Applicant tracking systems (ATS) help automate the process of hiring. The hiring process is the first point of contact a potential employee has with a company, making it a critical opportunity to leave a lasting impression.
Unfortunately, many employers overlook this stage, often focusing more on quickly filling roles than on creating a positive candidate experience. This neglect can lead to disorganized processes, poor communication, and a lack of personalization—frustrating candidates and damaging the company’s reputation.
Improving the candidate experience is essential for attracting top talent, building a strong employer brand, and ultimately boosting employee retention, and an ATS helps businesses achieve that.
In this article, we’ll explore 8 effective ways to use an ATS to improve the candidate experience, making your hiring process more efficient, transparent, and candidate-friendly.
How can ATS Improve the Candidate Experience
- Simplified Application Process: An ATS streamlines the application process by automating steps such as resume uploads, form filling, and data collection, making it easier and faster for candidates to apply.
- Automated Communication and Updates: Consistent and clear communication is also key during the application process. An ATS automates messages to keep candidates informed and engaged at every stage. Candidates can easily receive timely updates about their application status and next steps, which eliminates any form of uncertainty.
- Faster Scheduling With Interview Tools: How interviews are conducted plays a crucial role in shaping the candidate experience. Many ATS platforms integrate with scheduling tools, allowing candidates to select times that work best for them. This reduces delay and contributes to creating a process more convenient and effective for both parties.
- Enhanced Diversity and Inclusion: Companies investigating how to be more diverse and inclusive can adopt Automated Tracking Systems to transform their hiring process. This software can help reduce bias by anonymizing candidate information or by using algorithms to ensure candidates are evaluated based on skills and qualifications, promoting a diverse and inclusive hiring process.
Ways to use an ATS to improve the candidate experience
Below are 8 ways companies can use ATS software to improve candidate experience.
1. Streamline the Application Process
An inefficient hiring process often results in unnecessary delays, such as candidates waiting for updates, unclear communication, or too many redundant steps. As a result, top talent may lose interest or, even worse, accept offers from competitors before your team has a chance to respond. This not only costs you high-quality candidates, but can also negatively impact your employer brand.
Additionally, businesses may incur more operational costs when a role takes too long to be filled. A vacant position can lead to decreased productivity, as tasks go uncompleted or are shared among current employees, which may result in burnout. Companies might also have to hire temporary workers or pay overtime, increasing labor costs.
With recruitment software like an ATS, you can avoid these inefficiencies. An ATS streamlines the application process by automating communication, cutting down on unnecessary steps, and providing timely updates to candidates. This creates a smoother experience for both applicants and hiring teams, helping you attract top talent more quickly while maintaining a positive employer brand.
2. Send Personalized Communication
It is important to have a proper communication strategy in place when hiring, as it plays a critical role in keeping candidates engaged and informed throughout the process.
Generic messages may seem like a lazy approach and can make candidates feel undervalued, potentially leading them to drop out of the hiring process or lose interest in the company.
Many ATS platforms include features that allow for personalized communication at scale. These tools enable you to customize messages and keep each candidate updated throughout each stage of the hiring process.
Furthermore, through the data analytics feature, companies can track how candidates respond to communication efforts and identify what works best. This allows recruiters to refine their messaging strategy, ensuring it remains engaging, and effective in retaining top talent.
3. Automate the Interview Scheduling process
Outdated methods, such as back-and-forth emails or phone calls to coordinate interview times, can be inefficient and frustrating for both recruiters and candidates. These manual methods often lead to delays, miscommunication, and scheduling conflicts, which can negatively impact the candidate experience.
Scheduling tools like Zoom Workspace or Calendly can be integrated with ATS platforms to simplify the interview process. When integrated, candidates can view available interview times and schedules directly within the ATS. This eliminates the need for back-and-forth emails and reduces the time it takes to coordinate interviews.
Additionally, these integrated scheduling tools allow for centralized communication, meaning that interview-related information, such as scheduling meeting links and candidate details are organized in one place. This reduces the chances of miscommunication and ensures both parties are on the same page.
4. Send Real-time Updates and Provide Transparency
Improving the candidate experience also involves providing transparency and real-time updates throughout the hiring process. Candidates can easily be disengaged and lose interest in the role when they are not informed about each stage of the application process. They may assume their application isn’t considered or that the hiring process isn’t organized.
The power of ATS software lies in its ability to integrate with various tech stacks to enhance communication and transparency. For example, integrating with messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or Slack allows for instant communication, keeping candidates informed about their application status and next steps in real-time.
Syncing with email services enables automated notifications, ensuring candidates receive timely updates and reminders directly to their inboxes, improving engagement and transparency.
