Choosing An Ats
The ultimate recruiting software shopping list
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Choosing recruiting software that meets your needs is tough. It should be universally easy to use – you don't want something that takes more time to learn, than it takes to hire. It should be affordable and not overwhelm you with flabby features. Here's a quick shopping list of what you need in your recruiting software:
If you're hiring, your organisation is probably growing. Your recruiting software needs to grow with you. Scalability is an essential feature when choosing recruiting software.
Let’s all be friends and co-operate. Your recruiting software should facilitate secure sharing of CVs, profiles and notes among your recruiting team. It should support your workflow, no matter what shape it takes. Key decision makers, as well as more junior staff, all need to be included in the process. So, make sure that the recruiting software you choose supports this.
Whether scheduling or preparing notes or questions, it’s nice to have everything in one place. Interviewing can be a logistical nightmare, so having a centre of operations to organise this is a great help.
Being able to pin down the root of your successes and even quantify them improves any future recruiting efforts. Can your recruiting software effortlessly gather data on any applications you receive, how your referrals are working for you or even your time taken to hire?
How big is your recruiting job? Cost is no small consideration. Do you need to invest heavily in a software licence? A subscription service might be the way to go.
Setting up a referrals program is a very effective way of getting in top-quality candidates. Choosing recruiting software with reporting built in, is one way of doing this, but a solution with a built in referrals is even better. HireHive offers this, making sure you know who your top referrers are.
Having your own careers page makes a lot of difference to your recruiting efforts, but that can take a lot of additional effort. HireHive can help you create a customised career site, without the bother of designing it. You can also post to a number of job boards, as well as integrating with social media platforms like LinkedIn.
Communication is important both internally, within your team, as well as with your candidates. Any recruiting software should be able to handle email communications. Ideally, it can be integrated with tools like Outlook or Gmail.
It's helpful to have all candidate information in one place. You need a system where you can attach relevant documents or make notes on a candidate’s application. It's also good if you can search these profiles.
Some of our favourite words to describe software are clunky or cumbersome. You should be able to get it up and running within an hour. Save yourself complaints from your colleagues by choosing an intuitive, easy to use software.
Data security is no joke and recruiting sees teams handling personal information about their many applicants. Keep your candidate data safe and cosy with recruiting software that meets this requirement.
We're fond of scrolling through content on mobile devices on the bus, at the doctor's office, in bars, restaurants. It's useful to access your recruiting software on the go. Look for convenience: choose a cloud-based, mobile capable solution.
You might be thinking, “you know what I want from an ATS? One that does the job for me.” Well, a good CV parser filters applications and finds the most suitable candidates for you.
“HireHive makes the team a lot more productive. We’d be lost without it. Team Leaders can do it all themselves if needed or jump in at the right time and know exactly where everything is and what’s happening.”
Hilary Dempsey Head of HR at Life Credit union
