Essential Applicant Tracking System Features for Streamlined Recruitment

The feature of recruitment that is vital to businesses is recruiting the right talent. As remote work continues to become the new standard, talent recruitment technologies are constantly developed to enhance and adapt businesses’ ATS strategies. An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a significant technology that can help streamline recruitment, save time and resources, and enable companies to identify and hire the best candidates for their open positions. 

In addition, an ATS can also aid companies in managing and maintaining compliance with various regulations and laws related to recruitment, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws, which can prevent costly legal issues. Implementing an ATS as a recruitment feature can greatly improve the recruitment process’s efficiency and effectiveness.

Benefits Of using an Applicant Tracking System for Talent Management

An ATS automates recruitment and hiring processes, reducing hiring time by 70%. Other ATS benefits include:

Store applicant data and information

Storing applicant data and information is a pivotal function of an ATS, enabling efficient management of candidate profiles. This feature allows for easy retrieval and organization of resumes, contact details, and relevant applicant histories, streamlining the recruitment process and aiding in effective decision-making.

Post New Job Openings

Posting new job openings is streamlined through an ATS, simplifying advertising vacancies across multiple platforms. This functionality ensures a broader reach to potential candidates, increasing the chances of attracting the right talent for each role.

Provide Assessments and Screening Information

Providing assessments and screening information, an ATS aids in evaluating candidates effectively. It allows recruiters to implement standardized tests and screenings, ensuring a fair and objective assessment process that identifies the most qualified applicants.

Discover the ease of candidate screening with Oorwin’s ATS. Experience a streamlined, efficient process to identify top talent swiftly.

Offer key insights

Offering key insights, an ATS serves as an invaluable tool for strategic recruitment planning. It generates analytics and reports on recruitment metrics, helping organizations understand trends, improve hiring processes, and make data-driven decisions for future recruitment strategies.

12 Must-Have ATS Features to Elevate Your Feature Recruitment Strategy

An ATS is a secret weapon every recruiter needs to refine their talent recruitment strategy. So, what should you look for in an ATS? Let’s look at some of the essential functional requirements of the applicant tracking system. Here are the top 12 ATS features you need to utilize:

1. Powerful Candidate Search 

The primary goal of any ATS feature is to ensure the job-candidate match is accurate per the set criteria and filters. These keen search algorithms should also provide insights into your metrics and can match, rank, and show similar submissions. All these automated features in ATS work together to speed up your talent recruitment strategy in the following ways:

• Customizable selection parameters
• AI semantic search
• Automated candidate submissions
• Streamlined communication via desktop and mobile app access

2. Seamless Job Board Integration

The best talent recruitment software should be integrated with various job boards, like LinkedIn, Monster, Naukri, and CareerBuilder, to enhance talent recruitment further. But an ATS can also streamline job board integration in the following ways:

•    Save time and effort with automated bulk job postings.
•    Post job openings on social media.
•    Customizable job postings and email templates for personalized recruitment

Your ATS should also provide access to paid and free job boards, which can decrease the hassles of multiple logins for recruiters while posting or reviewing jobs.

3. Mobile App Access

75% of people work from their devices and mobile phones. It is vital for a great ATS platform and an equally competent mobile application for both iOS and Android. Utilizing a mobile app in hiring is ideal for boosting your recruitment goals.

4. A Variety of Plugins

A feature of recruitment technology is the ATS, which offers convenient ATS features that allow recruiters to use familiar tools like Gmail, Outlook, Office 365, LinkedIn, ChatGPT, and other browser systems through easily installable plugins. Although many recruiters may prefer all-in-one platforms or software, the ATS provides a way to stay within their comfort zone while benefiting from advanced recruitment features.

5. A Range of Bench Management Tools

Bench management is a challenge for any seasoned hiring manager. But a good ATS can help resolve that. Some ways that an ATS can make bench management more efficient include hotlists, automated search bots to find jobs for bench candidates, etc.

