Day before
14.11.2022

What is ATS recruitment software?

Christophe Hébert

Do you want to optimize your recruitment process ? Are your HR teams struggling to manage applications ?

Like you, many companies feel they spend too much time hiring new employees . Keeping track of each step—and multiple candidates—can be overwhelming, especially when recruiting on a large scale.

Few people know this, but for a single recruitment, large companies need an average of 94 candidates, and even double that for some positions. If your company has 10 open positions, that means you'll need approximately 940 applications to find the perfect candidate! How can you keep up?

A simple and effective solution exists to simplify the lives of all recruiters: the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). 

What is an ATS software ? How does it work? We'll teach you everything you need to know about these applicant tracking systems , including why you won't be able to live without them.

Using an ATS software? Why, and for whom?

An applicant tracking system, which you may have heard of under the English name Applicant Tracking System (ATS), is software that automates the hiring process. 

ATS software offers a multitude of tools that allow HR teams to save valuable time and increase their productivity while improving the candidate experience.

Thanks to a wide range of features that improve the efficiency of recruitment teams while attracting top talent, ATS software can:

  • Scrape a LinkedIn page to automatically copy the candidate's data into the ATS database;
  • Allows you to track each candidate's history across the firm, even accessing candidates' previous exchanges with other recruiters;
  • To follow all the recruitment processes so as not to miss any steps
  • To integrate the ATS with all the other tools you use daily, such as Google Calendar for reminders or Slack for team communication. 


In short, an ATS software is a system that takes care of tracking your candidates from A to Z, from posting the ad online to hiring.

As you will understand, this tool has become indispensable for anyone wishing to optimize their recruitment process. Whether you are a small SME or a large multinational corporation, the tool adapts to your needs and your scale .

If you need to recruit two people per year in very specific sectors or if you are looking for 500 generalist profiles, there is no doubt that using an ATS software will provide you with a suitable solution.

So we have the answer to our two initial questions: 

  • An ATS software, what for? To finally optimize your recruitment process .
  • An ATS software, for whom? For all those who recruit , regardless of the sector or size of your company.

How does an ATS software work? 

How does an ATS software work?

Now you're probably wondering how these candidate tracking systems ?

The system has four main steps.

Sourcing via LinkedIn

Unlike many ATS software, Marvin Recruiter has extensions that automatically analyze a candidate's profile directly on LinkedIn and add it to your recruitment database without going through the "elimination questions" stage.

It's a very practical tool for headhunters! 

  1. Extract profiles directly from LinkedIn after contacting candidates. 
  2. Download complete profiles of each candidate in the ATS, which you can customize with your notes. 
  3. Contact the candidate at any time and keep a record of the exchanges. 
  4. Retrieve your qualifications at any time in the ATS Marvin (even years later). 

Download CV data

Thanks to the Marvin ATS, you can use artificial intelligence to create records for each customer in just a few clicks . It's incredibly easy! Marvin takes care of everything.

Simply import the CV (in any format - image, PDF, word, etc.) to immediately obtain a complete candidate profile in the software. 

It is a practical and key tool for saving time and limiting any risk of errors. 

Candidate filtering and ranking 

The ATS software allows you to quickly find candidates in the database thanks to advanced filters such as phone number, email, CV, past exchange (even if it dates back more than six months), qualification score, etc.

Complete candidate tracking at every stage 

As the interviews progress, the recruitment team leaves notes and ratings for each candidate in the Applicant Tracking System (ATS), which the team can then use for its final selection. You're now ready to make an offer—and you've found your perfect candidate!

Note: some ATS software also offers the option of sending a welcome email from the team, which contains all the documentation necessary for hiring (contract, identity papers, insurance, etc.).

As you've probably gathered , the recruitment process is simplified from start to finish thanks to an ATS software . The tool's user-friendliness and ease of use truly allow any of your employees to quickly get to grips with it, so don't wait any longer!

Share the candidate database with your team

By organizing the information, you ensure you have a clear overview of all candidates . You can easily share this information with your entire team, who will then have access to all candidate notes.

A recruitment ATS is key to facilitating collaborative work among recruiters! It ensures transparency between different recruiters and saves time across the entire firm. 

An ATS also allows you to maintain control over each candidate's history over time. This is a great way to build candidate loyalty and personalize your approach! For example, if you contact a client a colleague previously contacted about another opportunity, you can tailor the conversation from the outset and demonstrate your interest.

Opportunity matching, a key feature

Here again, Marvin offers you artificial intelligence to save you time! Thanks to our AI, you can automatically match candidates to your job posting . It's very simple!

