Applicant Tracking Software – questions we wish our clients would ask

May 5th, 2015 | Industry News

When we sell applicant tracking software (ATS) to customers we spend a lot of time making sure they get exactly what they need – our combined decades in software development give us a lot of insight into what clients need from applicant tracking.

They always have questions about how our applicant tracking software will speed things up and the answer is twofold – first it’s an efficient system for finding evaluating and interviewing talent, second it improves the experience for candidates, making you a popular company to apply to. In the long term, ATS gives you a better profile as an organisation as well as a better chance of sourcing and bringing on board the best talent.

Then there are the questions we need to ask them:

• What are their current recruitment needs? How many people do they need to hire in a year – and what’s the balance between permanent recruitment and seasonal or market fluctuation recruitment. We can help organisations find the best level of software for them, with the option to access their ATS on the move, on mobile devices, wherever and whenever they need to.
• Then – how do they see that changing? What are their plans for the business and how will their dreams change their recruiting strategy and processes? We aim to understand how our clients work, so that as we design for the future, the future we’re designing for is theirs, as well as ours.
• Have they considered future proofing? Some businesses grow faster than even the most ambitious five year plan, some hit road-blocks they need to get round, some even get diverted from their original purpose when they hit on a new idea that changes the business plan. We ensure our software is scalable so that they can be self-sufficient, wherever their recruitment leads them.

Funnily enough, there are a few questions that we would love our clients to ask, but they rarely do. Maybe they think such questions would be silly, or that they aren’t important, but neither of those things are true – here are the three questions we wish everybody would ask of their provider before investing in an applicant tracking system for their business:

How easy is it?

Complicated software should be a contradiction in terms, but it’s not. Far too many software designers think that complicated = good. We don’t. We think simple = good, and we work hard to ensure our software is simple, intuitive, straightforward and easy. Isn’t recruitment complicated enough, without increasing the hard work with a layer of demanding, difficult software?

Will it make me look good?

Okay, it won’t take inches off your hips or deal with a beer belly, but Recruit So Simple has always believed that software should look good as well as do a good job. We make sure that the design is intuitive and the layout stunning, so that from the moment you sit down at the screen, you instinctively know how to use our system. From there it’s just a step to falling in love with our software and we’re sure you will … because you’re going to get on so well together!

What hidden costs are there?

This is the question that separates us from our competition. Because we have a one word answer. None. Or, if you prefer, a two word answer, absolutely none! Every feature is included in the price and we don’t expect you to pay for any additional features or upgrades. Not now, not ever.