Let’s face it, fellow HR warriors – recruiting can sometimes feel like herding cats. Resumes flying everywhere, candidates slipping through the cracks, and don’t even get me started on scheduling interviews. But fear not! I’m here to dish on the real MVPs of recruitment: Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. “Sarah, isn’t an ATS just a glorified spreadsheet?” Oh, honey, if you’re still thinking that, we need to talk. The ATS landscape in 2024 is a whole new ball game, and I’m here to walk you through the all-stars.
Greenhouse
Greenhouse has been my ride-or-die for the past couple of years. Its user-friendly interface makes posting jobs and tracking candidates a breeze. But what really sets it apart? Its customizable scorecards and interview kits. They’ve single-handedly eliminated the “So, uh, what should I ask?” panic from our hiring managers.
Pro tip: Use Greenhouse’s browser extension. It’s like having a recruitment sidekick that can add candidates to your ATS from LinkedIn with just a click.
Lever
If Greenhouse and LinkedIn had a baby, it would be Lever. Its sourcing and nurture campaigns are a game-changer for proactive recruiting. Last month, we filled a hard-to-hire role with a candidate we’d been nurturing through Lever for six months. Talk about playing the long game!
Workday Recruiting
For those of you in larger enterprises, Workday Recruiting is worth a look. It’s not just an ATS; it’s a full-blown HR suite. The seamless integration between recruiting, onboarding, and core HR has saved us countless hours of data entry.
Word of caution: The learning curve is steep. But once you’re over the hump, it’s smooth sailing.
SmartRecruiters
SmartRecruiters is the Swiss Army knife of ATS. Its marketplace of pre-integrated apps means you can customize your recruitment stack without any IT headaches. We use it to automatically post jobs to niche job boards, and it’s expanded our candidate pool significantly.
Pinpoint
New kid on the block alert! Pinpoint is making waves with its AI-powered features. Its automated candidate matching has been scary accurate. Last week, it surfaced a candidate for our marketing role that all of us had overlooked. Spoiler alert: She nailed the interview.
iCIMS
If you’re all about that data life, iCIMS is your jam. Its reporting and analytics capabilities are next level. We’ve used its insights to optimize our job descriptions, tweak our interview process, and even predict time-to-hire for different roles.
Now, before you rush off to demo these bad boys, let’s talk strategy. Choosing an ATS is like dating – you need to know what you’re looking for. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- What’s your company size and growth trajectory? A startup experiencing hypergrowth will have different needs than a stable enterprise.
- How tech-savvy is your team? Some systems require more hand-holding than others.
- What’s your budget? Remember, the sticker price isn’t everything. Factor in implementation costs and potential ROI.
- What other tools do you need to integrate with? Your ATS should play nice with your HRIS, background check provider, and other HR tools.
And please, for the love of all things HR, don’t skip the implementation and training phase. I’ve seen too many companies invest in a fancy ATS only to use it like a glorified email system. That’s like buying a Ferrari and never taking it out of first gear!
Remember, an ATS is meant to enhance your recruitment process, not replace the human touch. Use it to handle the grunt work so you can focus on what really matters – building relationships with candidates and hiring managers.
So, there you have it, folks – my rundown of the ATS all-stars for 2024. Whether you’re a small business dipping your toes into structured recruiting or a multinational looking to up your game, there’s an ATS out there for you.
What’s your experience with these systems? Any dark horse candidates I missed? Drop a comment below or shoot me a message. After all, the best way to stay on top of HR tech is to learn from each other. Happy recruiting, and may the best candidates be ever in your favor!