Choosing An ATS Software? Answer These 9 Questions First
When choosing an ATS software that needs to be ideal for your business, it’s important to consider your current company size, and how many employees you are expecting to hire in the next few years. Additionally, keep in mind the hiring activities you perform most frequently.
The right ATS will help automate and streamline most of these tasks.
Finally, consider how much growth you are expecting as a company. ATS is sold according to a variety of pricing structures, some of which are based on the number of users, the number of employees, and/or the number of jobs. You’ll want to make sure you go with a system that you won’t outgrow, and that won’t become too expensive as time goes on.
So what questions should you be asking? Here are some of the most important:
1. How Is Your System Priced?
Common pricing models for applicant tracking software usually include all of the following:
- Cost per user
- Cost per number of employees
- Cost per hire
- Cost per feature
Some application tracking software companies, on the other hand, offer their services on a flat fee basis, with the cost often being charged on a yearly basis. Which brings up another cost element. Contract length. The usual options almost always include all of the following:
- Monthly
- Quarterly
- Yearly
- Multi-year
Finally, there are support and training charges. These may be built into the price already, but it pays to check to avoid nasty cost surprises down the line.
2. How Customizable Will My Careers Page Be? Will It Be Fully Branded To Match Our Company Website?
The branding opportunities an applicant tracking software can offer can prove to be very beneficial. In an age where potential employees tend to check out companies very rigorously before applying/interviewing, an application process that has a recognizable brand can be a real plus for any business.
3. How Is It Deployed? Iframe? A Company-Hosted Page? Other?
An ATS software has to be able to fit in rather seamlessly with the tech you already have in place. Understanding what external resources it will need (especially in terms of things like bandwidth) is essential.
4. How Easy Is It To Create A Job?
If a job posting is complicated to create, then many of the time-saving benefits that an ATS system can offer will be negated. And you may even find that the system goes unused if it is just too complicated or time-consuming to navigate to even get the hiring process started.
5. How Easy Is It To See My Pipeline Of Candidates And Where Is Each Candidate In The Process?
Again, making use of applicant tracking software is supposed to make things easier. This means that it is crucial that following the recruiting system is as seamless as possible.
6. Can I Communicate With Hiring Managers, Candidates, And Other Recruiters Directly Through The ATS?
The best application tracking software offerings do allow you to do this, and it can be a great boon to the whole process, as it cuts down on things like unread emails and missed phone calls that muddy up the traditional hiring process.
7. What Free And Paid Job Boards Do You Post To/Are You Integrated With?
Posting your job listings in the right places is a must, no matter whether you use ATS software or a more traditional hiring process. If the ATS software you are considering does not work well with the niche job boards, you might need the quality of the candidates you garner may be seriously compromised.
8. Do You Provide Any Email Templates I Can Use In My Hiring Process?
Any hiring process in the 21st century tends to include multiple emails back and forth between the company and the candidate. Having great, easy-to-use email templates in place can be a real help, and these are offered as a part of the best ATS software.
9. Who Can I Look To For Support During The Implementation Process? How Much Help Will I Receive? Will This Help Be Onsite Or Offsite?
This is another very important question to ask, if not the most important. The ATS software itself – it's AI portion – needs to be trained right alongside the staff who will be eventually making use of it. There will be lost of customizations to be made and probably more than one staff member required to use it. That means you are likely to need a lot of support, and if the company you are talking to is not willing to provide it, you simply won't get everything out of the ATS software that you expected.
