Here, Alibha Priyadarshini from CEIPAL, shares a few entry-level tips for HR and Talent Aquisition teams when looking to buy an ATS
Recruiting new employees is not cheap. The total amount spent on hiring a new employee starts when you post a job requirement and includes finding qualified candidates, onboarding the candidates, and even encompasses training costs as well. Having so much at stake, finding a Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that supports your hiring goals is extremely crucial in today’s talent-driven market.
How much does an ATS cost?
For large enterprises, it is almost a mandate to deploy an ATS to carry out hefty recruitment processes and it is still a yay-nay situation for SMBs to invest a large amount of money in software. The cost of an ATS roll out runs from a couple of hundred dollars to a lump sum of thousands. The reason is that each organization has its recruitment pain point that needs to be solved. ATS on the other hand come with a variety of point solutions stacked together to provide a wholesome end-to-end solution to automate the entire recruitment process.
ATS pricing varies by vendors most are-
- Flat Rate
- Pay-Per-User(Recruiter)
- Pay-Per-Module
- Pay-Per-Job
However, if we consider a pay-per-use model, the total cost of a SaaS-based ATS includes-
Total Cost of an ATS = User license fee + Server fee + Maintenance costs + Additional job boards costs + AddOns/Customization fee + Implementation charges
Things to ask before you make the decision
During your hunt for the perfect recruitment software, you might spend endless hours on ATS demos, reading reviews of each product on third-party sites, research for industry standards, and also looking at analysis from ATS users often still left stuck on how to choose an ATS that suits your business? Here are a couple of things that you should ask before spending the hefty amount of money-
- Does the ATS solve your business’ unique problems?
- Is the ATS compatible with your organizational structure and size?
- Do you need support and training once the ATS is purchased?
- Most importantly, does the ATS align with your budget?
- Does the ATS provider offer the necessary customization that you are looking for?
- What is the implementation time frame?
5 Must-have Applicant Tracking System Features
- Candidate Sourcing and Talent Pipeline- Candidate sourcing is the top reason every staffing and HR professional wants to shop for an ATS. A good ATS allows recruiters to automatically pull candidates from multiple sources and rank them according to best fit.
- Database Management– Traditional methods of maintaining excel sheets are extremely burdening and outdated for hiring professionals. A good ATS allows a seamless flow of data and stores vast amounts of information about candidates, and vendors and segregates them into buckets of information according to the data type of the candidate’s level in the application process.
- Integrations- One of the reasons a lot of ATS in the market fail is due to lack of compatibility with the existing business model. Most ATSs in the market provide integrations with job boards, productivity apps, messaging apps, interview tools, assessment platforms, etc.
- User Experience- The goal of every ATS is to increase recruiter’s productivity and enable them to make better informed hiring decisions and fasten the acquisition process. With a better user experience, recruiters do not lose interest in their everyday mundane tasks.
- Career Site– A decent career site is a must for every organization’s employer branding as well as to attract candidates to the career pages. It is one of the easiest ways to convert active candidates into successful employees.
Final Note!
Applicant Tracking Systems are cloud-based software solutions with a lot of data migration, data security and compliance at all stages of the system. With many factors to keep in mind, buying an ATS or shifting from one ATS to another is a big change for every organization.
