Difference Between Recruitment Software vs. Applicant Tracking Software

by Aqui Team

In order for your company to grow, you need to find qualified employees. Finding and hiring new employees requires a lot of time and energy. You may have to sort through hundreds of resumes before you can fill an open position.

If the hiring process gives you a headache, you may be looking for an easier way to track and manage candidates. Consider using an online tool such as a candidate tracking system or online recruitment software to assist in this process.

Believe it or not, there are differences between the two. The software you choose will depend on your specific business needs.

Applicant Tracking Systems

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a software application that speeds up the recruitment process. A good Applicant Tracking System provides the ability to sort and manage applicants, post vacancies, view resumes and find the most qualified applicants for interviews.

ATS could save you a lot of time and energy in your search for employees. Here are some ways that an ATS can meet your business needs:

Publish job offers
Using applicant tracking systems, you can add positions to public job boards and social media to attract qualified applicants. ATS can also help you streamline the process of receiving applications by allowing you to sort them according to your preferred criteria.

Importing resumes
When you receive resumes from applicants, you can import them directly into your ATS. Instead of stacking paper resumes on your desk or having dozens of e-mails with file attachments in your inbox, ATS makes all resumes easily accessible and organized. The software automatically searches for duplicate records of a person or company.

Parse resumes
If a resume import only imports the original resume file, you can use resume parsing to extract information such as skills, experience, and contact information. When parsing, information from each resume is entered in the same format to help you compare qualifications.

For example, you are hiring a new engineer in your company. In your job posting, you specify that candidates must have at least a master's degree to be considered for the job. You will receive three CVs, with each candidate having a different educational level:

  • Bachelor's degree
  • Master's degree
  • PhD

The parsing function of your ATS can automatically show you which applications are negligible. If the new employee requires a Master's degree, you would not invite the candidate with a Bachelor's degree for an interview. If you receive 150 applications for a job, you can save hours each week with this function, since you no longer have to sort the resumes manually.

Track Candidates
Track multiple candidates in an open work order. By tracking candidates, you can see who you are considering for each open position and where they are in the pipeline. When you are ready, select whether a candidate is offered a job or not. This simplifies the hiring process and allows you to keep track of promising resumes for future job openings.

Generally, buyers can choose to implement candidate tracking software as a standalone solution or combine it with a more comprehensive software suite, such as a human capital management (HCM) platform or, in some cases, even CRM software.

Recruitment Software

While ATS focuses exclusively on tracking candidates, recruitment software helps to connect candidates with their clients. As a result, the recruitment software includes ATS features in addition to scheduling, email marketing, multi-user, Boolean search and mobile capabilities. If you work for a recruitment agency or as a dedicated recruiter, you should consider using online recruitment software.

Most modern recruitment software combines applicant tracking with customer relationship management (CRM).

As a recruiter, you should be able to use web-based recruitment software anywhere, anytime, as long as you have an Internet connection. If the provider offers a native mobile app, even better.

Take a look at some of the features of a simple online recruitment software:

Applicant tracking
When you purchase online recruitment software, you get all the benefits of an applicant tracking system in addition to the features specifically designed for recruiters. This gives you the opportunity to do so:

  • Publish job offers
  • Importing resumes
  • Parse resumes
  • Track candidates

Extended ATS functions
Candidate tracking software alone may not be sufficient to meet the needs of a recruiter. As a recruiter, you help fill positions for all types of industries - not just for a specific company. The positions you fill can be anything from law firms to schools.

Online recruitment software tracks applicants on a large scale. You can post job vacancies for multiple companies and analyze and sort resumes for different industries.

Scheduling
With online recruitment software it is easier to stay in touch with your customers and job applicants. With online recruitment software, you can plan activities in the workplace so that you can work from one system and not lose information. Plan events like:

  • Phone calls
  • E-mails
  • Interviews
  • Starting dates of the candidates

E-mail marketing
Email marketing capabilities allow you to send templates to multiple candidates based on custom triggers. For example, you could e-mail 200 potential candidates to let them know that a company is looking for a new sales representative, or send an automated follow-up to each new candidate who submits their resume. Using a recruiting solution with integrated e-mail marketing helps you complete work orders faster and keep candidates engaged throughout the process.

Multiple users
Online recruitment software is designed to connect recruiters, applicants and clients. Many recruitment systems allow multiple users and custom access controls/user permissions. When (limited) access is granted, other recruiters and stakeholders gain insight into your candidate pipeline. The ability to share candidate information within the software helps to improve collaboration between decision makers and in turn speeds up the process of job fulfillment.

Boolean Search
Many online recruitment software programs have a Boolean search function. With a Boolean search, you can quickly find suitable candidates who are already in your database.

Search by position title, field of study, skill or location, and Boolean searches will display resumes that match the keywords you enter. You can also specify keywords that you do not want to include in the resumes.

For example, you might be looking for a marketer who can work with Adobe InDesign. If you use Boolean search, candidates who list marketing and InDesign in their resumes are displayed.

Which one should you choose?
Both candidate tracking systems and recruitment software tools can help you get your hiring process off the ground. Instead of wasting time reading and organizing resumes one by one, let the software do the hard work.

If you are a business owner or HR manager in a small business, consider using a simple applicant tracking system to speed up the hiring process. If you are a full-time recruiter who wants to streamline the hiring process and get work assignments done faster for your clients, consider using online recruitment software. You'll get all the benefits of an applicant tracking system, in addition to customer relationship management, email marketing and collaboration features.

If you still can't find those top-notch employees (even with the right software tools), it may be time to get help from a recruiter or staffing agency.