How Applicant Tracker Software Helps Small Businesses

Your human resource team’s hiring process likely involves many manual recruiting activities — from filtering resumes and job applications, to scheduling interviews and posting to job boards — all of which takes your HR staff a lot of time and effort to complete.

• The good news? These time-consuming tasks don’t have to be so laborious or tedious.

That’s because an applicant tracking system (a.k.a., applicant tracker software) can put the bulk of duties tied to your recruitment process on (relative) autopilot and make it easier to execute your talent team’s candidate relationship management (CRM) strategy.

Applicant tracker software: A centralized platform for today’s SMBs

Put plainly, it’s (well) past time to track your top candidates with a Google or Excel sheet and implement a more modern recruiting approach to promoting job openings, monitoring applicants’ status, engaging job seekers of interest, and hiring top talent.

And that means onboarding a powerful yet easy-to-use ATS — but one that offers much more than mere applicant tracking and empowers your recruiters to work smarter and faster.

• “Identify solutions that go beyond applicant tracking and integrate a wide range of capabilities to support your hiring goals,” said Employ SVP People & Talent Corey Berkey.

Here’s the bare-bones explainer about how applicant tracking systems work and help small businesses just like yours — not just large corporations and Fortune 500 companies).

Simple UI and hands-on support

The top applicant tracker software (see: JazzHR) provides an easy-to-navigate user interface that helps recruiters and HR pros find info they need to move forward with a hiring cycle in seconds.

Moreover, the best ATS providers offer ongoing support to users to help them make the most of the tech. Consider what North Carolina Outward Bound School Staff Recruitment Manager Devin Kearns had to say shortly after onboarding our recruitment platform.

“What we liked … was the customer service, the user interface … and the easy customization that can be set up: from emails, to interview flows, to onboarding paperwork,” said Devin

Universal job posting capabilities

No recruiter wants to have to jump from one job board to another to post the exact same listing. In short, it’s a waste of time. With the right leading applicant tracker, though, this task is one-and-done and saves recruiting teams lots of time. (That is, time they can spend building and strengthening relationships with qualified candidates and filling positions quickly and efficiently.)

Deliver individual or bulk emails

Have a “hot” lead (i.e., one who matches all the preferences in the job description) who just applied for an open role? Using an ATS like JazzHR, you can send that prospect a personalized email right after they submit their application to set up a phone screen (or let them know you’ll pass and why).

Similarly, you can email multiple job seekers with our applicant tracker software to schedule interviews, send them assessments, or keep them up to speed on their status in the hiring cycle.

Streamlined interview scheduling

Speaking of interview scheduling, that’s yet another formerly burdensome task that can be mostly automated with a purpose-built applicant tracker like JazzHR. Consider how one customer uses our automation workflows to streamline scheduling.

“Our candidate flow is so high,” Solis Mammography Director of Talent Acquisition Dan Cady. “So, have hundreds of candidates for one position. We set up a Workflow Helper so that as soon as they apply, we send them out the video interview [link].”

Real-time reporting and analytics

Old-school applicant trackers lack any data-driven recruiting capabilities whatsoever. More modern recruiting platforms, like JazzHR, offer out-of-the-box analytics to help HR teams better track hiring metrics (and in real-time) to make insights-backed adjustments.

Our native analytics offering, Advanced Visual Reporting, makes it simple to set up, send, and schedule reports so that recruiters and HR leaders alike can share updates regarding hiring progress with business leaders — and, in turn, showcase their successes.

Searchable database of candidates

Using keyboard shortcuts to find the first or last name of the prospect who applied a couple weeks back that your team like for a particular opening isn’t exactly the most productive way to keep tabs on talent. That’s where an ATS’s recruitment database can help.

JazzHR offers various search options, including exact, partial, and Boolean (i.e., using “AND” and “OR” to find info). What’s more, talent teams with our ATS can filter candidates in their system to sort them by various traits (e.g., apply date, rating, source, funnel stage).

Investing in the right applicant tracker software for your business

These are the foundational elements of modern applicant tracker software solutions. You’ll also find a number of other useful features and functionality in top-rated ATS, including:

• Easy text-to-apply functionality
• Storage for offers and other docs
• Integrations with recruiting tools
• Hiring and feedback collaboration

The point is, with a best-in-class ATS system, you can move away from manual, taxing talent acquisition work and simplify (and modernize) your recruiting and hiring efforts.

Looking for new, more advanced hiring software? Speak with our team today to learn about our applicant tracking system — and how it can simplify your HR team’s day-to-day recruiting efforts.