Applicant tracking software is critical for any organization looking to hire great talent today. The vast majority of employers — even small businesses — rely on some sort of platform to manage incoming applicants, keep track of candidates, centralize hiring steps, and more. Without a system like this in place to streamline human capital management, it’s easy to make mistakes, miss important steps, and lose great candidates to competitors.
Of course there are hundreds of hiring-related tools on the market. How do you know which one includes the very best applicant tracking system technology? Whether you’re on the market for a better system or you’re new to the world of applicant tracking software, we’ve rounded up five questions to ask while researching providers.
1. Does the applicant tracking software support employee referral management?
According to a recent Hireology survey of more than 1,000 employers, leveraging employee referral programs is the best way to improve quality-of-hire today. So if you’re on the market for a new applicant tracking software, look for one that gives you the power to manage your referral program directly from the platform. The best systems will allow you to send internal referral campaigns, manage referral candidates alongside candidates from other sources, and keep track of bonus payments. Centralizing every aspect of your employee referral program helps you to drive more referrals and get these great candidates on board faster.
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Anyone who works in recruiting and HR knows that having to jump from system to system to communicate with candidates and manage hiring process steps opens up opportunities for mistakes and significantly slows down your time-to-fill. The best applicant tracking systems will offer in-app candidate text and email options — allowing you to centralize candidate communication and shave days off your hiring process.
3. Does the applicant tracking software include interview scheduling automation?
Interview scheduling is a notoriously tedious step of the hiring process. Recruiters need to communicate with candidates to get availability then cross-reference hiring manager calendars and juggle communication from both parties. It can drag out hiring processes and lead to candidate ghosting. But great applicant tracking software will completely automate this process. Look for a system that syncs with hiring manager calendars and automatically shares open times with candidates, allowing candidates to quickly and easily choose the slot that works for them.
4. Does the system support background checks and skills testing?
A key aspect of hiring for most employers is verifying that a candidate is who they say they are with background checks, skills tests, and reference checks. Much like scheduling interviews, managing all of these verification steps with different platforms and vendors slows down the hiring process which can negatively impact the candidate experience. When considering new applicant tracking software, make sure the system allows you to conduct these types of verifications directly from the platform. That way you can keep your process moving quickly and keep your candidates engaged.
5. Will the applicant tracking software support seamless onboarding?
Great applicant tracking software isn’t limited to hiring only. The best platforms will directly integrate with digital onboarding software and other post-hire tools so you can seamlessly turn your top candidates into employees. Look for one that automatically transfers new hire information into payroll and other employee management systems and offers in-app digital onboarding — eliminating manual work for your team and ensuring that your new hires are ready to hit the ground running on day one.
6. Is the platform intuitive and user friendly?
The last thing you want to deal with when onboarding new applicant tracking software is teaching your team how to use a complex platform. You want to choose a system that comes with implementation support and training and is built with the users’ needs in mind — that means it’s easy to navigate, customizable, and comes with self-service support options.
Not all staffing software are created equally. The best platforms keep up with the changing needs of today’s applicants and employers — allowing you to manage all applicant sourcing channels, easily communicate with talent, move fast, and provide a great candidate experience.
Hireology is the leading all-in-one applicant tracking software built for multi-location businesses. Take a self-guided platform tour to see for yourself
Don’t just take our word for it! Hear how one Hireology customer leveraged our platform to better connect with candidates, fill open roles faster, and ultimately overhaul his hiring process — for the better.
