Overview

An Applicant Tracking System or ATS is a human resource (HR) software package that automates the hiring process. It helps HR teams manage every part of recruitment from job posting to onboarding, and can help solve many recruitment challenges. The ATS can:

• Store job candidate information, including resumés, cover letters, references, and other recruitment and hiring data that HR teams can easily access and organize.
• Track job candidates and their application status throughout the hiring pipeline.
• Weed out unqualified candidates and recommend the best fit for a position based on parameters set by HR. Only those on the shortlist are moved to the next stage of the hiring process.
• Automate 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% of Fortune 500 companies use ATS. 

ATS software is generally viewed as helping employers 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 particular jobs 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 help 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, there are questions about 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 the 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,  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.

Resources

Cartwright, S. (n.d.). ATS Explained: How Resume Screening Software Works. Off the Clock Resumes LLC

Indeed Editorial Team. (2025, June 9). 18 tips to pass automated screening resume software. Indeed.

Ruiz, J. L. (2024, December 18). Artificial intelligence in recruitment: ethical challenges. Smowltech

van der Weegen, T. (n.d.) Addressing Bias and Fairness in AI-Driven Hiring Practices. Horton International