When Should You Upgrade Your Applicant Tracking System

It’s the new age of digital-savvy, where 79% of the candidates use social media to find a job.

But if you are still using an outdated ATS, some of the best candidates might slip through the net.

Clearly, an obsolete applicant tracking system can do more harm than good.

But how to spot when you have overgrown your existing ATS?

Checklist to Identify an Ineffective Applicant Tracking System

1) When You Still Need Extra Tools

The purpose of an ATS is to make your life easier. But if an ATS isn’t self-sufficient, you’ll end up doing more work than ever before.

A reliable applicant tracking system brings the necessary resources to you and automates your search for the right candidate. An outdated ATS will need additional integrations and customization to make it fully functional.

And it can cost you a considerable amount of money and time.

Rather than putting in hard work and figuring out a workaround, it’s better to invest in a dependable ATS system that can stand the test of time.

2) When ATS Leaves You Hanging After an Interview

A hiring process doesn’t end with scheduling an interview with a candidate. And if your current ATS makes it look like that, then you have the wrong product in your hand.

An ideal ATS accompanies you throughout the hiring journey when sourcing candidates until the employee is onboarded.

Your ATS should help you with proper onboarding support, communication, and prospect lifecycle.

Anything less than that is a half-baked solution.

3) When ATS Feels Like a Broken Record

How do you feel tiring yourself day-in and day-out with repetitive tasks? Or think about the candidate who has to fill in the same information multiple times to apply for your company. It can act as a big dent in the overall candidate experience.

If an ATS isn’t intuitive, it’ll make one lose time, patience, and suitable candidates quickly.

Check if your ATS is eliminating duplicate efforts. If not, scrap it out.

4) When the Results Don’t Speak For Itself

The ultimate goal of implementing an applicant tracking system is to bring a real difference to your hiring, not just on paper.

If your existing ATS isn’t improving crucial hiring metrics like time to fill a position, interview to hire ratio and cost to fill, then it’s just a showpiece without actual use.

Stagnant or, even worse, declining numbers are a wake-up alarm for you to use an ATS of value.

5) When You Don’t Have Complete Visibility

Times have changed, and candidates no longer rely on just traditional channels to apply for a job. They use social media, websites, and numerous other digital platforms.

If you are just waiting for candidates to show up on your dated applicant tracking system, it’s a short-sighted approach that can prove to be disastrous.

Ideally, your ATS should source candidates from all digital channels, including social media. It quickly increases the chances of finding a suitable candidate and gives you a more diverse talent pool.

6) When the Support is Sparse and Incompetent

 

Any product is incomplete without suitable support.

If seeking help from the ATS support team sounds like a task in itself, it might not be a good partnership in the long run.

Proactive and responsive support is crucial while using a product that impacts your whole organization. A reliable support team not only resolves your queries faster but also suggests best practices to make the most of the product.

7) When ATS isn’t Mobile Friendly

An archaic ATS can hold you back when the whole world is on the go.

If your applicant tracking system isn’t fully-functional on mobile, you can lose the real-time opportunities and updates.

In a competitive world, where talent is constantly sought and fought for, it can make a massive difference for any hiring manager.

8) When ATS Discredits the Human Aspect

An ATS can’t replace the hiring manager. It can only complement them to improve the hiring quality.

Because in the end, the ATS is an algorithm that screens the candidates based on fixed factors like grades, experience, or education.

If your ATS doesn’t allow you to work parallelly and look at the resumes with a more nuanced and human aspect, you might have some good candidates left behind.

9) When Your ATS Intimidates You

No matter how good a product is, if the user isn’t able to find their way through it, it’s pretty useless.

If you find your ATS poorly designed and difficult to navigate, you won’t be able to make full use of it. Thus it will limit your capabilities.

That’s why you should upgrade to an ATS that’s easy to use, and even in your absence, someone else from your team can work on it without constant hand-holding.

10) When You See No Analytics to Back the Claims

Every product can say that they have state-of-art services and features that will transform your hiring process. But the real litmus test is the analytics to prove that.

If the ATS doesn’t have detailed performance reports, you’ll never understand what needs improvement and which strategy is working.

Check if your ATS has accurate reports that are still relevant in today’s time.
If not, hop on to a better alternative.

What to Look For in a Modern Applicant Tracking System?

1) Fit & Functionality

The right ATS should cater to your requirements rather than a one-fits-all product.

Take a demo to get a glimpse of the features, interface, and whether it meets your expectations. Along with all that, evaluate if the benefits justify the cost.

2) A Tailored Approach

Probably the most important aspect of an ATS is the extent of customization it allows.

Any tool can collect resumes and throw them on a screen. To test if the product is worth your time, understand what level of automation it allows you to do.

3) Clarity of Data

Go with the ATS that understands your data and breaks it into comprehensible bytes.

The data shouldn’t be on the platform for the sake of it. It should represent an accurate picture of where you are and what you need to do to improve.

4) Frequent Product Updates

A new ATS can also turn obsolete quickly if it’s not keeping up with the market demands. So, go with the one which focuses on bringing regular product updates.

Also, find out the maintenance and backups the ATS offers for a more confident choice.

It will avoid the hassle of integrating new tools to boost productivity.

Conclusion

Hiring is the single operation in an organization that is capable of affecting all other departments. The quality of your hires decides where your business will go in the next few years.

So yes, an ATS matters…a lot.

While you can use a whole checklist for making a wise choice, it’s always better to rely on trusted products that can assure a smooth transition. You can check out RippeHire, which empowers you with easy-to-use modules, automated workflows, data analysis, and audit features.

You can book a demo to learn more about how RippeHire can streamline and transform your hiring process.