ATS vs CRM: everything you need to know

• An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a type of hiring software that’s used to track candidates throughout the recruitment process. Meanwhile, a candidate relationship management (CRM) platform is essentially a candidate database, used by hirers to match suitable applicants with the right vacancies
• An applicant tracking system, such as Talos ATS, minimises a company’s reliance on external agencies to recruit top talent, while reducing recruitment costs and hiring admin. ATS features vary depending on the individual system, with Talos360’s award-winning platform featuring a multi-jobs board poster, careers site builder, video interviewing software, automated reference checking, and onboarding support
• CRM software is used by hirers to engage and communicate with candidates, build talent pool databases, and measure the success of individual recruitment campaigns
• Companies can benefit from using both an ATS and a CRM to gain more detailed insights into candidate data to drive better-informed recruitment decisions

Today, more than ever, recruitment CRM (candidate relationship management) software has a role to play in almost every business. In this article, we outline what a recruitment CRM is, what recruitment CRM software is used for, and the difference between CRM and ATS software.

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What is an ATS?

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is hiring software used by 97% of fortune 500 companies, helping internal recruitment teams, hiring managers and talent acquisition specialists to help attract, manage, hire and onboard new talent. 

Often a necessity for organisations with over 500 employees, an ATS removes the reliance on external recruitment agencies while helping to reduce hiring costs, offload hiring admin and improve the quality of candidates.

Applicant tracking systems have many features that help recruiters improve their recruitment process. Available applicant tracking system features will differ depending on the system, which makes choosing an ATS such a challenge for businesses.

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What is a CRM for recruiting?

A recruitment CRM (candidate relationship management) is a platform which allows recruiters to manage candidate data, progression, and contact throughout the hiring process. 

The advantages of CRM recruiting software are as follows:

• Speeding up your hiring process
• Improving the candidate journey
• Reducing time/cost to hire
• Promoting new-starter retention

As an HR professional, we don’t have to tell you how important it is to provide a world-class candidate journey. You’ll know that a positive candidate experience keeps candidates engaged and interested in your business. So, it’s well within your interests to keep the candidate journey as polished as it possibly can be. That’s where a recruitment CRM comes in. 

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What is recruitment CRM software?

Recruitment CRM software is a type of candidate relationship management software used by employers, hiring managers and talent acquisition specialists to improve their recruitment process and candidate engagement.

Often confused with an applicant tracking system (ATS) recruitment CRM software is typically a standalone system that is often integrated with applicant tracking systems. 

With the right candidate relationship management software, talent acquisition professionals can:

• Engage candidates
• Build and populate engaging career sites
• Communicate directly with candidates
• Accurately measure the success of their hiring campaigns

Businesses can adopt recruitment CRM software into their recruitment processes to nurture candidates, both active and passive, and build talent databases full of qualified applicants interested in working for your business.

Recruitment CRM software essentially makes a hiring manager’s life a breeze in the future. With candidate relationship management systems, recruiters can effectively re-engage past and passive candidates for future hiring campaigns, considerably reducing hiring costs and reliance on external recruitment agencies.

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What is a recruitment CRM used for?

The main function of a recruitment CRM is to help employers match suitable candidates with open vacancies as quickly and effectively as possible. Essentially a database for all your existing, past and potential candidates, a recruitment CRM system helps hirers to identify, manage and communicate with talent.

Employers use candidate relationship management systems to keep their talent pools ‘warm’, engage with potential passive candidates and effectively source candidates when new roles become available.

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What is the difference between CRM and ATS?

A CRM is solely focused on managing candidates and building a relationship between candidates and an organisation. In contrast, an ATS focuses more on the recruitment process, helping businesses manage and control the entire recruitment journey, from attracting candidates to onboarding new hires successfully. 

While an ATS is primarily used to streamline and manage the recruitment process, the best applicant tracking systems have certain features found in a CRM. Advanced ATS software allows users to build their own talent pools, automate communications with candidates and report on the demographics and quality of candidates within the system. 

