Automated Screening for Hiring Processes / Applicant Tracking System

Overview

An Applicant Tracking System or ATS is an all-in-one human resource software that automates the hiring process. It helps HR teams efficiently manage every part of recruitment (from job posting to onboarding), and solves recruiters’ challenges and pain points. Specifically, the ATS:

• Stores job candidate information, including resumés, cover letters, references, and other recruitment and hiring data that HR teams can easily access and organize.
• Tracks job candidates and their application status throughout the hiring pipeline.
• Weeds out unqualified candidates and recommends the best fit for a position based on the parameters set by HR. Only those on the shortlist are moved to the next stage of the hiring process.
• Automates time-consuming administrative tasks such as manually screening applicants, reading resumés, scheduling interviews, and sending notifications and emails to job candidates and employees.

With the advent of online job postings and the ability to submit applications through emails, online portals, or another digital methods, companies can receive hundreds—even thousands—of applications for each opening. This has fueled the rapid development of ATS. According to Jobscan, 99 percent of Fortune 500 companies use ATS. 

ATS software helps recruiters and HR professionals find qualified candidates more quickly. ATS software categorizes resumés into different sections such as work experience, skills, education, and contact information. The software also searches for specific keywords and phrases that relate to the job and the company’s requirements. 

Some software services rank applicants against other applicants and give recruiters and HR teams a match rate based on keywords and other criteria set by the recruiter. Artificial intelligence (AI) may be used to identify where these keywords are located in a resumé to determine the applicant’s level of experience in certain areas. AI also may be used to calculate years of experience and even recommend other open jobs within the company that may be a better match for the applicant.

In response to this recent development in job recruiting, many companies are marketing services to helping job seekers with resumé writing to optimize job matching and hits on platforms such as LinkedIn. 

As employers increase their use of automated resumé screening,  many question the ethics of these processes, wondering whether good candidates are being screened out of consideration. Some employers have turned to blind searches—eliminating  name, gender, age, and the name of higher education institution attended (to eliminate the prestige factor)—in an effort to reduce potential bias in the screening process.

Alternative Terms

Applicant tracking system

Resumé scanner

AI-assisted hiring 

AI resumé screening

Job search bots

Relationship to the Ecosystem

Employer hiring practices influence how the demand for and supply of skills are matched in the labor market. Changes in hiring requirements and practices can either expand or restrict access to good jobs for individuals, thus raising issues related to equity. With the advancement of technology, services have proliferated that scan candidates’ resumés prior to submittal and offer suggestions for including keywords that employers’ digital screeners often search for to identify qualified candidates.

Examples

• Humanly bridges automated chat interactions and AI-powered virtual interview analytics for high-volume hiring and retention. It uses virtual interview analytics to uncover the data needed to understand if a company’s hiring team conducts equitable and consistent interviews, at scale.
• Hire’s platform combines advanced video interview software, pre-hire assessments, predictive analytics, and validated AI in one ready-to-implement solution for hiring. It is meant to assist recruiters (with candidate self-scheduling, on-demand interactions, structured interviews, and automated scoring), candidates (by helping themdecide when they want to engage and allowing them to showcase job-relevant skills), and hiring managers (by giving them tools proven to reduce hiring bias).
• Capterra offers a Resumé Scanning Software – Review Leading Systems which compares and rates product features to enable employers to find the best software for their needs. They rate software by the following services:  Deployment; CRM (customer relationship management); Internal HR; Onboarding; Recruiting Firms; Resume Parsing; and Self Service Portal.

References

Cartwright, S. C. (2021, October 15). ATS Explained: How Resume Screening Software Works. Off the Clock Resumes LLC | Resumes, LinkedIn Profiles, & Job Search Plans. https://www.offtheclockresumes.com/blog/ats-explained-how-resume-screening-software-works

Indeed Editorial Team. (2022, July 7). 18 tips to pass automated screening resume software. Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/automated-screening-resume#:~:text=Automated%2520screening%2520for%2520resumes%2520%2528ATS%2529%2520is%2520a%2520type,ATS%2520programs%2520categorize%2520your%2520resume%2520into%2520different%2520sections