Simply create your job posting, click on the opportunity marketing link, and you'll automatically see a list of qualified candidates from the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This will allow you to quickly contact the profiles best suited to your job posting. 

Manage processes in just a few clicks

Marvin is both a recruitment ATS and a CRM . Therefore, you can easily manage your entire recruitment process directly within the application.

To do this, simply customize your tracking board. To ensure you don't forget anything, you can schedule task reminders in just a few clicks and move your candidates into efficient, visual, and user-friendly boards. 

Marvin software even allows you to analyze the potential revenue from your recruitments. 

Visualize recruiter performance

An your performance every day, in real time ? Marvin can do it! With the ATS, you can track the number of qualifications, signed partners, and published offers in real time!

With an ATS like Marvin, you can track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the number of candidates contacted versus the number of candidates in the process versus the number of candidates placed with clients, at any time, in real time! You can also keep a constant eye on the number of job postings online versus the number of companies contacted. 

Create a challenge within the teams

A recruitment ATS also allows you to optimize team performance! Thus, in addition to accessing the complete history of each recruiter, you can check the dashboard of colleagues and evaluate your performance compared to the rest of the firm. 

It is even possible to configure leaderboards to motivate all teams. 

Effective integrations

An ATS software facilitates your project management thanks to several integrations, with the google calendar for example or even Slack (very soon on Marvin!).

3 reasons why your company should invest in ATS software

If we had to choose just three advantages of using an ATS software (there would be many others), they would be the following: time savings, cost savings, and gains in recruitment quality.

A crucial time saver

The main advantage of an automated applicant tracking system is, of course, that it saves a lot of time compared to traditional application processing and hiring procedures.

On average, 75 to 88% of CVs received are not suitable for the position. Retrieving qualified candidates from the database saves time and allows for more efficient sourcing of new candidates.  

Short- and long-term financial gains

Time is money! Indeed, simply saving time with an ATS software ultimately leads to cost savings . Your HR teams will be able to accomplish more with fewer people!

But that's not all! Today, long and tedious recruitment processes weigh on a company's finances in many different ways.

Are you short a graphic designer and it's taking you five months to recruit one? Meanwhile, you're turning to overpriced freelance services . Still can't find the right profile? You'll end up paying platforms to promote your job posting and participate in expensive trade shows and events.

In short, for all these obvious reasons, using an ATS software is sure to bring financial gains to your business.

The promise of quality recruitment 

Recruiting an employee through an automated process using ATS software will inevitably be of higher quality than a "traditional" process for two reasons.

The first benefit is the opportunity for your recruiters to focus on substantive work . When they are overwhelmed by minor administrative tasks, they don't have the time to delve deeper into each candidate's profile or build personalized relationships with them. These high-value activities are, however, essential for optimal recruitment.

Secondly, using an ATS also improves the candidate experience . By allowing you to stay informed of each applicant's position in the recruitment process, automated tracking minimizes the "black hole"—when candidates don't hear back from employers.

The testimonials are clear: nothing is worse for a potential future employee than experiencing a murky recruitment process . Lengthy email exchanges to schedule an interview, and a lack of follow-up on their progress in the pipeline , regularly discourage talented individuals who then prefer to look elsewhere.

With satisfied candidates and recruiters freed from unnecessary tasks, this inevitably leads to an improvement in the final quality of your recruitment .

ATS VS Excel, end of the match? 

Today, nearly 70% of companies have abandoned their spreadsheets in favor of a IT tool for recruitment. And rightly so, given the numerous limitations of the old system, which undermine the quality of recruitment within a company.

First, in the "traditional" method, you need to be able to build a solid spreadsheet and then use it. While very useful for certain tasks, Excel is a complex tool , and such a spreadsheet requires the implementation of VBA macros, formula lines, or code that few of your colleagues will be able to master . 

Next, your tracking table will be filled in manually and will not be able to automatically interact with an email inbox, a web platform or even the calendars of your recruiters.

This results in HR teams having to perform a multitude of time-consuming tasks (sending emails, managing interviews, exchanging SMS messages, filling out spreadsheets, etc.) which distract them from their role as human resources managers.

By automating these tasks , you save your staff the hassle of complex Excel spreadsheets and secondary tasks. These outdated recruitment practices, involving spreadsheets and email chains, no longer meet the demands of today's fast-paced and competitive job market.

Conclusion

Now you know what an ATS software , who this tool is for, and how it works.

The numerous advantages of automating your recruitment process will highlight the obsolescence of current practices and the need to subscribe to an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) as soon as possible. Visit the Marvin Recruiter to get a quote!

Christophe Hébert
CEO and founder @marvin recruit
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