Meta description: Find out what are the advantages and disadvantages of an applicant tracking system and how AI technology is a new era in the search for top talent.

In more and more HR departments, part of the selection of applicants is carried out using software tools (so-called “applicant tracking system”). This is partly using algorithms and automation, and partly also using approaches from artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The software combes through the resumes of the applicants and draws appropriate conclusions.

In particular, large corporations from SAP to BMW to Adidas work with such tools for pre-selection – because they are said to receive several hundred thousand applications every year, which they have to process and would not be able to do without the software.

The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) compare the requirements of the advertisement with the data set submitted by the applicant. And in many cases, it also scans the applicants stored in the database using requirement profiles.

This has disadvantages, especially for career changers who cannot fill the profile precisely enough – and it means that they are not even invited to an interview, despite a possibly interesting resume.

Why Do Applications Run Via Applicant Tracking System?

99% of Fortune 500 companies are currently using ATS. The Applicant Tracking System saves companies time and money.

Because where a person used to have to look through each application folder by hand, the software can search for individual terms in no time at all.

The pre-sorting reduces the number of applicants and the remaining applicants can be ranked according to compatibility, automatically invited to an interview or at least processed more quickly by human HR managers.

Large companies and corporations in particular use applicant tracking system to deal with the flood of applications. On the company side, the advantages are understandable.

However, things can get frustrating on the part of applicants when it becomes known that their application has been filtered via ATS software. Because ATS acts like a bouncer. And if you can’t get past the bouncer, you’re not allowed into the club.

It’s similarly devastating when it comes to applications: Anyone who can’t get past ATS has no chance of introducing themselves personally. Even minor inconsistencies can lead to sorting out.

Unease and skepticism about the use of ATS in personnel selection are not entirely unfounded. The technology is increasingly a “black box” for outsiders, data for ATS is scarce and programmers can “build” prejudices into the system.

Even more, a Harvard Business Review study revealed that 88 percent of recruiters felt that qualified candidates were ignored by an ATS because they “did not match the exact criteria established by the job description.”

Can AI Be the Solution

The problem is well known: companies nowadays find it extremely difficult to find suitable and qualified applicants for a position and therefore rely on active sourcing or social media recruiting.

Classic job advertisements that are published online in various job exchanges only have a limited reach and do not always find their way to the intended target group.

The technology of active sourcing supported by AI, on the other hand, delivers job offers online exactly where the sought-after candidates are located. And this is at the time when the candidate is likely to be interested in the topic of the advertisement.

The software finds top-talent candidates and addresses them. The tool learns independently and optimizes the use of media. This makes an effective and efficient search for personnel possible.

The HR manager only defines the criteria they are looking for in advance. Incidentally, the principle of AI job advertising comes from the field of online advertising.

Matching Applicants and Companies

Another application of AI recruitment tool can be found in the comparison of the job requirements and the profile of the applicant.

Intelligent matching tools, for example, match an applicant’s profile with suitable job offers from companies to create the perfect fit.

Applicant tracking system, on the other hand, rely only on keywords and pre-determined criteria when matchmaking.

The applicant simply puts their profile on the Internet and states that they are interested in offers that match his profile. The recruiter only becomes active when they have received an application generated in this way.

The more data the software has available with increasing use, the better the matching result will be.

The HR manager only enters the requirements for the employee into the system and the artificial intelligence does the rest, i.e. it screens the users for these requirements and continuously makes suggestions for suitable applicants.

Pre-sorting of applications

Finally, artificial intelligence makes it possible in the application process to transfer the evaluation of applicant profiles to an algorithm.

Where HR managers used to go through each application folder by hand, thanks to artificial intelligence, more and more companies are now pre-sorting applications based on their suitability for the advertised position.

The algorithm can assess skills and resumes and even conduct initial interviews and evaluate assessments as the process progresses. We can just imagine what the future holds.