Investing in an applicant tracking system that can perform all the tasks of a CRM is crucial, as this will not only improve your chances of hiring the best talent but also help to improve your recruitment process in the future.

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How do I know if I need recruitment CRM or ATS software?

If you’re asking yourself whether you need to implement a recruitment CRM or ATS, chances are the answer is yes. While we don’t have an exact list of requirements for investing in recruiting CRM, there are signs that you could benefit from implementing ATS or CRM software.

1. Struggling to engage candidates

Are you struggling to maintain contact with your applicants? Are you experiencing an unusually high number of candidate dropouts? If you’re nodding away to the above, it could be something as simple as your engagement, which is putting your candidates off.

With a recruitment CRM or ATS in place, you can automate communications and maintain relationships to ensure your candidates are kept in the loop.

2. Using outdated hiring processes

As great as spreadsheets are, we wouldn’t recommend using them to manage your candidates. In fact, we’d say spreadsheets and recruitment rarely go hand in hand. So, if you’re finding that the spreadsheets aren’t quite cutting it anymore, recruitment software should certainly be your next investment.

3. Over-relying on external agencies

Are recruitment agencies your main source of qualified talent? We know just how expensive recruitment agencies can be and how frustrating it is to rely on agencies each time you want to hire.

For most organisations, having other, less expensive streams of qualified talent is crucial. With a recruitment CRM or applicant tracking system in place, you can build your own talent database, which is full of capable candidates for you to engage.  

4. Spending too much time attracting talent 

How is your average time to hire? Is it over the national average? The longer your recruitment process takes, the less interested your candidates will be, and the longer you’ll go with an empty seat.

With built-in automations, recruitment candidate relationship management systems can help speed up those painfully slow hiring tasks we’ve all grown to hate.

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Benefits of using a recruitment CRM or ATS

1. Enhanced candidate experience 

With the right candidate relationship management system in place, businesses can effortlessly improve their candidate engagement and experience. With automated candidate SMS messages and personalised emails, recruiters can quickly and efficiently communicate with candidates, tracking their progress, scheduling follow-ups or alerting passive candidates of new job opportunities. 

2. Improve productivity 

As a recruitment professional, you know just how long it takes to communicate with candidates. It can take hours if done manually, and in today’s job market, that simply isn’t good enough. In the UK, 9 in 10 candidates expect employers to reach out within the first two weeks of a job application. If you’re taking too long, you’re going to miss out on a lot of talent.

With a recruitment CRM or ATS system in place, you can forget about individual emails and enjoy automated candidate communications. That means less time spent writing individual emails and more time finding that perfect candidate. 

3. Streamlined communication 

If you don’t have candidate relationship management software in place, how long does it take you to get back to candidates? We imagine it’s a considerable amount of time – maybe it’s that long you don’t really want to answer. It’s okay, we won’t make you…

But we do know how difficult it can be to find the time. With an ATS or CRM, hiring managers receive real-time updates, so they never miss a message, email, or update on their progress through your journey. 

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Challenges associated with recruitment CRM software

1. Initial costs

Like with any good business software, a recruitment CRM system will be a considerable investment. Unfortunately, these systems don’t come cheap. From the licence to the implementation to any additional training you might have to complete, purchasing recruitment CRM software will set you back. 

2. Training requirements 

No two recruitment CRMs are the same. Each piece of software will have its own unique features, different processes and a whole different look. Even if you are experienced with recruitment CRM software, you’ll require some sort of training to effectively use your new shiny piece of kit, and this training will undoubtedly take time. 

3. Over-reliance on automations

We’re always told that automation is the way forward. Without it, you’re wasting valuable time. But can automations actually hinder your relationship with candidates?

Many recruitment CRM systems have an automated communication feature, which can be great when used correctly. But when misused, automated communication can come across as insincere, dull, and void of any personality. Harsh, we know, but repetitive robotic messages aren’t going to engage your current or passive candidates.

How will a recruitment CRM or ATS help my company?

