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5 Ways a Great ATS Will Make You an Awesome Recruiter


You might think that to be an awesome recruiter, you need to have the kind of memory that lets you mentally keep track of everything on your desk. But that just isn’t the case: Top billers get to where they are because they have the right technology to support them, and they know how to use it!

Using a great Applicant Tracking System every day will help you keep close track of what’s on your desk, stay a step ahead of yourself and place more candidates as a result – all with minimum effort.

Here are 5 ways a great ATS will make you an awesome recruiter…

1. Speed up the recruitment process

Speed is everything in recruitment right now. If you don’t get your candidates in front of your client ASAP, another recruiter will. Simple as that!

A good ATS is the perfect tool to help you add pace to your recruitment processes. The technology will allow you to take candidates from A to B faster, closely tracking each stage from first touch through to interview and placement.

You can easily manage all your job activities through the ATS, with automated triggers that tell you exactly when it’s your time to make a move.

A lengthy recruitment process can cost you talent, so if you want to secure more placements, you need an ATS that allows you to react quickly.

2. Communicate better with candidates and clients

Being the first recruiter to speak to a new candidate or client about a job means nothing if your communication isn’t consistent throughout the hiring the process.

There’s nothing worse than saying you’ll call a candidate back, then completely forgetting to do it! It’s the kind of behaviour that can give you and your recruitment agency a bad name.

But the good news is, your ATS can support you to ensure your communication is on point with every candidate and client you’re working with at all times. Each time you have a conversation that ends with “I’ll be in touch!”, you can set follow-up dates on all your emails and phone calls to make sure you do.

Being able to get a clear picture of what’s happening on your desk and set reminders of who needs to be called and when will also help you structure your day, and keeps you on top of all your jobs so you never miss a beat.

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3. Reach top talent first

Talent pools are a winning feature of any good recruitment software. They take little effort to set up, and once you’ve established the right criteria for them (aka the kinds of candidates you make the most money from!), your talent pools will pull in a steady stream of relevant candidates for your ATS to track and help you engage with.

An ATS with real-time triggers will notify you the minute a candidate lands in your talent pool with the criteria your clients are looking for – including passive candidates! - so you can reach out to them well ahead of your competitors.

4. Keep everything in one place

It’s likely you’re working a number of jobs and candidates at one time, so remembering the what, the when and to who is impossible.

But with the right ATS behind you, you can track everything all in one place, so all your information is easily accessible and always up to date.

As soon as any changes occur, your ATS workflows will update documentation and figures and automatically notify anyone who needs to know – without you lifting a finger.

A good ATS allows you to store and track relevant documents easily against the right people, so you’re always on the ball for your candidates and clients and save yourself a lot of time and effort in the process!

5. Know what’s really working

The key to great recruitment is knowing what’s working and what needs more work. Your ATS should help you identify what areas are and aren’t working in the stages of your recruitment process.

For example, do candidates who apply from a particular platform tend to drop off before they interview stage? Do hiring managers progress more candidates from one talent pool than another?

Having an ATS is important as it closely tracks how candidates move along the hiring process. With this, you'll have invaluable recruitment data at your fingertips that allows you to make data-driven changes to recruit more, and better, candidates for your roles.

Applicant Tracking Software

David Connolly

David is a Senior Growth Outreach Specialist at Firefish. After working as a 360 recruiter, he loves innovating recruitment with Firefish Software.

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