Over the past 12-18 months, we have been engaged in a rigorous search for a new technology partner that can deliver a new recruitment marketplace for our members. After reviewing multiple providers, products and platforms, there are ATS features that offer value to recruitment firms of all shapes and sizes. Here are a few features that we think are “must-haves”:
- Automation / personalization — Gone are the days of “one size fits all” advertising. Today’s candidates have more options than ever before when it comes to their career search. An ATS that doesn’t offer the ability for you to automate routine tasks in a highly personalized manner puts you at a disadvantage to firms with a better candidate experience.
- Robust integration options — It’s likely that your ATS partner has things they do really well and things that fall outside their expertise. However, you may need to utilize some of the functionality that lies outside their expertise. This is why robust integration options are on the list of must-have ATS features. You may need the ability to incorporate features like phone calling, texting, social media, recruitment marketing, or lead nurturing into your business. The ATS you select should be able to help you connect to additional third-party tools and services to enhance your feature set.
- Data, dashboards, and workflows — Whether you’re managing your own desk or an entire team, built-in workflows and dashboards can help you set and monitor metrics for your recruitment firm. Workflows make it easy to build processes and move people and tasks through each process, showing you both sticking points and successes.
- Candidate engagement tools — This can include things like automated scheduling tools or chatbots, which can help you communicate with candidates more efficiently. Candidates increasingly want a better experience, whether that means an easier interface, more personalized options, or something speedier. Engagement tools can help you.
- Job board or career center — This isn’t new, but make sure your ATS offers a seamless way to integrate job openings directly to your website, with an easy apply option for candidates. Done properly, you’ll realize significant SEO benefits. Make sure this is a mobile-first option – consider whether candidates have easy access to their resume via their mobile device before requiring that step.
There are of course a host of other ATS features to consider. Basic functionality shouldn’t be overlooked, but the point of this post was to get you thinking about tools and features that can move you comfortably into the next 5+ years.