Integrating with HR systems also helps track candidate progress and allows for seamless data flow between recruitment and onboarding, ensuring a smooth transition for successful candidates.
5. Improve Diversity and Inclusion
Bias in the hiring process can seriously hurt the candidate experience by causing unfair treatment and making people feel excluded.
ATS tools are constantly evolving to help reduce bias and promote diversity and inclusion in recruitment. With AI-driven features, the system can anonymize applications by hiding details like names, gender, or age, allowing hiring managers to focus on the candidate’s skills and qualifications.
Additionally, ATS software can track diversity metrics, helping companies ensure they are attracting and considering a broad range of candidates from different backgrounds.
By using these features, organizations can create a more fair and inclusive hiring process, improving both the candidate experience and the overall quality of hires.
6. Enable Mobile-Friendly Candidate Experience
Another way to use ATS software to improve the candidate experience is by designing a mobile-friendly application process. This means that candidates can easily search for jobs, submit applications, and track their progress all from their smartphones.
With the majority of jobseekers now applying through mobile devices, it makes sense to optimize the process for smaller screens. An ATS that is mobile-friendly ensures that candidates can apply quickly and conveniently, without the frustration of navigating a poorly designed or desktop-only interface. This helps create a smoother, more engaging experience that encourages candidates to complete their applications.
7. Customize the Onboarding Experience
Onboarding is a crucial step in ensuring a positive candidate experience.
Effective onboarding can boost retention rates by 89% and increase productivity by over 70%, as per research by Brandon Hall Group.
Fortunately, with the right tech stack, companies can tailor the onboarding process to fit each new hire’s unique needs. For instance, the onboarding process often begins with filling out paperwork, and an ATS can simplify this by automating forms and reducing manual tasks.
Additionally, based on the employee’s role, department, and location, an ATS can provide personalized onboarding experiences by delivering relevant training materials and resources.
All of this contributes to creating an engaging and efficient candidate experience, helping new employees integrate smoothly into the company and start contributing faster.
8. Send Post-Application Feedback and Insights
At the end of the application process, hiring managers conduct reviews to evaluate the candidate’s performance and suitability for the role.
Providing candidates with feedback, whether they were successful or not, is a valuable step in improving the candidate experience.
Integrating Automated Tracking Systems into your HRIS can help to simplify the feedback process. Automated responses can be tailored to provide constructive feedback, helping candidates understand areas for improvement.
Additionally, insights gathered from candidates—such as their experience during the hiring process—can be collected through surveys and analyzed to identify areas where the recruitment process can be refined. This not only improves the candidate experience, but also helps the organization enhance its hiring practices over time.
Can ATS alone help you improve the candidate experience?
No. While ATS software offers many benefits, it’s not without limitations. Here are 5 common challenges that arise when relying solely on an ATS.
1. Limited Customizability
Some ATS platforms come with little to no customization features. This makes it difficult to adapt the hiring process to meet the specific needs of different roles or departments. As a result, organizations may end up with a generic application experience that doesn’t engage candidates. However, transitioning to modern, customizable Automated Tracking System options is increasingly recommended to overcome these limitations.
2. Inadequate Resume Parsing
ATS platforms may inaccurately extract and categorize information from resumes, leading to misinterpretations of candidates’ qualifications. This can occur due to non-standard formats, creative designs, or inconsistent terminology. When resumes are not parsed correctly, qualified candidates may be overlooked, resulting in a diminished talent pool.
3. Lack of Personalization
At times, ATS may create a mechanical experience for candidates. For example, candidates receive generic emails that lack specific details about their application or the hiring process. This impersonal communication can make them feel like just another number rather than valued individuals.
4. Impersonal Candidate Rejection Process
Automated systems frequently generate generic rejection messages that are sent out in bulk. These messages typically follow a standard format, lacking personalization or specific feedback related to the candidate’s application. As a result, candidates may feel undervalued and frustrated, as they receive little insight into why they were not selected. Providing thoughtful and tailored rejection messages is essential for maintaining a positive candidate experience, even for those who are not ultimately chosen for the role.
5. Over-Reliance on Automation
Automating too much of the application process takes the human factor out of it. Human interaction is important for building relationships and trust, which you must pay attention to if you want to improve your candidate experience. ATS systems aren’t perfect, and relying too much on them can cause you to overlook qualified candidates who could add value to your team.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, the candidate experience is key to attracting talent and building a strong employer brand. From the application to interviews, every step matters. An ATS helps by making the process easier and keeping candidates informed. Conducting interviews professionally and respectfully also leaves a lasting impression. Focusing on these areas improves how candidates view the company and boosts the chances of hiring the best people.