Advantages and disadvantages of applicant tracking system

Employee management is no less than a battle when it comes to a business organization. Especially the process involved with employee recruitment. The process demands much investment from the side of management to endure the best and positive result. Henceforth, the HR professionals and the recruiting bench are bound to undergo several steps of recruiting, analyzing different requirements needed for the profile.

At one side, it’s quite easy for a job aspirant to send over their resumes to the company he/she desires for. On the other side, it’s quite strenuous for the management or the HR professional to sort the right applicant/ talent from the heaped application list. And manual sorting of these endless resumes not only delays the recruiting processes but may also harm the organization from varied human errors such as missing out right talents or misplacing candidate data. 

Therefore, today a large slice of business organization has decided over mechanizing their recruitment processes. According to different surveys conducted by management institutes, it is observed that about 66% percent of large companies and 35% of small organizations are solely dependent on their applicant tracking tool for their hiring necessities. It is seen that they have progressively moved in direction of automating their recruitment, making it fast, organized and result-oriented. 

Initially, there existed a notion that only larger and vast companies utilized ATS for their recruitment proceedings, however today, the situation has changed and it is seen that, even a large percentage of small and medium-sized companies are shifting their focus to getting automated their hiring via using a smart applicant tracking tool.  

The adoption reasons are many like- better viewing of job applications, the automated ranking of application, availability of keyword searches in resumes, following of single and uniform resume formats, etc.  Yes!!!! An Applicant Tracking Tool offers all these benefits to a business organization. The company can largely benefit from the ATS database, as it helps you to store numerous application for the long run. The applicant information can be later utilized in case of need. 

Secondly, it helps the business in organizing the entire recruitment procedures. Sometimes, the company comes along with mass recruitment programs. They open vacancies to multiple job profiles. In that case, using an ATS helps the company in easy searching of different application for different job positions. The recruitment tool helps in easy sorting of profiles and placing them separately under different headings. In the traditional set, mass recruitment demands much paperwork making it time-consuming and error-prone.  With ATS, that fear is easily ruled out.

Be that ATS brings along a fair share of positives to the company, this doesn't really imply that the company following the ATS framework would always harvest positive outcomes. Like any coin, the applicant tracking tool also has two sides-encompassing its own pros and cons.

This blog has tried to incorporate both the pros and cons of Applicant Tracking Tool. One must clearly understand both aspects before going into the implementation of Applicant Tracking Tool at their workplace. 

Firstly, let’s see the advantages the company can lure from ATS systems. 

Assuring right employments 

As said prior, an applicant tracking tool or a recruiting software is self –reliant in holding resumes for the long run. It helps you to store the resumes of candidates, which were first precluded. However, the same profiles can be later used if the following candidate fits the capabilities of another opening, benefitting both company and aspirant. 

Saving company resources

The conventional enrollment proceedings trigger for a large investment in terms of money and time. The HR professionals are bound to take up many paper works in terms of advertising, listing, sorting, examining, conducting interviews and more. And the end result can be 50:50. On the other hand, a recruiting software or an ATS will definitely eliminate all these long proceedings. It helps you in consequently positioning the job advertisements in various recruitment portals and speak with your potential contracts. The mechanized work totally eliminates the company from committing long hours and labor to hire talents. 

Pre-recognizing the standards to hire the right talents

An application tracking tool at workplace evades many risks like loosing of right potential candidates. The tool can rightly identify the perfect and potential candidates for your specific organization and the position advertised. This helps HR professionals from devoting large time to screen the candidates from the heap. 

Security from claims 

Enrolling a candidate using the recruiting tool will automatically ensure that your organization will meet diversity goals and consequently makes you complain. 

Improves candidate fulfillment 

One of the worst parts of recruiting procedures is the candidate’s long wait overhearing a response from the organization side. If a very qualified aspirant is compelled to wait for a long period to hear the decision from the organization, it is likely that the individual may choose to seek after another job position elsewhere. Implementation of ATS rules out these situations via speeding up the entire recruiting cycle. Using the application, the company can make mechanized responses, assuring regular updates to the candidates. 

Now let’s see the cons or the disadvantages of Applicant Tracking Tool

In light of its mechanized nature, organizations can pass up great candidates 

While the capacity to scan the right fit candidates is outrageous in ATS, it also represents the danger of wiping out right prospects who can turn profitable to the company.  This can be on the ground that the resumes may not have the same accreditations publicized with the job position. 

Even the just passed out graduates can equally contribute to the organization like the experienced.  The fresher may have still had a lot to offer to favor the business. However, the systems like ATS or recruiting software dismiss the profiles on grounds of pre-set capabilities. The mechanized process works only in accordance with the formatted resumes and other tech feeds.  

When Keywords turn villain 

Often under the applicant tracking tool, the candidates get expelled in light of the fact that they don't have the correct keywords on their resume/application or they did exclude the favored business keywords in their profile descriptions.

Hurdle in applying for multiple vacancies

Despite the fact that Applicant Tracking Systems hold resumes for different positions, later on, they don't make the way for the candidates to apply for a different position. This is on the grounds that the system assumes the second application as a duplicate one and disposes of it.  And candidates turn helpless in applying to other vacancies that they are equally fit to be or more fit to be that the priory applied. 

Manipulation risks

The recruitment procedure can be manipulated or exploited by the competitors who are well literate of the tracking innovation of the recruiting software. They know how to fill a resume with the correct keywords so that they get shortlists. It is not mandatory that these candidates assuredly have the same degree of caliber and skill desired for the job function. 

In nutshell, 

An Applicant Tracking Tool has its own advantages and disadvantages while coming to the processing of recruitment cycle in business. It can transform the tedious hiring procedure to a cost-friendly, moderate and productive affair. However, the absence of human judgment and leaving complex choices to the machines results in some mistake. The choice on whether to adopt an ATS resides along with the needs, wants, and demands of the organization.

What are the disadvantages of applicant tracking system?

What are the benefits of an applicant tracking system?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of recruitment process?

What are the disadvantages of the recruitment process?