Have you ever invested in a recruitment software and regretted not evaluating its technicalities and features? We feel you!
To figure out a way that would work for recruiters, we looked at the most common queries our users came up with, and have compiled a sure-shot list of questions that you MUST ask before making a buying decision.
Before we get to the questions, let’s quickly recap what’s an ATS and why recruiters need it.
What is an Applicant Tracking System?
An Applicant Tracking System is an indispensable part of the recruitment process that allows recruiters to automate most of their tasks and streamline their hiring process.
It is a popularly-used recruiting software that allows headhunters to do away with manual tasks like sourcing and shortlisting candidates, checking resumes, scheduling interviews, or even engaging and onboarding candidates.
Why Do You Need One?
The question must be– why not?
Here’s what your recruitment journey will look like if you don’t have an excellent recruiting tool.
- You will spend hours finding suitable candidates
- You will have to send emails to your applicant database manually
- Your hiring costs will spike up
- Managing clients and the candidate pool will become a hectic task
20+ Questions to Ask While Assessing an ATS
1. Can You Send Bulk Emails?
Most of the time, you’ll need to send emails to the entire database, and for that, you would need a software that allows you to conveniently send emails at once.
2. Does the Software Allow Email Scheduling?
Sometimes, it becomes practically impossible to log in at a specific time only to send emails to your candidates and clients. The recruiting software should allow you to schedule your outreach messages in your own time.
3. Does it Allow Interview Scheduling?
A well-featured ATS + CRM will allow you to automatically schedule interviews at a relaxing time for both parties and send reminders too!
4. Does the System Help with Resume Parsing?
Manually shuffling through resumes is one of the most tedious recruitment tasks, but with the help of an automation tool that comes with a resume parser, you will be able to filter out CVs in lesser time.
5. How Much Time Does the ATS Help Save?
One of the primary reasons why staffing experts use an ATS is because it helps save time and reduces overall cost. This way, you can also focus on other strategic tasks at hand.
6. Does the Software Help with Recruitment Marketing?
What even is recruitment without marketing! You need a software that helps you both in employer branding and selling jobs to accelerate your hiring efforts.
7. Does it Allow Updating Resumes and Candidate Profiles?
Candidates’ profiles and resumes might need to be updated every now and then. Confirm if the system allows you to update all these statuses without making it a hassle.
Find out more: Check out Recruit CRM’s list of features.
8. Can You Customize Your Job Boards?
The software should be such that it allows customizations of your job boards to make them look more in line with your brand’s identity.
9. Does it Personalize Outreach Messages?
The ATS should personalize outreach messages like emails or texts to add a human touch and make clients and candidates feel valued.
10. Does it Help with Client and Candidate Management?
Managing clients and candidates can be a hectic task, and to simplify that, you need a stellar automation tool for seamless management.
Read more: How to use Recruit CRM as a Client Management Tool?
11. How Does the ATS Manage the Talent Pipeline?
A good Applicant Tracking System can easily maintain a candidate database by engaging them and keeping the talent pipeline warm.
12. Can You Make Searches Within the Database?
Recruiters receive candidate profiles in high volumes on a daily basis, and searching within the database can be time-intensive. This is exactly why your software should allow easy searching within the talent pool.
13. Can You Do Searches Within the Candidate Profiles?
You might want to look for specific skills, qualifications, or experiences within the candidates’ profiles. In this case, you would need a system that has advanced search functionalities.
14. Is Boolean Search and Radius Search Available?
Your searches should allow you to use the booleans ‘AND’, ‘OR,’ and ‘NOT’ while also allowing location-based searches to narrow it down and find profiles you are looking for in a particular area.
15. Can You View Performance Reports and Analytics of Your Team?
Apart from the ability to generate reports on your deals, candidate pipeline, and revenue, you need an ATS that generates reports on the work done by your team. This will make it easier for you to meet your business goals successfully.
Read more: Predict dips in revenue before they actually happen with Recruit CRM.
16. How Often Are New Features Updated in the Software?
During the demo, make sure you ask the sales executive if the system is regularly updated with new features to stay on top of industry trends.
17. Does the System Meet Diversity Standards?
With diversity, equity, and inclusion playing an important role in hiring, you need to use a system that is EEO compliant. This will also help you reduce unconscious bias while recruiting.
18. Are Chatbots Available?
Candidate engagement is crucial for ensuring a positive candidate experience, and continuous communication with the applicants can be time-consuming. To resolve this, you need a software that allows you to interact with the talent pool using chatbots.
19. How Does it Help with Candidate Engagement?
Be it sending emails or outreach messages or even scheduling interviews, you need to assess the software based on how it helps you engage and interact with the applicant pool.
Read more: Avizio now seamlessly engages with 4X candidates every week using Recruit CRM.
20. Does the System Come with a Chrome Extension?
Finding top talent is the first step toward filling open positions. An in-built chrome extension will help you navigate different pages and source candidates from there.
For example, Recruit CRM’s chrome extension helps you get publicly available data of your candidates from platforms like LinkedIn and Xing and allows you to add it directly to your candidate database.
Read more: 20+ free chrome extensions that recruiters can use in 2022.
21. Does the ATS Allow Integrations?
A good Applicant Tracking System allows you to integrate various apps and sites through Zapier. This way you don’t have to switch between multiple apps and websites and can use them from within the ATS, saving time and energy.
22. Can You Manage Your Invoices?
Once you’re done sourcing and shortlisting candidates, you must raise an invoice for your clients to keep your revenue flowing. Choose a software that can help you manage this.
We hope this list of questions will help you find your ideal Applicant Tracking System and fulfill all your hiring needs.
Don’t forget to bookmark these frequently asked questions that will come in handy during the sales demo.
