How to Use Your ATS to Improve the Candidate Journey

Candidate experience is a huge contributing factor to the success of your recruitment process. This means providing your applicants with a smooth hiring journey – all the way from application to onboarding new employees. Here we discuss how employers can use their Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to improve the candidate journey:

#1 – Deliver ‘welcome’ emails to engage candidates

The modern-job seeker applies for more opportunities than ever; it’s important to stay ahead of the competition by keeping candidates engaged. 

Employers can use an ATS to schedule ‘welcome emails’ to candidates upon receipt of their application. This helps to promote your employer brand, while keeping candidates engaged with the hiring journey.

Welcome emails/messages can contain crucial information about your employer brand, workplace culture, and recruitment process. It’s a great way to get candidates off to a positive start with your business.

#2 – Give candidates flexibility over interview booking slots

Accessibility is key to reducing application abandonment. With an ATS, you can provide candidates with interview slot options, allowing them to book in at a time that suits them.

Your candidates have busy careers and personal lives too. Providing flexibility over interview slots reduces the risk of application abandonment, and further boosts employer brand engagement. 

Use your ATS to deliver interview booking options and confirmations to your candidates. This helps to keep them up-to-date with their application, and gives them more control over their hiring journey.

#3 – Automate communication to keep candidates informed

In the modern job market, it can be a challenge for candidates to keep up with the progress of their applications. Use communication scheduling tools within your ATS to send out regular updates to your candidates – such as application acknowledgment, interview stage confirmations, and onboarding instructions. 

This helps you to stay ahead of any competition in the job market, securing your reach over top candidates, while boosting their engagement with your employer brand.

#4 – Deliver a ‘mobile-friendly’ recruitment process

Over 90% of candidates now use their phones to look for work. It’s therefore important to ensure your recruitment process remains mobile-friendly throughout every stage.

Using tools in your ATS, you can ensure application forms, careers pages, and employer brand content is optimised for mobile users. Make sure application forms are adapted for mobile screens; shorten questions, and make sections more concise for easy engagement on smaller devices.

Make sure you communicate with candidates via SMS as well as email. This ensures crucial info is never missed by mobile users, or filtered into ‘spam’ folders. 

#5 – Promote a faster recruitment turnaround for candidates

Your hiring turnaround matters; the quicker you engage and progress your candidates, the less likely they are to pursue other opportunities. 

One benefit of an Applicant Tracking System is its ability to speed up your recruitment process – increasing efficiency, and boosting talent engagement. Applicant data can be automatically streamed from application forms, with welcome emails sent out automatically. This vastly reduces admin tasks for your HR team, while providing candidates with an instant response at every stage.

With ATS virtual hiring tools, you can schedule video screening/interview sessions with your candidates. This enables you to engage more applicants in a shorter period of time – shortening the gap between application and interview.

In summary;

Applicant Tracking Systems are a great tool for improving the recruitment experience for your hiring candidates. They include a range of features to increase speed, efficiency, and engagement through every stage of the hiring journey. These include:

• Automated communication (SMS/Email) software
• Flexible interview booking 
• Mobile-friendly application & recruitment process
• Recruitment process automation to reduce time-to-hire

By delivering a positive candidate experience, you boost the reputation of your employer brand, and increase your reach over more of the best talent. If candidates are met with a fast, efficient, and enjoyable hiring journey, they are less likely to look for opportunities elsewhere.