What is ATS? A Complete Guide to Applicant Tracking Systems

Summary:  An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) helps employers organize job applications, manage candidates, and track recruitment activities from one platform. Depending on the software, it can also support job posting, resume parsing, interview scheduling, candidate communication, and hiring analytics. This guide explains what an ATS is, how it works in recruiting and HR, what features to consider, and how it can affect job seekers.

An ATS provides a central platform for managing applications and supporting different recruitment activities. It can publish job openings, collect resumes, schedule interviews, and track candidate progress. The features vary across platforms. The underlying purpose of an ATS is to make recruitment more organized and easier to manage. This guide explains what an ATS is, how it works in recruiting and HR, what employers should consider when choosing one, and how ATS software can affect job seekers.

What Is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)?

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software that helps employers manage recruitment and the hiring process. It stores candidate information, organizes applications, and helps recruiters move applicants through the hiring process.

In practical terms, what is an ATS? It serves as a central workspace for recruitment. Instead of managing resumes, candidate details, interview notes, and application updates across separate files and emails, recruiters can manage much of this information in one system.

Key Features of an ATS

Each ATS platform offers different features. The common ATS functions include:

• Job Posting: Recruiters can draft and list a job posting across various job portals.
• Resume Collection: Applications and resumes can be stored in a central candidate database.
• Resume Parsing: Some systems extract information from resumes and organize it into candidate profiles.
• Candidate Search: Recruiters can search candidate information using keywords, skills, experience, and other job-related details.
• Candidate Tracking: Hiring teams can see where applicants are in the recruitment process.
• Interview Scheduling: Some platforms help recruiters schedule interviews and send reminders to candidates and interviewers.
• Candidate Communication: Recruiters can send application updates, interview invitations, and other messages from the platform.
• Hiring Workflow Automation: Some ATS platforms automate repetitive recruitment tasks, such as notifications or workflow updates.
• Reporting and Analytics: Recruiters can use reports to understand application volumes, hiring stages, and recruitment activity.
• AI-Assisted Screening: Some systems use AI to help recruiters organize, match, or screen candidate information based on defined criteria.

What Is ATS in Recruiting?

Recruiting involves finding, attracting, screening, and selecting candidates for job openings. When many applicants apply, managing this process manually can take a lot of time.

So, what is ATS in recruiting? It is a software system that helps recruiters organize candidates and manage different parts of the hiring process. Recruiters can then search the database, review candidate information, and move applicants through stages of the hiring process.

How Does ATS Work in Recruiting?

The exact process differs between platforms. However, a typical recruitment workflow on an applicant tracking system can look like this:

• A Job Is Created: The recruiter creates a job description with details such as the job title, responsibilities, skills, qualifications, and other requirements.
• The Job Is Published: The position may be published on the company’s career page and connected job boards.
• Candidates Apply: Applicants submit their resumes and other required information through the application system.
• Candidate Information Is Collected: The ATS stores application details and may extract information from resumes to create candidate profiles.
• Applications Are Reviewed: Recruiters can search and filter candidate information based on job-related criteria. Some systems also provide automation or AI-assisted tools to help recruiters organize and screen applications.
• Candidates Move Through Hiring Stages: Recruiters can move applicants from one stage to another, such as application review, phone screening, interview, assessment, and final selection.
• Recruitment Data Is Recorded: The system can retain information about applications, candidate progress, and other recruitment activities for reporting and future reference.

What Is the Use of ATS in HR?

Recruitment is only one part of HR. Human resources teams also manage employee records, onboarding, internal processes,s and other workforce activities. In HR, an ATS mainly manages recruitment-related information and tasks before a candidate becomes an employee. An ATS helps HR teams keep candidate information organized and makes communication easier between recruiters, hiring managers, and interviewers.

An ATS can support HR teams in several ways:

• Centralized Candidate Information: Store resumes, contact details, interview information, and application records in one place.
• Less Manual Work: Automate certain repetitive tasks, such as sending selected emails or moving candidates through predefined stages.
• Better Collaboration: Recruiters can share candidate information, interview feedback, and notes through the same platform.
• Hiring Reports: HR teams can use reports to understand recruitment activity and identify potential delays or gaps.
• Candidate Communication: Automated messages can help keep candidates informed about applications, interviews, and other stages.
• Talent Pools: Some systems let companies retain information about previous applicants for future openings.
• Hiring Process Visibility: Recruiters and HR teams can get a clearer view of candidates at different stages of the recruitment pipeline.

How to Choose the Right ATS for Your Business?

This section of the blog, “What is an ATS?, covers choosing the best tool. It isn’t simply about finding software with the most features. Different companies have different hiring volumes, workflows, budgets, and technology requirements. Before selecting an ATS, consider the following factors:

i. Business Needs and Hiring Volume

Consider how your company hires. Assess the following points:

• How many people do you hire each month?
• How many job openings do you usually have at one time?
• How many hiring managers will use the system?
• Do you hire across multiple locations?
• Do you work with external recruitment agencies?
• Do you recruit for similar roles repeatedly or hire for highly specialized positions?

