HR Applicant Tracking System: Best Practices and Insights

If you're one of the many UK businesses with an in-house recruitment team, you'll know the value of HR recruitment software. Improve your recruitment process with these best practice guides and expert insights to get more out of your Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

The majority of UK businesses - three-fifths, as many - conduct recruitment and hiring in-house for a myriad of reasons. Considering the average number of applications per low-skilled job opening is between 200 and 500, in-house talent teams need the right technology to support their strategy. Regardless of the size of your recruitment team, staffing needs or industry, an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is an essential tool.

How can HR and talent teams benefit from applicant tracking systems (ATS)?

To understand the real value of ATS software, you need to look beyond the functional ability to source, screen and hire applicants. Recruitment is the first impression future employees have of a company. With over half (57%) of UK companies reporting hard-to-fill roles, it's now more important than ever to prioritise talent acquisition. A robust applicant tracking system can help ensure candidates have a positive experience from the moment they come across your job advert through to onboarding.

Modern recruitment automation ATS software supports every stage of the hiring process. This centralised database facilitates and securely stores all interactions, from CV screening, communication and scheduling to pre-employment background checks and right-to-work. Happy hiring teams, happy hiring managers and happy candidates. But how can HR and talent teams specifically benefit from using a modern applicant tracking system? Check out the best practices below for ideas on how to optimise your hiring processes.

Six Benefits of HR Applicant Tracking Systems

1. Reduce manual work with your automated hiring system's ability to review resumes, schedule interviews, and email applicants
2. Reduce time spent on underqualified and unsuitable applicants by entering "killer questions" to exclude applicants if they don't meet a certain minimum standard or criteria
3. Cast a wider net to find top talent with the ability to pause, create, and post multiple jobs at once - sometimes including integration with job boards to automatically distribute vacancies. This is especially useful for companies with 200 to 1,500 employees and multiple open positions across different disciplines and occupations.
4. Find the right employees in less time by improving selection based on defined criteria such as qualifications, experience, and skills.
5. Enjoy peace of mind knowing you're complying with policies to ensure equality, eliminate unconscious bias, and support blind recruitment (personal information like name and age are hidden from the hiring manager)
6. Protect data integrity and enjoy better data quality: Save resumes for suitable future job opportunities, maintain personal data to protect against data breaches in accordance with GDPR requirements, and capture, monitor, and renew soon-to-expire consents in your dashboard for all stored data.

The evidence is clear: modern applicant tracking systems are an important part of any hiring strategy and offer many benefits to employers and future employees. But how can companies get even more value from this technology? These best practice guidelines for using applicant tracking systems, including managing employee information, will help your hiring team optimize every step of the process.

HR Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Best Practices: Nine Top Tips

1.Start by choosing the right ATS

Consider an automated hiring system - whether you're a small, medium or, most importantly, a large company - to streamline your hiring processes and gain valuable time. Investing in the right technology at the right price and with the best features for your needs is the first step to success.

2.Check your ATS recruiting software's ability to integrate with other HR systems

Is your recruiting software integrated with other HR systems, or should you consider upgrading both systems at the same time? Synchronizing these two systems creates a seamless experience for successful applicants while reducing the administrative and compliance burden for hiring teams. Automated data transfers reduce the opportunity for errors, and real-time updates between the recruiting team and hiring managers help improve communication, manage expectations and identify problems early.

Integrating your ATS with onboarding software improves the onboarding process - a crucial experience for new employees that can determine their future career at your company. For example, our onboarding software allows new employees to access policies, fill out documents and familiarize themselves with your systems before their first day of work - making it easier for them to get into their role and creating a positive work environment from day one.

3.Make your job postings smarter, not harder

Include the relevant keywords in job postings to attract the right candidates; they should accurately describe the role and must be inclusive - aim for gender-neutral job descriptions wherever possible. Consider whether candidates in (or from) other countries may use different language and terminology and include these keywords where appropriate.

Highlight the benefits your company offers, including your remote working policies, paid time off and other relevant perks such as private health or dental insurance. This is both an opportunity for you to market the benefits of working at your company and for candidates to showcase their suitability for a role.

Be sure to include a salary (or at least a range). Research shows that four in five job seekers say they are less likely to apply for a role if the ad doesn't include a salary.

4.Create a seamless application process

Attracting talent starts the moment a candidate sees your job ad. Make the application process clear, simple and manageable. Around 70% of candidates admit to abandoning an application process if it's too complicated or repetitive, putting your company at risk of losing top talent due to an avoidable scenario.

