How to Choose the Right ATS for your Company

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) can help you recruit, hire, and manage your employees. However, not all ATS are created equal. So how do you choose the right ATS for your company? Here's what to keep in mind when looking for an applicant tracking system and how to evaluate them objectively:

1. Identify your needs

Before you begin your search, it's important to consider the following questions:

• What are your company's goals?
• What are your pain points?
• What are your strengths?
• What are your weaknesses?
• How much can you afford to pay for an ATS and its associated software add-ons?
• What is the upper limit of how much money you're willing to spend on this project (if any)?

After answering these questions, it's time to start looking at potential solutions.

2. Consider your budget

As you begin to research the types of ATSs that are available, consider how much you're willing to spend. This can be broken down into two categories:

• What type of budget your company has for this project?
• What type of budget you have for yourself as the business owner or manager?

3. Look for the features you need

When searching for a new ATS, it’s important to keep in mind that every company has different needs. Some companies will require more complex features than others. For example, a small business might not need an ATS with a high volume of applicants because they don’t have many positions to fill. On the other hand, a large corporation may require an ATS with multiple user access levels so that employees can only access certain parts of the system based on their job function or security clearance level.

You may also want to consider whether your organization already uses other software from the same company as its ATS, since those products may share similar features and interfaces that are easier for users to learn.

4. Read the reviews

If you have a choice between two or more ATS vendors, it's important to get a sense of what other people think of them. In fact, many professional review sites such as G2 Crowd can be indispensable when it comes to finding out who offers the best value for money.

There are several ways that you can find reviews for your potential ATS solutions:

• Check with your colleagues and friends who work at similar companies in your industry
• Browse through Yelp or Google Reviews (and don't be afraid to leave one yourself!)

5. Ask your peers

• Ask other companies that use an ATS. If your company already has an ATS, ask them what they like and don't like about the system. Your colleagues may have used more than one ATS, so they can also share their experiences with you.
• Ask the vendor you are considering purchasing from or your HR department to get referrals from other organizations that have implemented their product. The vendor will likely know of some successes and failures similar to yours, so they can advise you accordingly.
• Ask your peers in your industry: Recruiters who work at companies similar to yours will be able to give useful advice on how well certain features work within different industries, whether there's a demand for something specific (e.g., compliance reports), etc., as well as recommend some great vendors based on their experiences working with them over time at various organizations around town! It never hurts to ask questions—I promise!

6. Evaluate the vendors carefully

When choosing an ATS, it's important to evaluate all aspects of each vendor. You should look for:

• Reputation and experience. Does the company have a good reputation? How long have they been in business? What kinds of companies is the vendor working with?
• Customer service. Do you like their customer support team? Do they respond quickly or slowly? Would you feel comfortable talking to them if something goes wrong with your account or software?
• Product features. Is their product feature rich enough for your needs, or do they seem basic in some areas compared to other vendors' offerings (such as applicant tracking)? If so, which ones are lacking and how can they be improved upon - either by this vendor or another one that offers more robust functionality elsewhere on their platform (for example, applicant tracking).

7. Get a demo of the product

Demos are the only way to get a true sense of how well an ATS will fit your needs. You'll be able to see what the product can do, how easy it is to use, and whether or not it's compatible with other products in your tech stack (for example, if you have an HRIS that's integrated with Active Directory).

It's also important to consider retention rates for different ATSs. You want one with a high rate of turnover so that you can easily replace them if something goes wrong later on down the road.

8. Determine how integration works

• How well does it integrate with your existing systems?
• What data is shared? Can you control which information is passed along to the hiring manager, and how much of it is available for viewing by others involved in the hiring process (such as recruiters or HR managers)?
• How easy is it to use? Do you have to spend hours learning how to use this software before you can get started on your searches, or does it quickly become intuitive after a few days of training?
• How often does it need to be updated? This is especially important if your business processes change fairly frequently or regularly throughout the year. For example, many businesses may start their annual hiring process at different times each year depending on when they need new staff members based on sales goals and other factors. If your system requires multiple updates throughout this time period (or any other point in time), that could result in significant costs beyond just buying the software itself because most providers will charge by how many users are accessing their product during those instances (which means more people updating).

9. Ensure that your team will be able to use it easily

• Ensure that your team will be able to use it easily.
• Consider training and support.
• Take into account ease of use.
• Establish how easy it is to use by different departments.
• Make sure that multiple levels of staff can access and utilize the system with ease.
• Keep in mind the varying skill levels of employees who will be using the ATS software (including beginners, experts, and everything in between).
• Incorporate considerations for older workers or those with special needs when designing your automated hiring solution, as well as those based on gender, role within the company (manager vs employee), etcetera.

10. Finding the right ATS is worth the effort, and can help improve employee experiences and reduce turnover

• Employee experiences
• Turnover rates
• Productivity
• Compliance and security standards
• Efficiency among employees and managers alike

If you're looking for ways to improve the employee experience at your company, making sure that your ATS is a useful tool should be at the top of your list. These tools can help increase productivity, reduce turnover, improve compliance with regulations, keep things running smoothly across departments, and even make sure customers are happy (and staying around)!

In conclusion, we hope this article has helped you understand how to choose the right ATS. The truth is, there are many factors to consider and lots of different products on the market. But when it comes down to it, the most important thing is that you choose an ATS that will be a good fit for your team and help them thrive in their jobs.

Please keep track of our weekly blogs to find out more about ATS, recruitment features, remote jobs boards, and further information on Flatwork! If you would like to read through our previous article, you can access it here.

Takeaway: An applicant tracking system can simplify the application and hiring process for both job seekers and employers. ATS helps in multiple ways but it is critical that you get the right one for your organization., which is why http://www.theflatwork.com may be a great ATS solution to look into!

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