3 Major Drawbacks of Applicant Tracking Systems

Applicant Tracking System

Since the introduction of the applicant tracking systems, the entire process of recruitment has undergone a drastic change. Gone are the days when human resource professionals would sit a sift through stacks of resume and pick up a few. Now, automation has intervened and has made the recruitment process much easier.

What is an Applicant Tracking System?

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a software application that enables the electronic handling of the recruitment process. An ATS can be implemented or accessed online, depending upon the need of the organization.

Almost all recruitment agencies and most major corporations with an in-house recruitment function use some form of applicant tracking system to handle job postings, applicants, resumes, interviews. A dedicated ATS is not uncommon for recruitment specific needs. On the enterprise level it may be offered as a module or functional addition to a human resources suite or Human Resource Information System (HRIS). The ATS is expanding into small and medium enterprises through open source or software as a service offerings (SaaS).

Needless to say that the applicant tracking systems have immense benefits for an organization. Right from saving time to finding out the best job candidate, recruiters can do a great deal with ATSs.

3 Major Drawbacks of Applicant Tracking Systems

However, this has a flipside as well. Yes. Not all is hunky-dory about ATSs. ATSs have their own drawbacks as well. Some of the drawbacks are explained in the paragraphs below:

#1. Miss out on potentially great candidates

The biggest drawback of an applicant tracking systems is the fact that there are ample chances of missing out on potentially great candidates. No matter how scientific the overall process of an ATS may be, often times it happens that, it misses out on potentially great candidates. ATSs are designed to look for CVs and applications that meet the exact requirements of the position advertised. Whilst this may not sound like a bad thing, it often means that candidates that could have valuable experience, yet are switching careers and therefore have a varied CV, do not even get considered for the role.

#2. ATSs can be sometimes unreliable and inaccurate

Well, yes. ATSs can be sometimes inaccurate. For example, ATSs can often reject good resumes for invalid reasons, such as the scanner not being able to read it properly. On the other hand, if a resume is little more complicated than the usual style, then also the ATS might not be able to read it up. Needless to say that, this way, chances are that, the ATS misses out on good job candidates. This is not only unfair to the candidate but also unproductive for the business as well.

#3. End up eliminating good job candidates

Another major drawback of an ATS is that, it can often end up eliminating good job candidates from the system. This implies that, such a move will not only be harmful for the job candidates but also of huge loss to the business who will end up losing out on potential talent.

The Final Words

Just as everything has its pros and cons, so does an applicant tracking system. While, it goes without saying that, there are numerous benefits of the software, there are a few drawbacks as well. We have just elucidated them in the above paragraphs.

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