What is an ATS system, and which type fits your recruitment?

What exactly do we mean by an ATS?

ATS stands for applicant tracking system. In everyday language you'll hear terms like recruitment tracking system, hiring software or recruitment software. All these words refer to software that supports you in managing candidates and vacancies.

With an ATS you track exactly where each candidate is in the process. Think of stages such as 'applied', 'invited', 'interviewed' and 'hired or rejected'. Everything is stored centrally: documents, notes, status updates and scheduled actions.

The system doesn't primarily act as a source of candidates. For that you use job boards and channels such as LinkedIn. The ATS mainly supports you with admin, communication and collaboration with colleagues or clients.

How does an ATS help with your day-to-day recruitment work?

An ATS helps you work faster and in a more organised way. It brings structure to your entire hiring process. Tasks that used to be scattered across spreadsheets, inboxes and separate tools are now brought together in one environment.

• You create vacancies easily and publish them automatically to job boards, social media and your own website.
• Candidates who apply land directly in the system. You see each applicant's status and progress at a glance.
• You can link actions to each step, such as sending invitations, reviewing CVs or sending rejections.
• Automated emails, such as acknowledgements of receipt, save time and keep communication clear.
• Team members all see the same information. This prevents confusion or duplicate work.

An added benefit is that you build up a talent pool. This is handy for future vacancies, since earlier candidates can be found again with a single click.

What types of ATS exist for different organisations?

What you need depends on your organisation. A recruiter at a multinational works differently from someone at a small agency or start-up. Below you'll find which types of recruitment systems suit different situations.

Large organisations and corporates

Corporate recruiters often deal with multiple layers of approval and collaboration across departments. For them, the following matters:

• Approval flows for vacancies, salaries and offers.
• A connection to the careers page, linked to existing HR systems.
• A portal for hiring managers to easily review their candidates.
• Reporting options for HR and leadership. Think turnaround times, source analysis and conversion per channel.

Recruitment agencies and staffing firms

For recruitment agencies, it's essential to switch quickly between clients and candidates. You're often searching across many assignments at once. In that case, software mainly helps with searching and matching:

• Matching candidates to multiple vacancies or clients at the same time.
• Keeping a clear record of contracts, agreements and placements.
• Searching and filtering on skills, availability or rate.
• Visibility into active pipelines per client or project.

On the page for recruitment agencies, you can read how other recruitment agencies set up their tooling stack around LinkedIn.

Small businesses and first-time systems

For small teams, simplicity matters more than a huge feature set. Choose software with logical steps and a clear layout.

• Quickly create and share vacancies via your own website.
• A central candidate overview with each person's status.
• Basic email templates you can customise yourself.

You can always add more advanced options, such as reporting or integrations, later. Start with what you need today.

How do you choose the right ATS for your situation?

Start with practicalities. These questions help you make a good first selection:

• How many vacancies do you fill on average per year?
• How many people will be working with the system?
• Do you get a lot of applications, or do you need to actively search?
• Do you work for one organisation or multiple clients?

Then think about functional requirements. Choose software that fits the way you work:

• Is the layout logical and the navigation clear?
• Can you easily search and filter candidates by experience or status?
• Does the system offer reporting you can actually act on?
• Can you adjust process steps and statuses to fit your own approach?

Finally: privacy. Look out for features such as:

• Roles that determine who sees and does what.
• Automatic retention periods for candidate profiles.
• Simple handling of access or deletion requests, in line with GDPR.

How does an ATS work together with other recruitment tools?

An ATS is just one part of your recruitment process. It's the place where you record data and manage processes: the so-called system of record. Other tools help with carrying out actions, such as sending messages and approaching candidates.

Key integrations include:

• Job boards where you publish vacancies automatically.
• Your own careers site or recruitment page where applications come in.
• Your email and calendar for communication and scheduling interviews.
• LinkedIn or other sourcing tools to find and approach candidates.

You can extend your ATS with various modules for LinkedIn outreach. Think of tools to send InMails and connection requests, or to receive reminders, without doing everything manually.

Do you use LinkedIn a lot? Then you could also opt for a lightweight LinkedIn integration via a Chrome extension. This lets you enrich profiles directly, without leaving LinkedIn.

What does an ATS mean for the candidate experience?

Good recruitment software makes the application process easier for candidates. Think of:

• A short application form that also works well on mobile.
• A quick, tidy acknowledgement or invitation via automated emails.
• Clear progress and a transparent timeline for next steps.

What to watch out for:

• Don't use overly strict automatic rules. A CV without the right keywords can still be valuable.
• Leave room for personal judgement in your process.
• Make sure automated messages stay clear and friendly, without feeling cold.

What are the pitfalls of working with an ATS?

A system is only useful once the basics are in order. You're at risk if:

• Team members keep working in spreadsheets, or follow up on incoming emails separately.
• The system is set up too rigidly. Too many steps or mandatory fields discourage use.

So: start simple. Let users help shape the setup and clearly define what gets recorded where. Choose one place where all the data comes together.

Examples: which ATS fits which type of organisation?

Small business switching from spreadsheets

Practical example:

• Vacancy management that's automatically linked to your website.
• A central overview of applications with their status.
• Automated emails for acknowledgement or rejection.

Once the process is running smoothly, you can expand with insights such as conversion rates or talent pools.

Recruitment agency handling many vacancies

Basic needs:

• Linking candidates to multiple clients or assignments at once.
• Fast searching across a large candidate database with filters.
• A clear summary of agreements or rates per placement.

Later you can expand this with dashboards, assessments or automatic matching. Check out the page for recruitment agencies for real-world examples.

Large organisation with outdated software

In that case, pay attention to these improvement areas:

• A modern, intuitive interface for users.
• Flexible workflows you can adapt to your own process.
• Roles per department or function, for security and structure.
• Reporting based on region, department or time to fill.

What does implementing a new ATS usually look like?

A smooth transition starts with good preparation. Most implementations consist of these steps:

• Process analysis: map out your current hiring process. Where are the bottlenecks?
• Setup: adjust steps, labels and email templates to match your way of working.
• Data transfer: gather data from your old tools and clean it up before importing.
• Training: explain clearly how the system works and when to use it.

A clear agreement helps here: if it's not in the system, it doesn't exist. This keeps everything consistent.

Adoption and success factors

Team engagement makes the difference. Use these tips:

• Let users help shape the setup. This makes it feel like their own and logical.
• Appoint one point of contact who handles questions and gathers tips.
• Ask for feedback after a few weeks and make small adjustments if needed.
• Agree on ways of working. Think: what do we log where, how often do we update the status?

An ATS is only part of your recruitment approach. Tools for outreach complete the rest. Read real-world cases on better LinkedIn outreach and follow-up for further insights.

Summary and checklist: ready to choose an ATS?

An ATS helps you recruit in a more structured and efficient way. Whether you work at a large company, an agency or a small team, there's a fitting solution. The checklist below helps with your choice:

• What type of organisation are we?
• Do we work with internal role division, or multiple clients?
• How many vacancies do we fill per year?
• How many people will actively use the system?
• Which steps do we want to record, and where do we want flexibility?
• Does the system need to connect with job boards, the website or LinkedIn?
• What do we expect in terms of reporting and GDPR functionality?
• How much time and attention can we give to implementation and training?

Want to talk this through, or looking for an honest view of your setup? Let us know via the contact page.