--- title: Is Your ATS Helping or Hurting Your Recruiting? description: Although ATS recruiting helps to manage the overall process, recruiters are often left wondering why the percentage of qualified candidates is so low. image: https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/hubfs/ThinkstockPhotos-480393652.jpg --- [781.425.5005](tel:1-781-425-5005) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/HargerHoweAdvertising/) [Twitter](https://twitter.com/hargerhoweadv) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/hargerhowe) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/hargerhoweadv/) [![HargerHowe_Logo_2024hr](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/hs-fs/hubfs/HargerHowe_Logo_2024hr.png?width=327&height=79&name=HargerHowe_Logo_2024hr.png) ![HargerHowe_Logo_2024-204](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/hs-fs/hubfs/HargerHowe_Logo_2024-204.png?width=204&height=49&name=HargerHowe_Logo_2024-204.png) ](https://hargerhowe.com/) - [home](https://www.hargerhowe.com/) - [Agency](https://hargerhowe.com/agency/) - [Services](https://hargerhowe.com/services/) - [Our Work](https://hargerhowe.com/showcase/) - [Blog](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog) - [Contact Us](https://hargerhowe.com/contact/) - [Home](https://hargerhowe.com/) - [Agency](https://hargerhowe.com/agency/) - [About Harger Howe](https://hargerhowe.com/agency/) - [Q & A](https://hargerhowe.com/q-a/) - [Services](https://hargerhowe.com/services/) - [Digital Media](https://hargerhowe.com/services/digital-media/) - [Inbound Marketing](https://hargerhowe.com/services/inbound-marketing/) - [Media Placement and Creative Services](https://hargerhowe.com/services/media-placement-and-creative-services/) - [Social Media](https://hargerhowe.com/services/social-media/) - [Recruitment Marketing](https://hargerhowe.com/services/recruitment-marketing/) - [HH Direct Search](https://www.hargerhowedirect.com/) - Our Work - [Case Studies](https://hargerhowe.com/showcase/) - [Featured Content](https://hargerhowe.com/featured-content/) - [Blog](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog) - [Contact Us](https://hargerhowe.com/contact/) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/HargerHoweAdvertising/) [Twitter](https://twitter.com/hargerhoweadv) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/hargerhowe) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/hargerhoweadv/) [Refine your recruitment with HH Direct Search!](https://www.hargerhowedirect.com/) # Is Your ATS Helping or Hurting Your Recruiting? - [Home](https://hargerhowe.com/) - [Blog](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog) - Is Your ATS Helping or Hurting Your... [recruitment advertising](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/topic/recruitment-advertising) [company culture](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/topic/company-culture) [ATS Recruitment](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/topic/ats-recruitment) ![](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ThinkstockPhotos-480393652.jpg?width=723&name=ThinkstockPhotos-480393652.jpg) [Dec072015](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/archive/2015/12/07) **Audio version** An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) serves the same ultimate goal as a real recruiter; to seek to sort, identify, and recruit the best job candidates. ATS recruiting can save significant time and money in the areas of sorting and separating applicants who meet your needs from those who don’t. Afterwards, it is up to your human recruiters to make the educated hiring decision. Although the total number of applicants for each opening is always high, many companies currently complain about the lack of qualified people left standing after the initial cut. If you don’t have the right type of people applying, many positions remain open, which affects company growth. Although ATS recruiting helps to manage the overall process, recruiters are often left wondering why the percentage of qualified candidates is so low. **Does your ATS Offer Applicants a User-Friendly Process, or a Stop Sign?** Does a breakdown occur in your ATS recruiting process? Do applicants give up out of frustration? Is your system using the appropriate keyword strategy, or are you maybe letting some of the best people get away?  **Easy Navigation and a Short Application Form: The Costs of Losing Candidates** Many applicants complain about filling out long complicated forms as they apply for jobs using an ATS [recruiting](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/branding-and-recruitment-advertising-partners-in-crime) system. You will get the best results from your ATS if you keep the process simple, quick, and easy.  Don’t ask job seekers to fill out the same information more than once; instead consider streamlining the amount of information you request. For example, if you ask for the last job title is it necessary to ask for the tasks performed or is that obvious? Use an ATS that draws people in and doesn’t chase them away by asking repetitive questions. If the process becomes tedious many relevant candidates will simply leave before finishing the application, and since experts claim that 75% of the finished applications get rejected for a variety of reasons, you have to wonder if you’re missing some great prospects.  **An Engaging and Exciting Website** You are trying to attract the people who can add the most value to your organization, and although applicants are competing for your available job, you are competing for the cream of the crop. Imagine a job seeker perusing a job board and finding your company’s ad. The initial information seems like a match to their skills, so they click on [your website](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/2016-the-year-for-microsites-and-social-media-career-pages). What do they find?  Will they find an website experience full of relevant and current information that gets them excited, or one that that leaves them thinking about words like old, stale, and boring? How many prospects will you lose because your website doesn’t show your company as a vibrant, thriving organization with a [cultivated culture](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/the-power-of-attracting-new-employees-via-workplace-culture)? **Conclusion** Your ATS is a necessary and functional tool when managing the volume of applications you receive. It will capture and sort details about each candidate and separate the relevant from the irrelevant. However, the possible weaknesses of the system could be leaving you vulnerable to losing prospects based on faulty or outdated criteria. Create an applicant friendly experience, show your company in the best possible way, and the best of the best will come calling.    Want to learn more about building an engaging website or [microsite](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/so-what-is-a-microsite), ATS improvements or company culture?  [![Contact Mike Walsh](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/559861/22546a09-ba00-42d7-9a11-2df113aab347.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/559861/22546a09-ba00-42d7-9a11-2df113aab347) Category: [recruitment advertising](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/topic/recruitment-advertising), [company culture](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/topic/company-culture), [ATS Recruitment](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/topic/ats-recruitment) [by Michelle Swarts](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/author/michelle-swarts) [December 07, 2015](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/blog/archive/2015/12/07) ### Share This Article - - - - - ![Michelle Swarts](https://inbound.hargerhowe.com/hs-fs/hubfs/m.swarts.jpeg?width=80&height=80&name=m.swarts.jpeg) #### Author:Michelle Swarts As a Managing Partner at Harger Howe, Michelle uses a foundation of more than 25 years of expertise to develop and implement best practice solutions for her clients. 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