Rebuilding Your Business and Need to Hire Fast? 9 Nifty ATS Tools

Need to hire fast because you are getting ready to reopen?

Hire fast, hire strategically

There are more qualified people on the market than there have been since the 2008 era. Optimize your processes. Competitors who make talent sourcing a priority will snag the best candidates first.

What’s the best way to speed up hiring for re-staffing?

Get a cloud-based applicant tracking system (ATS). Hire from anywhere. While working at home, on the road, or at the office. Your team can work together while social distancing. A mobile-friendly interface lets candidates apply, interview, and onboard remotely.

Are you using manual hiring processes?

Spreadsheets? Multiple job board accounts? Paper applications? You can’t hire fast in 2022 with old processes.

Manual processes are inefficient. Plus, they are hard to analyze. If you can’t extract KPIs, how can you evaluate? Start gathering metrics.

What is an Applicant Tracking System?

An applicant tracking system is a specific type of recruiting software. It automates the hiring process from job posting to offer letter. ATS are cost-effective, easy to use, and quick to set up.

Why automate recruiting with an ATS?

• Process applicants more quickly and efficiently
• Pre-screen candidates when they apply
• Manage many job openings simultaneously
• Stop duplicating work
• Collect and track hundreds of applications
• Create branded templates for job descriptions, questionnaires, and emails
• Post to job boards with single signon

Let’s talk about some key features of modern ATS.

1. Communicate faster with in-application texting

ATS recruitment texting allows you to text candidates from the software. It stores a record of the texts. Multiple members of the team can text as if from the same person. Include links in text messages. For example, link to an interview scheduling calendar. The morning of the interview, send a map link. Include parking instructions. Super. Easy.

2. Pre-screening questions qualify candidates immediately

An ATS allows you to add application screening questions. This ensures the applicant meets basic qualifications. Like education level or certifications. Apply scoring rules to questions. Higher-scoring applicants will automatically rise in your review queue.

Does pre-screening take out human evaluation?

No. It simply eliminates the need for unnecessary evaluation. It gives you more time to engage with the most promising candidates. Pre-screening plucks the best from the larger pool. When your ATS has identified them, start the human review. Send the resumes to the hiring manager. Do phone screens. Advance to in-person or video interviews. Your ATS supports your processes. Pre-screening lets you spend your time where it will have the most impact.

3. Mobile recruiting lets you hire from anywhere

Manage candidates using an ATS mobile app. Work on any device. How are your posts doing? Which applicants have done screening? Who’s interviewing tomorrow?

You have all that in your pocket. Around-the-clock. Recruiting superstars use mobile tools. You can too.

4. Post jobs faster with single signon

To hire fast, you need to post your jobs fast. With an ATS, your job posting gets immediate online exposure. Post to LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter and Glassdoor (just to name a few) with a couple clicks. While you’re at it, post to your social media sites. And careers page.

5. Accelerate hiring with self-service interview scheduling

Top candidates are on the market for 10 days or less. Slow interviewing scheduling can extend the timeline considerably. Self-serve scheduling makes everything faster and easier for the candidate and your hiring team. Let candidates pick an interview slot from a calendar. Eliminate a bottleneck by integrating with Office 365 or Google Calendar.

6. Interview strategically with structured interview templates

Structured interviewing is a best practice used by successful companies. It not only helps you hire fast, it helps you diversify your workforce. It makes EEOC compliance easier. It helps your hiring managers improve their interview skills. This brings us to a related ATS feature: candidate scorecards.

7. Hire faster with candidate scorecards

Standardized candidate scoring is fast and slick. And speed isn’t the only advantage. It improves the effectiveness of your evaluation process. This is how it works: 1. Create scorecards for each candidate. 2. Each member of the interview team fills one out. 3. Your ATS tallies the scores. 4. Sort on top scoring candidates.

8. Stage change email triggers

In your ATS, create a workflow with hiring stages. Base it on your team’s manual process. Create email templates for each stage. “We’ve received your application,” “Your interview has been scheduled,” etc. Insert merge codes to pull the candidate name, job position and other information. Then let automation do its thing. When you move a candidate to a new stage, your ATS sends an email. Keep your applicant informed and engaged.

Recruiters without auto-emails often ghost candidates. This is not only rude, it trashes your employer brand. Auto-emails are indispensable if you want to hire fast and protect your reputation.

9. Turn fast hiring into fast onboarding

It doesn’t make sense to re-enter information once an applicant is hired. Don’t go half way with your process upgrades. If your onboarding has been unstructured, automate it. You’re already making a major transition by automating the hiring tasks. Don’t disrupt everything down the line by waiting to implement onboarding software.

Want to learn more about how to hire fast with an ATS?

This is not an exhaustive list of ATS tools. There are a lot more! (We highlighted nine in this post because we thought it sounded good with “nifty” in the title.)

Get a Applicant Tracking Demo for fast, smart hiring. ApplicantStack is SwipeClock’s affordable, easy to use ATS solution.

One silver lining of post-crisis rebuilding is the chance to create something better. The team at SwipeClock wishes you success as you move your business forward.