An applicant tracking system or ATS is a software solution that organizations implement to carry out hiring, on-boarding and other HR tasks with ease. In the past, numerous tools have been used by the HR department to carry out various hiring tasks, but quite a few of them like spreadsheets are becoming obsolete as they are not contributing as efficiently as they once did, and because better players are entering the field.
Spreadsheets are quite common on HR screens but it is time you ditch them and bring in ATS. Why? Read on.
Spreadsheets Cannot be Considered as a Hiring Tool
How many times have you received resumes in your inbox and lost track of them after a few days after some correspondence or you shifted them to a folder and have trouble finding it the next time you open the folder? You would be surprised to find out how much time you waste on tasks like searching for a resume on your spreadsheet or email.
The idea of using the spreadsheets was to make the process easier, but it can get quite frustrating to spend most of the time either entering data in the spreadsheet or looking for information amongst the vast blocks of data.
It no longer is an efficient hiring tool. Replacing spreadsheets with ATS could not only save time but also increase the accuracy of the data.
High Chances of Human Errors
Spreadsheets are used to store information in a tabulated manner. While it looks like an efficient practice, it could be riddled with human errors. It isn’t unusual for one to copy and paste information from a resume or email into the spreadsheets. No matter how careful one is, there is a high percentage of making mistakes which could go unnoticed for a long time.
Imagine a scenario where you have successfully completed the stage of screening candidates and have chosen the ones you want to call for an interview. You gather their information and copy it into the spreadsheet but you somehow mixed the list and have instead copied information of an unqualified candidate or the ones you rejected.
It could get quite embarrassing to realize you contacted the wrong person. Minor errors like these could cost you a great hire. You won’t face such issues with an Applicant Tracking System as the data-entry has to be done by the candidate themselves.
Reporting Functionality isn’t Great
Spreadsheets do not support great reporting. You can’t use it to track email, to determine which job board candidates saw your job posting or figure out if your job placements are bringing you any leads. Yes, you can create reports on spreadsheets but they will be quite rudimentary.
ATS systems have advanced analytics that aids you in prescreening, executing surveys and even seeing which job postings are getting the most responses. This will greatly assist you in the hiring process.
A cloud based recruitment software like Jobsoid helps numerous companies streamline and simplify the otherwise time-consuming aspects of recruitment. Hiring candidates has never been this easy!
