What is Applicant Tracking Software and When Do I Need One?

In 2024, Team Builder Recruiting processed nearly 40,000 applicants for over 160 businesses. How did we do that and preserve our sanity? Since 2020, Team Builder has leveraged an applicant tracking software called SparkHire (previously called Comeet). It is probably the most valuable tool in our recruiting tool belt.

What is Applicant Tracking Software and What Does It Do?

An ATS tracks candidates from application through interview to hire. There are some pretty poorly designed systems and some that are pretty comprehensive. We happen to think we are using one of the best ones on the market AND it’s reasonably priced. Here are a few things that it does for us:

• Organizes all candidates by the position and location they applied for

• Allows for custom email templates with autofill options

• Provides an auto-scheduling tool, allowing candidates to pick their time for a phone screen or video interview

• Tracks all candidate communication

• Generates hiring reports and data

• Offers custom hiring processes, where you can assign teammates to specific steps – like phone screen, in-person interviews and references

• Identifies “repeat apply” candidates and matches all notes/records

• Stores all candidate data – resume, cover letter, references, assessments and interview notes

Signs You Are Ready for an ATS

Before adding this tool to your hiring toolbelt, it needs to have an ROI for your business. Here are some indicators that an ATS could be a worthy expense:

• You are continuously hiring with a consistent 2+ open positions in your business

• You find yourself dropping balls or missing steps in the hiring process. Or worse yet – losing track of candidates

• You have a designated person primarily in charge of hiring

• You have managers who want to know “what’s going on with my open position?” or “Do we have any candidates yet?” (Having an ATS allows them to check progress on their own.)

• You are having “This name seems familiar” syndrome. You know you are getting repeat candidates, but you don’t have a way to match them up or easily know what your history with them was

• You want a way to keep track of “maybe I’d consider this person in the future” candidates

• You want your hiring process to be more thorough and more streamlined.

So, How Do I Choose One?

Well admittedly, I’m biased – I think SparkHire is heads and shoulders above the rest. We’ve gotten to see the innerworkings of some of the other ATS options out there and a lot of them are clunky and limited in their abilities. Here are some things you should look for:

• User friendly interface – Can your “non-techy” teammates easily learn it?

• Customization options – Can you create custom hiring processes, templates, add hiring steps, etc.?

• Can I assign steps to the appropriate teammates? Will it alert them when they have tasks to complete?

• If a candidate reapplies, will it notify me?

• Do applicants automatically end up in the correct pipeline?

• Is it compatible with Indeed’s Easy Apply? And does it connect to other job boards?

• Do they have a responsive customer service team?

If you are wondering if it is ATS time or if you are curious about how ours works, shoot me an email and we can schedule a meeting. I’m happy to show you the behind-the-scenes tool that helped TBR process over 4,000 candidates last month.