An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is one of, if not the most important talent acquisition solutions available to HR professionals. How do we know? 99% of Fortune 500 companies use ATS software, and 94% of recruiters agree that an ATS has positively impacted their organization’s hiring process.
Despite this, many of the companies using this HR technology find their ATS falls short of their needs due to problems like missing key features, poor integrations, limited scalability, or poor support. That said, the pros of a well-planned switch to a new ATS well outweigh the cons.
The best applicant tracking system can transform your recruiting process, reduce your time-to-hire, increase candidate engagement, and give your team the tools and solutions to work more efficiently in less than a week. When done thoughtfully, a new ATS can be a game-changer for staying competitive in searching for, tracking, and assessing qualified candidates.
Keep reading to learn more about what to consider and look for when researching and selecting a new Applicant Tracking System.
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Switching Your ATS: Transition and Timeline
Key Takeaways
- Identify ATS Pain Points: Before selecting a new ATS, assess the limitations of your current applicant tracking software, such as workflow inefficiencies, poor integrations, or lack of scalability. This will help you prioritize key features and ensure your new ATS meets your specific needs.
- Create a Detailed Transition Plan: Switching ATS platforms requires careful planning. Developing a clear transition timeline, engaging stakeholders early, mapping out workflows, and ensuring thorough training for your team will ensure a smooth transition without disrupting your recruitment process.
- Measuring Success: The transition process doesn’t end once you’ve switched your software. Track the impact of your new ATS using key metrics like time-to-fill, candidate engagement, and hiring manager satisfaction. Monitoring these metrics helps businesses demonstrate ROI and refine their hiring processes for continuous improvement.
Identifying ATS Problems: What To Look For
Did you know that according to a SHRM report, 40% of organizations are dissatisfied with their current ATS? Don’t be one of those people. Contact Spark Hire today to learn more about the Spark Hire difference.
Before you choose your new ATS, you need to pinpoint exactly where your current ATS is falling short. We suggest drafting a list of three to five core ATS issues you and your team are running into. This can include questions such as:
- Are the workflows too challenging?
- Is it hard to integrate it with other tools in your tech stack?
- Are you worried about the impact on your candidate experience?
Businesses can prioritize the unique features and support you’ll need by identifying your primary pain points. It’s also important to ask your talent acquisition team about their biggest concerns, and if they seem to align with yours, it’s time to make a switch.
Can switching to a new ATS feel overwhelming? Of course.
You could run into common issues such as time investment, the risk of losing critical data during migration, retraining your entire team, and getting buy-in from hiring managers who may be resistant to change. These fears are very valid but a well-designed ATS, like Spark Hire’s, will make the process seamless.
Further, a great Applicant Tracking System, and the right one for your business, will help with planning your data migration, tailoring your training programs, and generally have a user–friendly interface to minimize disruptions and empower your team to embrace it as quickly as possible.
Did you know that the resume black hole, or applicant black hole, phenomenon, where job seekers submit applications on a job board but never hear back, is a common issue teams face with their ATS? 26.4% of job seekers say their most pressing challenge when applying for jobs is not hearing back from employers.
Set Clear Expectations For Pricing and Budget
Switching to a new ATS could involve both upfront costs, such as your initial purchase price, and/or ongoing costs, including monthly subscriptions or upgrades. Look for companies with clear and accessible pricing plans, which will protect your overall expenses and help you avoid any hidden fees. Avoid companies who keep their pricing plans or tiers behind a form or “demo-wall”.
Some Applicant Tracking Systems come with additional fees for integrations and support, whereas a trustworthy ATS will provide you with a clear breakdown of their partner integrations when demoing their solution.
As an example, check out our pricing page to learn more about Spark Hire’s pricing plans.
Did you know that when looking for a new ATS, you should choose one that offers tiered or customizable pricing options? That way, you can add or remove features over time based on your changing needs and budget.
Building an ATS Timeline and Transition Strategy
Switching to a new ATS requires a carefully planned timeline and transition strategy. This includes everything from engaging with internal stakeholders early and coordinating data migration to testing and training employees, ensuring a seamless switch without disrupting your recruitment process.
The ideal time to purchase a new ATS will depend on the size of your organization and can vary from a few weeks (for smaller companies of 50 or less) to 4 – 6 months for larger companies (more than 500 employees).
