ATS

An ATS or Applicant Tracking System is a type of software application which electronically handles various processes involved in manpower recruitment. The main purpose of an ATS is to automate most of the hiring tasks and minimize manual work leading to increased efficiency and productivity of a hiring team.

majority of companies both corporate as well as placement consulting firms use some form of Applicant Tracking Systems to track and manage their recruitment process.

ATS systems specialize in pulling candidate data from a variety of popular sources such as Job Boards, Corporate websites, email etc. parsing this and storing it in a structured format in a central database.

Types of ATS
ATS software come in different deployment models. These include Online ATS applications as well as Offline models.

An Online Applicant Tracking System is implemented as an Online Web service similar to an Internet website. The application is hosted on a server that is publicly accessible over the Internet. Licensed users are provided a login name & password for authentication. Using this they can login from any location via an Internet connection and work on the application.

Online Applicant Tracking systems offer a lot of benefits in terms of cost-effectiveness and efficiency as follows:

• Cost of implementing and maintaining an Online Applicant Tracking System is very low since the company does not have to invest in IT infrastructure such as server machines, backup systems, day-to-day administration etc.
• An Online ATS increases efficiency and productivity of the team since it allows anywhere-anytime access so users can access it from home, while traveling etc.

Offline or installed Applicant Tracking Systems in contrast to Online ATS are not hosted on a publicly accessible server on the Internet but are installed on an internal server within a company. In such an implementation model ATS software is accessible only via the internal network of the organization.

Offline Applicant Tracking Software also have their own merits as follows:

• Companies with high security needs can exercise better control over sensitive data stored in such applications through their own data center.
• Organizations enjoy greater flexibility in daily maintenance of the software.
• In general, offline ATS systems have better performance as far as speed and concurrent access is concerned.

Features of an ATS
The functionality of an ATS is not limited to data extraction and storage, ATS applications also enable organizations to automate other aspects of the recruitment process including:

• Candidate screening
• Interview scheduling and assessment
• Offer tracking
• Induction
• Appraisals

Conclusion
In the final analysis Applicant Tracking Systems are an invaluable tool for automating recruitment and thereby increasing productivity and efficiency of recruitment teams. Whether a company implements an Online Applicant Tracking system or its Offline variant it is definite that an ATS should be a invaluable part of its recruitment process.