A recruitment CRM or ATS will help your company in a number of ways, including:

1. Speed up your hiring process

The efficient processes provided by recruitment platforms allow for speed and efficiency in your hiring process. This is achieved by automating certain processes, such as data input and applicant screening, as well as allowing for quick and easy filtering of data.

2. Improve your candidate journey

Candidate experience is a crucial factor in recruitment; the smoother and more engaging their hiring journey, the more likely people are to want to join your team. Recruitment CRMs allow you to maintain regular, quality contact with individual applicants, as well as progressing them through the process in a timely manner.

3. Reduce time/cost to hire

A recruitment CRM can be effective in dramatically reducing your time/cost to hire. By keeping candidates in the loop, you are able to stay ahead of the competition – decreasing applicant turnover, and thus reducing talent attraction costs. 

Time to hire is reduced by promoting efficiency in the hiring journey. This allows your HR team to process applications, screening, and interviews quicker than ever. 

4. Promote new starter retention

A strong candidate journey and onboarding process are powerful assets in promoting new starter retention. The first six months are crucial for keeping new employees engaged; a smooth, enjoyable hiring and new employee onboarding process goes a long way in achieving this. Both of these factors are promoted heavily by utilising a recruitment ATS or CRM.

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What is the best recruitment CRM?

There are a number of different recruitment platforms available to employers. Each has its own unique features and benefits – helping HR professionals deliver a well-organised, efficient recruitment strategy. 

1. Applicant tracking system

Applicant tracking software is arguably the most popular form of recruitment CRM. An ATS allows recruiters to track candidates through every stage of the hiring process, while storing data in a secure and accessible manner. This promotes high-quality contact, quicker screening/progression of candidates, and well-informed, data-driven hiring decisions.

2. Video interview software

Video interview software has become increasingly popular over the past few years. With the rise of remote recruitment, it has allowed employers to engage candidates from any distance. 

The software helps to promote efficiency in virtual recruitment, and also helps to speed up processing/booking of interviews. This promotes flexibility for both candidates and hiring managers, helping them achieve a strong, enjoyable hiring journey.

3. Recruitment advertising suite

Recruitment advertising platforms are a powerful tool for attracting top talent, while cutting hiring costs. They allow employers to post, track, and amend hiring campaigns for maximum reach, while promoting cost-efficiency. These systems give users access to a variety of job boards and social platforms, making advertising easier to navigate.

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Must-have CRM or ATS features

We know just how difficult choosing the right hiring software can be. So, if you are on the lookout for a new recruitment CRM or ATS, here are some of our top features you should keep an eye out for. 

1. Talent pools

An essential feature for any candidate relationship management system, talent pools allow you to build and populate databases of qualified talent ready for you to engage, helping you hire quicker and reduce reliance on external agencies. 

2. Reporting and analytics 

Struggling to gauge how successful your candidates really are? With the right reporting in place, you can effectively analyse the quality of your talent, their level of engagement and their suitability for future roles. 

3. Automated communications 

In the world of HR, time is precious. Choosing a recruitment CRM with automated communications is the best way to save those all-important hours.

4. AI capabilities 

AI in recruitment is here and it’s not going anywhere. With so many AI tools becoming available to HR, make sure your next CRM or ATS software has AI capabilities to help you improve your candidate management. 

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Introducing…

Talos ATS: All the best tools in one place

Want an easier way to speed up your hiring process? Talos ATS is the answer!

Talos ATS is an all-in-one hiring solution for in-house recruitment, giving you all the tools of recruitment CRM software and more, so you can achieve fast and effective hiring.

The next-generation ATS allows for a cost-effective, streamlined approach to attracting, managing, and hiring the best talent.

Talos ATS includes:

• Intuitive Applicant Tracking Suite 
• Candidate relationship management 
• Video screening/interviewing platform 
• Automated SMS/email communication 
• Recruitment advertising management 
• Job-posting tools across multiple platforms 

Discover our quick and easy recruiting software: