An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a

software application Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

that enables the electronic handling of recruitment and hiring needs. An ATS can be implemented or accessed online at enterprise- or small-business levels, depending on the needs of the organization; free and open-source ATS software is also available. An ATS is very similar to

customer relationship management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information. CRM systems compile data from a r ...

(CRM) systems, but are designed for recruitment tracking purposes. In many cases they filter applications automatically based on given criteria such as keywords, skills, former employers, years of experience and schools attended. This has caused many to adapt resume optimization techniques similar to those used in

search engine optimization Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as "natural" or " organic" results) rather than di ...

when creating and formatting their résumé.

_Principle

A dedicated ATS is not uncommon for recruitment-specific needs. On the enterprise level it may be offered as a module or functional addition to a

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ...

suite or human resource information system (HRIS). The ATS is expanding into

small and medium enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Ban ...

through

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

software as a service Software as a service (SaaS ) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. SaaS is also known as "on-demand software" and Web-based/Web-hosted software. SaaS is co ...

offerings (SaaS). The principal function of an ATS is to provide a central location and database for a company's recruitment efforts. ATSs are built to better assist management of resumes and applicant information. Data is either collected from internal applications via the ATS front-end, located on the company website or is extracted from applicants on job boards. Most job and resume boards ( Reed Online,

LinkedIn.com LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...

, Monster.com, Hotjobs,

CareerBuilder CareerBuilder is an employment website founded in 1995 with offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. In 2008, it had the largest market share among online employment websites in the United States, where it was founded. CareerBui ...

, Indeed.com) have partnerships with ATS software providers to provide parsing support and easy data migration from one system to another. Newer applicant tracking systems (often the epithet is ''next-generation'') are platforms as a service, where the main piece of software has integration points that allow providers of other recruiting technology to plug in seamlessly. The ability of these next-generation ATS solutions allows jobs to be posted where the candidate is and not just on-job boards. This ability is being referred to as omnichannel talent acquisition. Recent changes include use of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machine A machine is a physical system using Power (physics), power to apply Force, forces and control Motion, moveme ...

(AI) tools and

natural language processing Natural language processing (NLP) is an interdisciplinary subfield of linguistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence concerned with the interactions between computers and human language, in particular how to program computers to proc ...

to facilitate guided semantic search capabilities offered through cloud-based platforms that allow companies to score and sort resumes with better alignment to the job requirements and descriptions. With the advent of ATS, resume optimization techniques and online tools are often used by applicants to increase their chances of landing an interview call.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Applicant Tracking System Business software Human resource management E-recruitment