6. Omni-Channel Communication Options

Communication is vital in a recruiter’s daily activities. It can be tedious to keep switching tabs, applications, and devices to communicate for a particular activity. The Omnichannel Communication feature in an ATS streamlines all calls, text messages, emails, and other communication methods directly from the platform itself. This not only saves considerable time during the hiring and recruiting process, it also saves a tremendous amount of stress.

Stay connected effortlessly with candidates through Oorwin’s WhatsApp integration. Enhance your recruitment communication for seamless interactions and quicker responses.

7. Employee Referral Options

92% of people prefer word-of-mouth referrals over other types of advertising. Therefore, an ATS needs a built-in referral system to track referrals and incentivize employees to refer and reward them accordingly.

8. Streamlined Workflows

Each size fits only some, and software is cut out for all businesses. However, an ATS provides flexibility and customization in creating workflows, designing roles, and access controls. This customization feature in the ATS can be tailored to your hiring process needs and goals without skipping a beat.

9. Key Analytics and Dashboards

ATS features are crucial for efficient recruitment. The right metrics, reports, and dashboards are necessary to measure productivity. An effective applicant tracking system should provide pre-configured insights into the recruitment process, allow for customized reports, and offer scheduled reports that can be delivered via email to relevant stakeholders. These features enable recruiters to track progress, monitor key performance indicators, and make data-driven decisions to enhance their recruitment processes.

10. Scheduling Interviews

Managing interviews effectively involves streamlining administrative tasks as much as possible. Consider the extent of automation your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) provides. When organizing interviews and similar events, ensure they integrate smoothly with everyone’s calendars. Implementing a structured interview process is crucial for gathering precise and accurate feedback. Check if your system includes access to tools like interview kits and scorecards. Incorporating such time-saving features enhances efficiency and strengthens your employer brand by delivering candidates a smooth and professional experience.

11. Onboarding Functionality in ATS

Many Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) now come equipped with onboarding functionality, greatly facilitating integrating a new employee into the organization. This feature in an ATS allows HR personnel to manage the onboarding process within a single system efficiently. It typically includes the ability for new hires to fill out necessary forms and digitally sign policy documents, among other essential procedures. This integrated approach not only simplifies administrative tasks for HR but also provides a smooth and organized start for the new employee, enhancing their initial experience with the company.

12. Flexible Integrations

Efficiency is vital in an applicant tracking system. Another feature to look for in an ATS is flexibility to integrate with other systems and software so that workflow remains seamless across teams, including:

• The ability to manage your tasks in Gmail or Outlook
• Automated resume parsing, application imports, and mail syncing
• Conducting Video Interviews in case of remote hiring
• Conducting Talent Assessments 

Conclusion

Organizations face a considerable challenge in recruiting top talent. To improve their recruitment strategy, companies can leverage the ATS for talent management, which includes streamlining the process, managing data effectively, collaborating more efficiently, and engaging with candidates. These features centralize recruitment management, enable effective analysis of candidate data, facilitate better communication with hiring managers, and result in improved efficiency, better decision-making, and positive candidate experience, making them an essential recruitment feature.

Oorwin’s AI-enabled ATS has been designed considering all recruitment needs, a comprehensive solution that can help organizations meet hiring swiftly.

Book a free demo today to evaluate it yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of businesses need an ATS? 

Any company that needs to source, collect, and manage applicant data can benefit from using an ATS. This includes companies in virtually all industries, from manufacturing to finance, as well as nonprofits, educational institutions, and government entities. 

How difficult is it to use an ATS? 

The difficulty of using an ATS depends on the features offered by the system. Most ATS systems are intuitive and straightforward, but the platform may need help navigating if it contains complex features or integrations. 

What is the best way to compare ATS systems? 

The best way to compare ATS systems is to read reviews and use free trials. This allows companies to observe the different features of the ATS in practice and make an informed decision about which system is the best for their organization.