As more digital natives enter the workforce, companies need to ensure the application process reflects the user experience they've become accustomed to. Progress bars, end screens with next steps, and timelines are a great way to do this while managing expectations - so more candidates reach the end of the application, and more often.

5.Screen more efficiently with tailored questions

When hiring teams ask the right questions, they can more easily identify unqualified candidates in advance. Forbes writes in "Why You Only Need to Meet 40% of the Requirements in Job Descriptions [Ads]" that the criteria listed in job postings are often more of a "wish list." If a candidate's resume meets the screening criteria, tailored questions can help identify how well the candidate fits the role and whether they have any soft skills that could make them an even better fit for the role.

Lucy O'Callaghan, our Head of Talent, shares her favorite questions below:

“Tell us a little about yourself and your career so far”

This gives candidates a chance to give us an overview of their career history and a glimpse into their personality. It may be a cliché icebreaker, but it helps us find out important details we might not otherwise pick up.

“What made you want to apply for the role?”

Instead of asking why a candidate is looking for a new job (or left their current one), we want to understand the driving force behind their application. Are they looking for growth? Maybe they want to apply their skills in a new industry, take on a leadership role, or are looking for a company that offers more learning and development opportunities.

“How do you think your skills match up with this particular role?”

This shows how well they understand their own skills and how they can use both soft skills and hard skills to master the role. It also reveals how well the candidate understands the requirements and sometimes uncovers less obvious talents that perfectly match what we expect from the successful candidate in their new role.

"What considerations do you have when looking to change roles?

When we ask candidates about their key considerations, we learn what they value most, such as company values, salary, or location. This also gives our team a chance to clarify to the candidate how their potential role with us aligns with their expectations.

If the role requires specific technical requirements or experience, we like to ask:

"Can you tell me about your previous [technical] experience?"

This helps us better gauge how the candidate responds to problems and handles the project process, and it also highlights how much of a subject matter expert they are. It also gives them a chance to showcase their accomplishments - they might name a milestone or highlight of their career, and we love to see people get excited about their careers.

Scoring candidates can also help identify the best-fit candidates based on key criteria that are missed in a keyword-only search, so talent teams can prioritize those applications from the start. The ability to quickly match and advance high-quality applications is undeniably a competitive advantage - a necessity, even - in a volatile job market.

Effortlessly and automatically connect with all applicants, whether they're suitable or not, shortlisted or rejected, by setting up automatic responses based on predefined conditions. Rejected applicants will appreciate not receiving rejection emails, and a well-designed template is (almost) all it takes to make a lasting impression.

6.Stand out with personalized applicant communications

Enhance the experience with personalized responses. Automated templates allow hiring teams to thank candidates for their time and, where possible, include a meaningful point or two about their application or interview. This helps build your employer brand, which can have a significant impact on future prospects.

Amplify new hires' stories by preparing templates for successful candidates to share on social media to announce their new role at your company in line with your brand and tone of voice.

Successful applicants can also be asked to review and sign their contracts digitally, allowing for a smoother, shorter hiring cycle - and better time management with less time spent on unnecessary paperwork during the hiring process.

7.Effortlessly track and manage pre-employment checks

Conduct pre-employment checks, including Right-to-Work (RTW) checks and background checks, to ensure only qualified candidates are moved forward. These checks are stored securely in the applicant tracking system for easy reference and GDPR compliance.

8.Collaborate with hiring managers

Share non-confidential candidate information with hiring managers through Blind Recruitment. This allows hiring managers to make informed decisions, compare candidates side-by-side, and explore each candidate's differentiated skills without revealing personal information. Hiring managers can also provide meaningful feedback that talent teams can use in personalized candidate communications to add additional value to each interaction.

9.Continuous Improvement: Analyze and Optimize

Continuously improving your company's hiring process is the result of constant analysis and fine-tuning. Request feedback from everyone involved - applicants, candidates, hiring managers, interview panels, and the talent team - to learn what worked and what still needs work. Keep an eye on online feedback, too. For example, respond to candidate reviews on Glassdoor and consider their views.

Reporting and analytics capabilities help you track key metrics like total number of applications, time to fill a position, and cost per hire, but most importantly, you can demonstrate the ROI of your ATS software.

Implementing best practices for your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) enhances efficiency, compliance, and candidate experience. By integrating modern HR software like IceHrm, you can streamline your entire hiring process, ensuring a smooth and productive recruitment journey from start to finish.