Your answers can help determine the level of functionality and automation your team needs.

ii. Essential Features and Functionality

Make a list of the features your recruitment team actually needs. Don’t choose a feature simply because it looks impressive. It should solve a real problem for your recruitment team or improve an important part of the hiring process. Some of the ATS capabilities include:

• Resume parsing
• Candidate search
• Job posting
• Interview scheduling
• Candidate communication
• Hiring workflows
• Reporting and analytics
• Automation
• Talent pools
• Integrations

iii. Ease of Use

An ATS should be reasonably easy for recruiters to understand. A system with many features but a complicated interface can create additional work instead of reducing it. If possible, let regular users test it before making a final decision.

Check whether users can quickly:

• Find candidate information
• Update application stages
• Add interview feedback
• Search candidate profiles
• Communicate with applicants
• Generate required reports

iv. Integration With Existing Tools

Your ATS may need to work with tools your company already uses. Good integration can reduce the need to move candidate information manually between different systems. These could include:

• Job boards
• Email platforms
• Calendars
• Video interview tools
• Background-check services
• HR management systems
• Payroll or onboarding software

v. Customization and Scalability

Your hiring process may change as your company grows. Look for an ATS that allows you to customize hiring stages, user permissions, forms, workflows, or reports as needed. Scalability is also important. A system that works for a small recruitment team should ideally support a larger operation if your hiring volume increases.

vi. Data Security and Compliance

An ATS stores personal candidate information, so data security should be an important part of your evaluation. Ask the provider about its security practices, access controls, privacy features, and compliance measures before storing candidate information.

Before choosing a system, check how it:

• Protects candidate information
• Controls user access
• Stores and transfers data
• Handles data retention and deletion
• Supports privacy requirements relevant to your company and location

vii. Pricing and Overall Cost

ATS pricing can vary widely. Some platforms charge based on users, employees, job openings, or other factors, while others offer customized pricing. Don’t look only at the subscription cost. Consider the total cost of using the platform, including:

• Implementation
• Training
• Integrations
• Additional features
• Data migration
• Support

viii. Customer Support and Training

Your recruitment team may need help when setting up or using a new system. Check what type of customer support is available and whether the provider offers:

• User training
• Documentation
• Onboarding assistance
• Technical support
• Dedicated account support, where applicable

ix. Implementation and Adoption

Even a capable ATS will have limited value if the recruitment team does not use it effectively. Before choosing a platform, consider how long implementation may take, whether you can migrate existing candidate data, what training users will need, and how much support the provider offers during setup. It is also useful to decide who will manage the system internally, maintain hiring workflows, and support users after implementation.

Best ATS Tools for Employers

No single ATS works for every employer. The right choice depends on company size, hiring volume, budget, workflow, and existing HR technology. Some widely used ATS platforms include:

• Internshala: Internshala offers a built-in applicant tracking system that lets employers manage applications through a central dashboard. Employers can post jobs and internships, use smart filters to shortlist candidates, communicate with applicants through Internshala Chat, and manage different stages of the hiring process. Its current hiring tools also include AI-powered resume matching and screening, AI-based interviews, assignment-based evaluation, and interview scheduling. These features make Internshala particularly relevant for employers hiring interns, freshers, and early-career professionals. 
• Greenhouse: Greenhouse provides recruiting tools for candidate management, interviewing, workflows, reporting, and hiring operations. Its platform also includes AI-related capabilities.
• Workable: Workable combines recruitment and HR features, with tools for candidate management, interviews, hiring workflows, reporting, and AI-supported recruitment activities.
• Lever: Lever combines applicant tracking with candidate relationship management features and provides tools for candidate engagement, analytics, workflows, and integrations.
• BambooHR: BambooHR includes recruitment functionality as part of its broader HR platform, with features for job posting, candidate communication, collaboration, and connections with other HR tools.
• Zoho Recruit: Zoho Recruit provides features such as applicant tracking, resume parsing, interview scheduling, candidate pipelines, automation, analytics, and integrations.

How Does an ATS Benefit Job Seekers?

Employers mainly use an ATS to manage job applications. It can also affect how job seekers apply. When you apply online, an ATS may store and process your resume before a recruiter reviews it. A clear, simple resume format makes your information easier to read and organize. Common ATS-friendly resume practices are: 

• Use a Clean Layout: Keep your resume simple, neat, and easy to read. Avoid overly complicated designs.
• Use Standard Headings: Use clear headings such as Work Experience, Education, Skills,s and Certifications to organize your information.
• Use Relevant Keywords: Read the job description carefully and include relevant skills and terms that genuinely match your experience.
• Use Full Terms and Abbreviations: Where appropriate, mention both the full term and its abbreviation, such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
• Keep Your Experience Clear: Describe your work experience using simple and specific language so that both software and recruiters can understand it easily.
• Avoid Complex Designs: Avoid unnecessary graphics, charts, text boxes, or overly complicated layouts that make your information harder to process.
• Tailor Your Resume: Adjust your resume for each job by highlighting the skills and experience that are relevant to that particular position.

Conclusion

Understanding what an ATS is helps employers see how technology can support a more organized hiring process. Beyond managing applications, an ATS can provide useful recruitment data, such as where candidates enter application details, how long they remain in each stage, and where applications may drop off. This information can help HR teams identify delays and improve their hiring workflow. However, applicant tracking software works best when companies set clear hiring criteria, keep job information accurate, and regularly review their recruitment process. An ATS can support better decisions. However, it does not replace human judgment.

Want to improve your hiring and recruitment skills? Explore the skills for Employers guide to build stronger hiring practices and manage your teams more effectively.

FAQs