power of an Applicant Tracking System

Creating an efficient recruitment strategy means automation and implementation of streamlined and agile processes, which would enable the recruiters and HR managers to focus on more important tasks, rather than manually screening job applications. This is where the Applicant Tracking System comes in handy. By digitalizing, storing, and performing initial screening of the received job candidates’ resumes, the Applicant Tracking Systems automate the recruitment process and significantly improve the efficiency of the hiring department. So, if we have to define the Applicant Tracking System, it is a human resources software that collects, stores, analyzes job candidates’ resumes, and proposes job candidates who are the best fit for a particular job posting. That being said, it is already clear why having an Applicant Tracking System implemented in your company operating is important. However, we will outline several more reasons why this or similar type of software is of utmost importance for your business.

Significant reduction of time spent on manual and administrative tasks

By implementing an Applicant Tracking System you speed up the entire recruitment process by automating the process of publishing job postings, sending follow-up emails to candidates, storing, and analyzing the candidates. This in turn ensures that each and every job candidate receives a follow-up email, and eliminates the chances for human error in a great deal.

More efficient and improved screening of job candidates

Once you set the criteria upon which the job candidates should be screened, the software will do the initial screening of the resumes and you will receive only the resumes that meet the previously set requirements. By automating the manual screening of every application, you save your recruiters a significant amount of time which they would use to screen candidates who aren’t suitable for the job position.

Maximized recruitment process and improved employer brand

The Applicant Tracking System also provides insights into how your job candidates apply for the job and the steps of the recruitment process. Having this kind of information can further help you in optimizing the process, and eliminating any bottlenecks that might appear during it. And when you have your recruitment process fully optimized, automated, and digitalized, you will provide a consistent and engaging recruitment process boosting your employer branding.

Access to all hiring info at one place and a vast pool of candidates

Since the software acts as a database and stores all candidates’ info in one place, you can easily access that info whenever you need it. In addition, you can browse even through the candidates that were not selected as the best fit.

And last, but not least by importance, screening resumes manually, especially when the number exceeds 100 is not feasible even for a hiring department that has more than 20 employees. The notion that the process is manual and prone to human error can hinder the entire hiring process, negatively affecting both the recruiters and the job candidates.

To sum up, an Applicant Tracking System is an important asset of every efficient hiring strategy. By automating the entire process, eliminating the need for human interaction during the screening process, and integrating and communicating with other departments, can significantly improve the operational efficiency of the entire business. Start improving your recruitment process sooner rather than later by implementing an Applicant Tracking System or customizing your JIRA. If you want to find out more about this or want to see how we have customized our JIRA software to ease our recruitment process, click on the following link – Ease your hiring process with JIRA, and/or contact us to discuss it.  

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