Here’s an unpopular opinion: ATSs have outlived their purpose.
Over the past two decades, they’ve slowly infiltrated every recruiting stack and are still viewed by some as essential hiring tools. It’s not uncommon for most organizations to pour substantial portions of their HR budgets into system updates when the sad reality is that applicant tracking systems are, at best mediocre and, at worst, downright disastrous.
Now, don’t get us wrong. We’re not here to hate on ATS. Like most job seekers, we just think they’ve got much catching up to do. ATS wasn’t built for candidates and certainly not designed for the rigors of today's immediate-response job market.
I checked out the top 10 ATS vendors in the U.S., and you know what? Aside from some AI buzzwords and slick marketing, not much has changed. If your vendor offers new features that support your core recruitment activity – marketing, interviewing, scheduling, you will likely have to pay a hefty fee for functions that general public software (think Google Sheets, Calendly or WhatsApp) can do better for a fraction of the cost.
Despite all the talk about “candidate-centric experiences” and “ease of use,” we’re yet to see vendors back it up. With poor design choices, sloppy execution, and walled gardens that are impossible to get out of, it’s no surprise that candidates regularly abandon applications halfway through the process due to the needlessly long forms they were forced to fill out.
What’s surprising is that some argue that the complexity of filling out applications is a ‘necessary evil’ that weeds out unmotivated candidates. What about the great-fit talent who actually value their time?
In the current market, candidates applying to tech, retail, or finance roles are looking to get hired quickly. Most are submitting 5-10 applications a day, trying to find great-fit roles. Just take a look at LinkedIn—you’ll see endless posts about how tough it is to find the right roles in these industries. It’s gotten so bad that a candidate recently made a “Desperate” banner as a counter to LinkedIn’s “OpenToWork” banner.
So, why are we making it so hard?
Is Sourcing Broken In ATS?
The way we think about sourcing and ATS needs to change. Pouring massive budgets into online job ads—especially on social media—while expecting your ATS to turn that traffic into qualified candidates magically is a mistake. Most ATS systems don’t even let candidates apply directly via Facebook, LinkedIn, or text. Instead, candidates are shepherded into your career site and then are subjected to the grueling application process.
Regardless of whether it’s millennials or Gen-Z candidates, in the age of shrinking attention spans, forcing candidates to jump across multiple platforms leads to poor conversion and a frustrating experience. And this is even before they are asked to upload a Word or PDF resume file.
With nearly two-thirds of candidates applying to jobs from their mobile devices, is asking for a resume such a great idea?
Your Next Best Hire May Not Make It Past Your ATS
Now, a lot has been written about resume parsing and how ATSs excludes exceptional talent. Most ATSs don’t allow you to tell your story. Even if you get to write a few paragraphs about why you fit the role, the system isn’t designed to follow context. Instead, it tears apart every carefully written sentence to scan for keywords. Some candidates have caught on and are now gaming the system to improve their chances of getting “matched” for the role.
Think about it, how many candidates don’t make it past the ATS because they didn’t attend the right schools, hold the correct job titles, or use the right keywords? The best product manager you’ve never met might have applied last year, but you’d never know because they didn’t make it past the gatekeeper for lacking the right “experience.”
Departure from the predetermined set of criteria results in elimination from the talent pool, leaving little opportunity for fostering genuine human connection built on dialogue and empathy. You can forget about hiring the next Steve Jobs. Instead, you’ll end up with a guy called Steve because he knows how to use a calculator.
Why Your Sourcing Strategy Must Go Beyond Email
The whole value proposition of sourcing with a modern ATS is that it helps recruiters communicate at scale. Unfortunately, however, the default choice is email. Now don’t get us wrong, email is still an effective sourcing channel. However, ATSs are not great with enabling personalization – and we don’t mean Hey <Candidate First Name> personalization.
Emails work great with ecommerce, where you’re sending messages to customers reminding them of the items in their cart but a similar approach doesn’t translate well in the context of recruiting. A candidate gets multiple emails from ATSs across various stages in the application process (think signup confirmation, resume addition, etc.) that get ignored.
That is why it’s important to begin thinking of sourcing beyond email. Voice and text are more likely to help you engage with candidates. You can have email as a fall-back option but certainly not as your only channel with candidates.
At ChatterWorks, we’ve taken this to heart – our mission is to rid the world of bland candidate engagement. So, when you find a profile you like, you can easily get the candidate’s resume and contact information like their personal phone number, email ID, and social media profiles in a single click. You can track all your interactions with candidates across channels and build an organic connection with them.
Building a Great Talent Pool? You Need More Than Just an ATS
There’s really no getting around it: Your ATS won’t cut it if you’re looking to make meaningful connections with candidates to build an engaged talent pool. Integrating a specialist sourcing tool into your sourcing strategy is no longer optional. Don’t believe us? Ask your recruiters if they would get more hiring done with a single sourcing platform that surfaces candidate accurate data and engagement hotspots than with a complex ATS with all the bells and whistles?
We work with some of the largest startups and recruiting agencies in the tech space, where speed is everything. While most of our customers need to use an ATS for compliance - checking boxes before and after hiring - the general feeling is that they’re shelling out big bucks for an annual subscription for a hassle.
A specialized sourcing tool like ChatterWorks simplifies building and maintaining a high-converting talent pool. Access a candidate pool that’s bigger and better than LinkedIn, Indeed or any other job board out there. Data is enriched in real-time using proprietary algorithms that ensure you have the most up-to-date candidate information at all times. Easily segment your talent pool based on skills, past employers, or the candidate journey stage. This helps you set up your communication strategy and tailor content for each segment.
Personalize your outreach and open up a two-way dialog where your candidates are – phone, text, email or social.
When you use ChatterWorks, you build a talent pool that is not only inclusive but also engaging, diverse, and comprised of candidates who are more than their resumes.
Want to see us in action? Book a demo and learn how ChatterWorks helps organizations build thriving talent pools without breaking the bank.
