16 essential applicant tracking system features

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The 15 most important applicant tracking system features

From automated reference checking to in-built tools designed to tackle unconscious bias in recruitment, here are the key features of applicant tracking system software to look for when choosing an ATS.

1. End-to-end candidate management

One of the most important ATS features to look for in your hiring software is full visibility and control of the entire recruitment process, from talent acquisition to onboarding and beyond. You don’t want to end up with a system that only provides support with half of the hiring process.

Talos ATS allows you to have full control at every stage of the candidate journey, from the moment you decide to create a job advert, right through to right to work checks and employment contracts. There are a lot of steps in between that, and our carefully designed applicant tracking system features will support you at every touchpoint.

Our autonomous hiring platform is fully visible and transparent at every step with detailed audit trails, so you can keep track of all applicants in Talos ATS, whether they’re progressing through the application process or you’re curating a talent pool.

2. Intelligent Talent Analytics

Hiring top talent is never easy, and the more ATS features you can use to your advantage, the better. Talent Analytics is the best AI-powered feature to assist hiring managers in hiring the talent they need by providing real-time talent insights. 

Providing key talent intelligence, talent pool overviews, diversity, equity and inclusion breakdowns, real-time salaries and predicted time to hire, talent analytics is one of the applicant tracking system features that truly gives you that competitive edge when hiring. 

Exclusively available in Talos ATS, this unique AI ATS feature provides you with all the insight you need to find the right fit for your business, first time.

3. AI-powered reporting insights

As recruitment becomes increasingly data-driven, organisations looking for the best applicant tracking features will often look to reporting functionality when reviewing hiring software. ATSs providing users with a detailed, flexible and insightful reporting feature will prove more beneficial and help to support a well-executed hiring strategy.

Talos ATS features a comprehensive AI reporting and dashboard feature allowing HR leaders and Hiring teams uncover data, deep dive on talent insights and accurately track all the important hiring metrics, including:

• Time to hire
• Cost per hire
• Applications by source
• Application rate

Perfect for enterprise organisations, Talos360’s reporting feature elevates traditional ATS reporting, providing reports on franchise, or location based success from one central dashboard, ensuring complete visibility.

4. Careers site builder 

With 50% of candidates valuing culture over salary, a career site is the perfect way to truly showcase your employer brand and show job seekers why they should join your organisation. Career site builders are one of the most useful applicant tracking system features used by large businesses that rely on career pages to attract candidates. 

Implementing a career site builder allows hiring managers and recruiters to effortlessly build a fast, attractive-looking site without the help of a developer. Talos ATS features a drag-and-drop site builder to provide a simple solution that even the biggest technophobe can understand. 

Here at Talos360, we find career sites to work best when they are used in conjunction with recruitment advertising to maximise applications from both direct and paid channels. 

5. Free job board postings

Some job boards charge companies a fee to advertise jobs, but others are free or offer a free option. However, some ATS systems charge a ‘posting’ fee on top of these advertising costs in order to send (ie ‘post’) your job adverts to the job sites. This means free boards aren’t so free anymore, adding a premium to your chosen paid job advertising sites. If you’re advertising a lot of job roles, then this additional multiposting fee can soon add up. Always check the fine print of any applicant tracking system features to avoid this hidden cost.

Talos ATS features free multi-postings to hundreds of job boards, including access to premium job sites. You’ll also get access to the Talos Attract network and our Recruitment Concierge services to help your organisation find the very best talent. This gives you the flexibility to choose the job advertising network you want, without having to worry about additional platform fees.

What’s more, our applicant tracking system features an easy-to-use AI job ad generator, which allows you to instantly create job adverts ready for posting to those boards, further speeding up your recruitment.

6. Unbiased recruitment features

It’s essential to look for an ATS that will support your organisation’s diversity and inclusion strategy. With Talos ATS’ unbiased recruitment features, applicants will progress if they meet specific scorecard criteria. The software also includes can also using CV redaction features to redact protected characteristics, encouraging recruiters to make unbiased decisions based purely on candidate skills and strength of application. 

It’s always important to manually check the candidates the ATS is putting forward to make sure you’re still sending a diverse mix of people through your recruitment process. Applicant tracking system features can support your D&I strategy, but the system’s decisions will need checking by humans to ensure they’re truly unbiased.

7. Candidate assessment tools

Seek out an applicant tracking system that will allow you to conduct pre-employment candidate assessments within the platform to save time, resources and money further down the hiring process. 

The cost of hiring someone who doesn’t work out can be significant, and candidate assessments can be a great way of checking that an individual has the skills and aptitude you need. Talos ATS features the option to ask candidates to undergo online psychometric tests and skills-based hiring tests to help with data-led shortlisting to give you even more confidence in your hiring decisions. 

Some hiring managers prefer to use these assessments rather than asking applicants to submit a CV to ensure only the strongest candidates are put forward for an interview. These key features of applicant tracking system software are another way to ensure an inclusive recruitment process and remove bias from your hiring decisions.