Thus, the two most impactful factors that will affect your ATS transition include the size of your team and how long you’ve integrated with your previous ATS.
Complete the short form below to download Spark Hire’s step-by-step transition timeline template, which will guide you through building a custom ATS transition timeline based on your organization’s size and type.
Download this ATS Transition Timeline Template
Did you know that Spark Hire’s ATS comes with pre-built templates for hiring workflows to help businesses reduce setup time and keep your team focused on recruiting the most qualified candidate?
Team Training And Technical Support
No ATS transition can be truly successful without comprehensive, well-planned training for the teams or team members expected to use it. Reliable ATS providers, such as ours, offer onboarding and training sessions that go beyond explaining basic functionality.
Training sessions with Spark Hire’s team are tailored to your organization’s unique workflows and needs, covering everything from system configuration to advanced features, ensuring your team has the strongest foundation.
Training should also extend beyond recruiters, ensuring your hiring managers are equipped with the skills and insights they need to fully adopt the system and maximize its potential to ensure collaborative hiring success.
To complement the support and vendor-led training, establish an internal training program by selecting champions who can lead efforts and provide ongoing guidance throughout adoption. Set up role-specific training sessions for different user groups within your organization delivered through a mix of live sessions, recorded tutorials, and hands-on workshops.
Ongoing support is also just as critical as training. When planning your training sessions, set up clear communication channels between your user groups and your new ATS, such as email or in-app chats, to resolve user issues quickly.
Set your team up for success by providing them with self-service tools like your new ATS knowledge base, troubleshooting guides, and FAQs to empower them to find solutions independently.
Did you know Spark Hire offers 24/7 support, 365 days a year to help you and your team at every stage of your hiring process?
Measuring the Impact of Your New Applicant Tracking System
The success of your ATS transition doesn’t end at go-live; it’s measured by how effectively your recruiting team uses the system to improve hiring outcomes over time.
Start by defining clear metrics for success to track monthly, quarterly, and bi-annually. Here are 3 key sectors and their sub-metrics that leading teams use to measure the success of their ATS:
Hiring Metrics | User Metrics | Candidate Experience Metrics |
Time-to-Fill: The duration between job posting and candidate acceptance. | Job Posting-Frequency: The rate at which new job openings are created and posted through the ATS. | Application Abandonment: Up to 30% of potential candidates abandon the job application process due to frustration with complicated interfaces or lack of candidate communication. |
Time-to-Hire: The time from a job application submission to onboarding. | Data Completeness: The thoroughness of candidate data entered into the system. | Impact on Company Reputation: 72% of job seekers share their negative experiences with others, affecting an organization’s reputation and ability to attract top talent. |
Candidate Conversion Rate: The ratio of applicants progressing to the interview stage. | Workflow Adherence: How closely hiring team members follow established ATS processes. | Impact on Quality Hiring: 68% of recruiters or HR professionals believe that enhancing candidate engagement significantly improves the quality of hires |
Offer Acceptance Rate: Percentage of job offers accepted by candidates. | Hiring Manager Satisfaction: Feedback from hiring managers on the ATS-driven recruitment process. | Impact on Acceptance Rates: Companies with a positive candidate experience see a 70% increase in the acceptance rate of job offers. |
The ROI of your new ATS should be monitored closely, tracking cost savings from reduced manual tasks, improved hiring efficiencies, and faster time-to-fill metrics. By comparing these gains against the cost of implementing and maintaining the ATS, you can demonstrate the value of said ATS to your stakeholders.
Did you know that recent studies indicate having an effective ATS in place can decrease the average hiring cycle by as much as 60%?
Begin Your ATS Transition Journey Today
Switching your ATS isn’t just a process, it’s a game-changer for how your organization attracts and hires top talent. With a well-planned transition strategy, the ROI can be transformative to your organization.
Further, the right ATS doesn’t just support your hiring – it elevates it. Spark Hire’s ATS is designed to make the switch effortless, with pre-built templates, tailored training, and around-the-clock support to ensure success at every step.
Don’t let your team settle for “good enough”. Schedule a demo with Spark Hire today and provide your team with the tools they need, and deserve, to hit the ground running.
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