The Ultimate Guide to Choosing an Applicant Tracking System for Small Businesses

ATS software allows hiring teams to collect and organize applicant resumes and job applications in one place. It also offers collaboration tools to help the team work together.

Advanced ATSs offer features like talent assessment, which improves hiring accuracy by screening out applicants who don’t have the right skills. They also automate a range of recruitment processes to reduce time-to-hire.

Know Your Hiring Needs

A good applicant tracking system for small business makes recruiting quicker, fairer, and more accurate. It helps HR teams understand and forecast hiring needs and allows them to track applicant applications in one place.

Many applicants create sleek and visually enticing resumes that may sway recruiters but are difficult for an applicant tracking system to read. Look for ATS software that can parse resumes in a way that makes them more readable, such as a chronological format that lists job experiences.

During the planning stage, you should determine what functionality your business needs from an applicant tracking system. Choose an ATS provider that offers features that align with those needs, and make sure that the provider can meet your timelines for implementation.

Determine Your Budget

Recruiting costs money, as does the time it takes to sort through resumes and applications. Choosing the right applicant tracking system can save your business money by automating some of these tasks and making it easier to find top talent.

Look for ATS providers with low upfront costs and varying payment plans that allow you to pay for the features you need without paying for unnecessary functionality. It would help if you also chose an ATS provider offering monthly billing and dedicated customer support.

The cost of an ATS depends on your business size, whether you want advanced features and integrations, and other factors. A basic ATS is cheap, while a high-end one could cost thousands of dollars annually.

Look for a Free Trial

An ATS automates tasks that would be incredibly time-consuming without it (such as resume parsing, screening questions, disqualifying applicants who don’t meet the requirements, interview scheduling, and email automation). It allows hiring managers to get top talent before competitors snatch them up.

Whether you’re looking to hire a handful of people this month or grow your business’s headcount significantly in the months ahead, an applicant tracking system will help you streamline your recruitment processes to make more informed hiring decisions and hire better candidates. Look for ATSs with flexible pricing and free trials to find the one right for you. For example, Recooty offers a customizable ATS solution for small businesses and is easy to set up and navigate.

Get a Demo

ATS software can range from free to thousands of dollars a year. Look for one that offers month-to-month billing and a variety of features to help you recruit, manage candidates, form relationships, and hire faster.

Most ATS software has tools for online job posting, applicant screening, and interview scheduling. Many also have essential recruitment marketing tools to share jobs on social media and push vacancies to popular job boards.

Choose an ATS, allowing you to receive applications in a database that can be sorted and reviewed. It will save you time and money by eliminating the need for manual processing and screening. It also helps build a candidate pool that you can use to fill future roles.

Ask for References

When deciding which applicant tracking system to use for your small business, ask the software providers you’re considering for references that match your organization’s size and complexity. You can also read reviews from independent researchers and software comparison websites. Look for ATS vendors that offer flexible pricing and month-to-month billing so you can add or remove features as your needs change.

An ATS software automates recruitment by screening resumes to ensure candidates meet company requirements. It can save TA teams a lot of time, making recruiting more talent easier and reducing hiring costs. With these tips, you can choose an ATS that meets your business’s needs while staying within budget.