The hiring and recruitment process has never been an easy task. Anyone in this field will tell you that the amount of data that they receive can get quite overwhelming pretty fast, especially when there are several job openings. For a single position, they can already receive hundreds of applications so things can get hectic.

This is why applicant tracking systems or ATS prove to be very handy tools for recruiters and hiring managers. These tools make handling and organizing large volumes of data more manageable. They can also make collaborations among human resources teams simpler and more straightforward, allowing a smoother flow of things.

If you’re interested in using an ATS for your growing business, this guide will introduce you to this particular tool and will even help you get acquainted with the best ones available today.

What is an ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems)?

As mentioned above, an ATS is an applicant tracking system. It’s software designed for the human resources industry and serves as a tool that will let hiring managers and recruiters store applicant information like their resume and other details as well as track and manage their hiring process. It’s practically a digital organizer for employers and hiring professionals as it will assist them in their day-to-day tasks and in handling dozens of applicants without too much fuss. 

For many organizations, an ATS will also be their first screening tool for applicants who will send their resumes online. Using this tool for this specific purpose significantly cuts down the work of hiring managers and will eliminate those who sent their resumes just to try their luck. 

This system can go through resumes and flag or automatically reject them based on set parameters. It downsizes the pool of applicants a hiring manager needs to go through, saving them a lot of time and effort.

An ATS also serves as a database for HR teams. As their contents are typically accessible through a cloud or online, they make it easier to access data wherever the hiring manager may be. This is very useful in the recent months where everyone has resorted to working from home. It allowed many teams to continue recruiting and hiring even if they’re working away from the office.

The ATS is also a tool for managing and monitoring the entire hiring process. It will let hiring managers schedule interviews, update statuses of applicants, and track the progress of candidates through their system so they can always stay up to date in the hiring process. This makes it very handy as doing all of these manually or using different programs and applications can be very confusing and inefficient.

Many ATS programs have additional features and functionalities, so there’s a good chance that you’ll find something that will meet your specific requirements and needs. It’s just a matter of taking a closer look at what a certain product can offer, so you should be very discerning when looking for the right applicant tracking system for you.

The 4 Best Applicant Tracking Systems For Recruiters

To help you get started on your search for the right ATS, here are 10 top picks by HR and recruitment experts for the year 2021:

1. Manatal – Best For AI tools and social media recruitment

Dubbed as the ‘next generation of recruitment software’, Manatal is what lots of hiring managers will have in mind when looking for software that will help them handle their day-to-day tasks. It’s focus is to ‘streamline’ the recruitment process to make it more effective and efficient. 

What makes Manatal great is that it will simplify hiring tasks with the help of various functionalities, features, and good interface design. So not only is it loaded with useful features like compliance tools, drag and drop pipelines, daily recruitment processing, an analytics suite, and collaboration tools among many others but they are all designed to be easy to use.

A great bonus is their social media recruitment tools. If you want to use such platforms and have a wider audience for your job ads, then this can be a solid pick for you.

2. Tracker – Best For professional recruitment and consulting agencies

Some HR professionals might need a more robust system that will let them handle all of their tasks in one place so Tracker was created. This ATS is also classified as a CRM or candidate relationship management software. This means that it’s not just for tracking and monitoring hiring processes but it’s also meant to automate and optimize their operational processes. It’s not just about staffing but it will also help those who handle candidate and client relations.

Compared to Manatal, Tracker can do more because it’s also meant to handle recruitment, sales, and vendor management. It’s meant to help source talents, aid in nurturing relationships with candidates, as well as handle a lot of back-office and collaboration tasks. 

This is why it’s deemed to be more suitable for those who are in the recruitment field as it is meant to offer solutions for such enterprises. It can also be seen as a project management software but for the recruitment and hiring sector.

3. Monday.com – Best For customization

Not all companies have the same needs so it makes sense that different hiring departments and agencies may need different functionalities and features in their ATS. This is where Monday.com comes in as it will allow users to build customized forms that will allow them to highlight the details they need for quick reference. As it also has a high-level overview feature, the custom detail will come in handy as it will easily present the details you need.

If you’re worried that you’ll need to know some coding to make it work, don’t fret. This software doesn’t require any coding skills. Manual tasks can be automated because of this.

What’s even better is that it’s free to use for up to 2 users. This would be a great thing for growing companies that have small HR departments. It will beef up the functionality of your hiring team without having to shell out a serious amount of cash.

4. Workday – Best For onboarding

Last but certainly not least is Workday, the ATS of choice of so many Fortune 500 companies. It once claimed to be the most widely used ATS in the world but there are some doubts about that. 

Workday describes itself as an ‘end-to-end talent acquisition application’ that comes with quite a lot of features. Some are not entirely sold about it being an ATS as they feel like it should be considered more like a recruitment module because of its functionalities.

What can it do? Aside from application parsing, tackling high-volume applications, providing real-time notifications to applicants, and providing analytics for data-driven decisions, Workday is also a reliable onboarding tool. This makes it capable of claiming to be an end-to-end solution, as it will be useful to you from the start to the end of the hiring process.

More ATS Software Worth Mentioning

The four ATS products listed above are barely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this technology. There are tons more that are worth looking into. Here are more options to check out:

• Oracle Taleo is the top choice for many corporations.
• Pinpoint is great for in-house talent acquisitions.
• SAP SuccessFactors is ideal for those who want to keep a close eye on their analytics and reports.
• iCIMS Recruit is for those who want easier advertisement and marketing for their job openings.
• Smart Recruiters is made for those who want a simple and easy-to-use interface.
• JazzHR is suitable for small businesses.
• Workable is perfect for those who need some customization.
• Bullhorn is a top choice for a CRM and ATS in one package.