8. Automated candidate screening

Automated progression stages mean your strongest candidates are automatically picked out by the ATS, and progressed to the next hiring stage. This works by identifying applicants’ key skills, as well as assessing their answers to essential application questions. Talos ATS scores candidates based on their responses to various application questions – ranking them based on compatibility, and automatically progressing them to the appropriate hiring stage.

These key ATS features saves time for your HR team, making it easier to identify and engage the most suitable candidates. Screening is a crucial part of the hiring process; automated candidate progression makes it easier to filter through high volumes of applications.

9. SMS/Email automations

SMS/Email automation ensures all of your candidates receive a personalised response to their application. This protects your employer brand reputation, while ensuring candidates remain in the loop throughout their hiring journey.

Talos ATS features the ability to schedule personalised messages to be sent at specific hiring stages, such as:

• In receipt of application
• Interview booking confirmation
• Onboarding comms

This saves time for your HR team, meaning they can focus on engaging your most compatible candidates, and hiring the best new talent. Communication assistants are one of the best applicant tracking system features for increasing HR efficiency.

10. Video interviewing software

Video interviewing technology is next on our list of must-have application tracking system features. Virtual screening allows HR teams to streamline the hiring process further, as candidates can be interviewed without the need to book meeting rooms or incur travel expenses. 

The best applicant tracking systems now offer AI-powered features to help hiring managers plug artificial intelligence in recruitment processes and improve efficiency. Talos ATS provides interviewers with AI Interview Insights following virtual interviews, providing recordings, transcripts and insights to better inform hiring decisions. 

It is recruitment best practice to use these ATS features to check applicants are suitable before you meet them in person and make your processes more accessible and inclusive.

11. Automated reference & DBS checks

There are some applicant tracking system features that you won’t even realise you need until you’re in the middle of the recruitment process. This includes reference checks and background checks, including DBS checks for some roles, but the ability to check these automatically is built into Talos ATS. Not all systems include this functionality, meaning you’d have to step outside of the process to engage with other systems, so look for this as one of your key ATS features.

Talos ATS is integrated with Zinc background checking software and TrustID Right to Work checks for automated reference checking and background screening. Carry out, review and store candidate checks from your ATS for a seamless, fully transparent process.

12. Seamless HR system integration

Look for an ATS that will integrate with your existing HRIS systems and software for a seamless transition. Always make sure that applicant tracking system features can be used alongside your current tech and processes to avoid disruption and unexpected additional costs. 

Talos ATS will integrate with your existing HR systems, including payroll, making the hiring process even more streamlined.

13. Employee onboarding support

Not every applicant tracking system features onboarding support that continues once a contract has been signed, but Talos ATS includes employee onboarding tech that extends into a hire’s first few weeks with your organisation. We also have a new employee onboarding checklist to support your hires in their first few weeks.

Our employee onboarding microsites let you engage with new hires after they’ve signed their contract by making them feel like they are part of the culture straight away, which can help improve staff retention. These Talos ATS features are designed for both remote and in-person employees. 

14. Automated data entry

Data entry is one of the most grueling tasks in HR. This is why automated data collection has become a popular feature across Applicant Tracking Systems in recent years.

Candidate information is automatically uploaded into your ATS as soon as they submit an application. This saves time for your HR team, while ensuring no applicants are allowed to slip through the net.

15. Dedicated account manager 

When you choose Talos as your ATS provider, you’ll have access to a dedicated account manager, so there’ll always be a friendly face on hand to help with any queries. They’ll spend time getting to know your organisation’s needs and how you use the ATS, rather than passing you from pillar to post each time you have a question.

You’ll also get access to tons of online resources to help you continue to get the most out of the different applicant tracking system features as new ones are added, and to help you benefit from the platform’s full potential. Talos360 also offers regular training and product webinars, so you can see live demos of features in action.

16. Free ATS demo

Last on our list, but one of the most important applicant tracking system features of all, look for an ATS that offers a free applicant tracking system demo so you can see if it’s the right system for you. 

It’s essential to spend time getting to know the specific ATS features to find out if they meet your needs before you invest in a platform, so avoid providers that don’t offer this opportunity.

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Introducing…

Talos ATS: Our intuitive hiring software

Our applicant tracking system features are designed to transform the end-to-end hiring process for organisations of all sizes for more intuitive, efficient and transparent recruitment. Save time and resources, and find the right talent faster with Talos ATS.

Talos ATS features include:

• Easy-to-use applicant tracking system
• Multi-platform job-poster
• Recruitment advertising suite
• ‘Easy apply’ applicant forms
• Automated progression of your strongest applicants
• Video interviewing technology
• Electronic contract signing
• Reference checks, including background, DBS and Right to Work checks

Start experiencing our applicant tracking system features and transform your hiring today.