Why is Applicant Tracking System for small businesses needed? Well, recruiting for small businesses can be challenging. You may have limited resources, time, and budget to find and hire the best talent for your company. You may also face competition from larger companies that offer more attractive benefits and opportunities. And you may not have a dedicated HR team or a standardized hiring process to manage the recruitment cycle.

That’s why it’s important that small businesses implement an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) into their hiring process. But how do you find the best ATS for your small business? What are the signs that you need one? What are the benefits of using one? And what are the key features to look for? In this article, we will answer these questions and help you find the best ATS for your small business.

What Is Applicant Tracking System?

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a software application used by businesses to streamline their recruitment process. It automates the management of job applications, allowing recruiters and hiring managers to effectively track and organize candidate data. The primary purpose of an ATS is to simplify the hiring process, saving time and effort for businesses while enhancing the overall quality of their hiring decisions.

An ATS acts as a central hub for all recruitment-related activities. It allows you to create and post job listings, receive and store resumes, and track the progress of candidates throughout the hiring process. This system eliminates the need for manual data entry and paperwork, making it easier to manage a large volume of applications. Moreover, an ATS typically includes features such as resume parsing, which automatically extracts important information from resumes and populates the relevant fields within the system.

Signs that Your Small Business Needs Applicant Tracking System

If you are still using spreadsheets, email, or paper to manage your hiring process, you may be missing out on the benefits of an ATS. Here are some signs that your small business needs an ATS:

• You have a high volume of applicants for your open positions.
• You spend too much time sorting through resumes and applications.
• You struggle to keep track of candidates’ progress and status.
• You have difficulty communicating with candidates and keeping them engaged.
• You have a high turnover rate or low retention rate of new hires.
• You have a low-quality of hire or poor candidate fit.
• You have compliance issues or legal risks related to hiring.

If you experience any of these signs, it may be time to invest in an Applicant Tracking System for your small business.

Applicant Tracking System for Small Business: What Are the Benefits?

Using Applicant Tracking Software for your small business can bring you many benefits, such as:

• Saving time and money: By automating repetitive tasks, such as posting jobs, screening resumes, sending emails, and scheduling interviews, an ATS can free up your time and resources to focus on other important aspects of your business.
• Improving pipeline efficiency: An ATS can help you track applicants and determine who is the most qualified for the job. As a result, you’ll be able to quickly review candidates and move them along the hiring stages.
• Enhancing candidate experience: With an ATS, you can create a user-friendly application process, communicate with candidates effectively, provide timely feedback and updates, and offer a seamless transition from hire to onboarding. This allows you to improve your employer's brand and reputation, as well as increase your offer acceptance rate.
• Increasing hiring quality: You’ll be able to find the best candidates for your job openings, based on their skills, experience, and fit. This can improve your hiring outcomes, such as employee performance, productivity, engagement, and retention.
• Providing data-driven insights: Through the use of an ATS, you’ll be provided with coverage reports and analytics on your hiring processes, such as time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, source-of-hire, diversity-of-hire, and more. As an end result, you’ll be able to measure your hiring effectiveness, identify areas of improvement, and optimize your hiring strategy.

Applicant Tracking System for Small Business: What to Look for?

There are many ATS options available in the market today. To help you find the best one for your small business, here are some key features to look for:

• Customization: You should be able to customize your ATS according to your specific needs and preferences. For example, you should be enabled to create custom application forms, screening questions, scoring criteria, workflows, email templates, etc.
• Integration: An ideal ATS should be able to integrate itself with other tools and platforms that you use for your business, such as your website, social media, job boards, payroll, CRM, etc. This can help you streamline your data and processes, as well as enhance your functionality and performance.
• Ease of use: You should be able to use your ATS easily and intuitively, without requiring extensive training or technical support. Your ATS should have a user-friendly interface, clear navigation, simple instructions, and helpful features, such as drag-and-drop, search and filter, and bulk actions.
• Scalability: An ATS you look for should come with the ability to scale your ATS as your business grows and changes. It should be able to handle a large number of applicants, jobs, and users, as well as offer flexible pricing plans and options.
• Security: You should be able to trust your ATS with your sensitive data and information. It should have robust security measures, such as encryption, authentication, authorization, backup and recovery, and compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

Conclusion

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a software solution that helps you manage the entire hiring process from end to end. It can help you save time and money, improve pipeline efficiency, enhance the candidate experience, increase hiring quality, and provide data-driven insights. To find the best ATS for your small business, you should look for features such as customization, integration, ease of use, scalability, and security.

One of the best ATS options for small businesses is Manatal. It is an AI-powered recruitment software designed to help you source and hire candidates faster and more efficiently. Manatal offers a cloud-based comprehensive ATS solution that includes:

• Effective pipelines, AI-driven insights, and applicant matching.
• Candidate enrichment with data from LinkedIn and 20+ social platforms.
• Collaboration and activities with hiring managers, calendar, and mailbox integration.
• Reports and analytics with customizable dashboard and metrics.
• Branded career page.
• Support and assistance with live chat, email, and documentation.
• Data privacy compliance with the latest policies and security credentials.

Manatal is designed to push small businesses towards their hiring goals effortlessly and efficiently. You can start a 14-day free trial today to discover its capability in helping you elevate your recruitment within a few clicks.