Your ATS supplier – who should you be looking for?

This is a guest post written for us by Hireserve – who are sponsoring our upcoming In House Recruitment Summit.

The humans behind your Applicant Tracking System are an important bunch of people. They’ve built it, yes – developed this technology that could reinvent your recruitment processes – but they should also be the people who’ll offer you the support and guidance you need to get the best out of your system and make a tangible impact on your recruitment activity.

When searching for a new ATS, how often do you take the people into account? Sure, we all have checklists for features and functionality, but not for our expectations about a supplier. Who should you be looking for – and why?

• An available, reliable and realistic team
A supplier can’t guarantee that their technology is infallible, but they can guarantee to deliver consistent and reliable customer support when you need it. How about a person manning the support desk and a human at the end of live chat? Or someone at the end of the phone who knows who you are and how they can help you?

This is also about setting expectations. A supplier may not have the resources to be available 24/7/365, but they should communicate to you when they will be available and, crucially, what interim support will be on offer when they’re not.

• People with a sense of curiosity
The joy of developers and technology suppliers is that they thrive on pushing the boundaries. ‘What could we achieve if we adapted this functionality?’ ‘How can we provide a better experience by altering that feature? ‘

An Applicant Tracking System should be constantly evolving– a system designed to anticipate your recruitment needs of the future and address them today. In such a rapidly changing recruitment landscape, it makes sense that your ATS should also be an agile, flexible piece of kit, capable of responding to your needs, whether that’s a new social integration, mobile interface or a brand new report.

• A supplier who’s looking for a relationship
You might just be seeking an ‘out of the box’ solution or a basic level of support. But if you have more complex recruitment needs, if it’s your first time using an ATS, or if you’d prefer more of a partnership, look for a supplier who takes a collaborative approach towards their customers.

An ATS supplier should have HR knowledge and experience as well as a technology background. Look for someone who can quickly understand your needs, and who can share best practice and offer practical insights into how you can improve your processes.

Collaborative, supportive and reliable ATS suppliers are worth finding. Ask colleagues for recommendations. When you’re researching, pick up the phone instead of sending an email for a better idea of how responsive and personable a supplier is. Try to visit a supplier’s premises to meet the team and understand their working culture.

Look for suppliers who’ll only say yes if they know they can deliver. Who’ll work around challenges and deliver innovative and practical solutions. Who will respond to your needs with the same positive attitude, regardless of whether you’ve forgotten your log-in or want to discuss the development of a brand new feature.

We suppliers are humans, not super-humans. But the ones worth looking for are those who’ll try their absolute best to be so!

Established in 1997, Hireserve creates leading recruitment software. Trusted by customers across the world, including CERN, Global Radio and Cranfield University, Hireserve’s ATS is agile, intuitive and powerful.