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Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are best known as a Human Resource tool to automate recruitment, record-keep, and provide a database of vital candidate and employee information. Yet, with technology best known for its constant change, the ATS industry has begun to transform their products into a more dynamic platform built to do more than just recruit.  ATS vendors are now incorporating hiring tools like Onboarding to streamline time-to-fill rates and train new employees quicker and more efficiently.  Onboarding allows companies to use the ATS for processing new hires and providing them a secure portal to view and sign important documents electronically – all while being tracked and recorded by the ATS.  It can also be used as a resource center to help new employees become familiar with their new job and learn the ropes quicker. Could your business survive without an Onboarding portal attached to your ATS? Yes. Will you revert back to an ATS without an Onboarding portal once you try one? No!

Here’s Why:
1. Everything You Need In ONE System – If you had the opportunity to use just one software platform to source, recruit, and hire employees, wouldn’t you jump at it?  Of course you would! Especially if the ATS is cost-effective without sacrificing quality.  The best Applicant Tracking Systems can do a lot for a little!

2. Centralized Portal For Documents – All of the important documents required for review and/or signature by new hires can be uploaded into a centralized Onboarding portal as an electronic document and completed from anywhere, using any device.   Rather than worrying about new hires filling out paperwork on their first day, HR can advise new hires to complete all documents and tasks prior to their first time – freeing up time to focus more on training.

3. Resource Center – New employees are always anxious to learn more about their new job and what to expect. An Onboarding portal can help prepare them prior to day one! Include videos, website links, employee handbooks, and more to help them become more comfortable.  Help alleviate first day jitters with the gift of knowledge!

4. Communicate With Your Team – Onboarding should always include a method of communicating with your hiring team to help prepare for the arrival of new employees.  Create and assign tasks to your team, send them reminders, and keep everyone organized and on the same page.

Onboarding is one step Human Resource professionals cannot avoid. Why not make it easier while using an applicant tracking system that stores and manages all candidate data.  What applicant tracking system does all that without breaking the bank?  Check us out!

Live chat is utilized by many industries as a customer support and sales tool, yet in more recent times, businesses have put an increased focus on adding it to improve customer experience and increasing profits.  In fact, according to Technavios, the live chat software industry is set to grow at CAGR of 7.98% within the next 5 years.  Live chat is an innovative addition to businesses that provides customers instant access to help in real-time while providing companies an in-depth look at their processes and customer behavior.

Benefits For Business

Live chat software includes analytical tools that provides key insight into customer behavior.  Live chat can track website visitor activity including the pages they view, what they search for, what they are interested in buying, and what customers are struggling with.  Questions that are often asked to chat representatives show businesses what they can improve and the processes they can tweak for better results.  Live chat can serve as the main source for frequently asked questions so companies can build a knowledge center based off of those questions and provide answers to questions before the customer asks them.  Chat can also help keep track of employee success and ability to help customers and answer their questions.  Most chat software includes business performance tools and reports that analyzes chat session quality, time of the session, customer service skills of your employees, and their ability to assist, investigate, and solve problems to satisfy the customer.

Benefits For Customers

These days, it’s no secret that people like instant gratification.  With a live chat option, users visiting company sites have a convenient way of receiving instant assistance.  Some people simply do not like talking on the phone or are hesitant to call support lines assuming they will be put on hold or outsourced.  With chat available, there is virtually no wait time, (depending on company responsiveness), and customers can expect communication with a chat agent immediately.  Here is some data stemming from a recent e-commerce study that surveyed US and UK customers:

• 1 in 5 shoppers preferred live chat as a main communication method
• 79% say live chat resulted in their questions answered faster
• 51% preferred live chat so they could multi task
• 46% believe it is the most efficient communication method

In regards to this specific study, the most common scenarios that triggered a live chat session included the visitor having trouble, inquiring about a general question, comparing products of interest, or asking about promo codes.  Yet, whatever niche your business serves, you can be sure customers will always have questions and expect answers.  Satisfying your customer base is a top priority and will make or break your company’s reputation.  If your business needs an innovative and savvy way to service clients, chat software might the one tool needed to improve customer support!

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) were created to streamline recruitment and hiring processes for HR professionals. There are many platforms that perform the common tasks and automation expected within an ATS, however sometimes recruiters will realize too late that a system lacks certain functions they deem necessary. Two of those functions include a job approval and offer letter approval process.

What Are Job Approval & Offer Letter Approval Processes?

Job Approval: Some businesses require hiring teams to create jobs in an applicant tracking system and send it to certain individuals to review before making it live. The typical process consists of recruiters building jobs using an ATS including drafting the descriptions, location, job category, salary, etc; then sending it off to the appropriate players to review, accept, or reject the job requisite.

Offer Letter Approval: Once a hiring team has decided to hire a candidate, some companies require them to create an offer letter summarizing the position’s key information and sending it to upper management for approval. Offer letters include data such as the job title the candidate will fill, salary or hourly pay, agreements, and other custom fields a company wishes to capture.

A smart applicant tracking system will include these processes standard and allow teams to seamlessly create jobs for approval and build offer letters to send through a pipeline of reviewers.  ATS platforms like this one send alerts to ping selected reviewers once they are tasked with a job or offer letter approval.  If members begin to fall behind in reviewing their approval tasks, the ATS will automatically send email reminders for a set amount of time until it is complete.

If you are performing these approval tasks using an applicant tracking system, you MUST also have the ability to report on them! The ATS should have the ability to pull job approval and offer letter approval reports on individual jobs plus break it down into specific criteria depending on what you need to focus on.  ATS platforms like Pereless Systems includes a report that can break down specific ATS users job/offer letter activity and response time.  Reporting and analytics are critical for companies who are keeping track of employees and ensuring they are utilizing their applicant tracking tool to the best of its ability while completing the necessary tasks to hire talent in a timely manner.

Job approval and offer letter approval processes are crucial for workflow and company growth.  Using an innovative applicant tracking system is a great way to execute these tasks and keep record of performance and successes; but just make sure the ATS you use can actually do it!

Sorting through candidate resumes can be a tedious task for HR professionals despite the fact many companies have now automated the process with software like an Applicant Tracking System (ATS).  Although recruiters who are using an ATS don’t have to worry about piles of paper on their desk, they do still have to toggle through electronic files which can be just as time consuming.  That’s why it is so important to use an applicant tracking solution that not only automates the apply process but also streamlines candidate review and automates disposition.

According to one study, an average corporate job posting attracts about 250 resumes.  Out of all of those submissions, only four to six candidates will be called for an interview and only one offered a job.  That’s a lot of applications to review for such a small minority that is likely to be deemed qualified.  Another report focusing on small businesses revealed that 48% cited their biggest obstacle to be few or no qualified applicants for their open positions.  In both cases, it seems companies are capable of sourcing resumes but struggle to find a qualified talent pool.  So how long does it take recruiters to sift through all of those resumes just to decide on a select few?  According to a 2015 study, it takes an average of two months to fill available positions.  Perhaps this is because recruiters are spending most of their time reviewing unqualified candidates-or maybe it’s because their ATS just isn’t innovative enough.  Either way, it is dire that businesses improve time-to-fill for the sake of their success, and luckily, there are ATS solutions that can do this and more…

A superior ATS makes job applications smarter and allows businesses to capture a candidate’s true essence and qualifications through customization.   For example, Pereless Systems ATS includes Prescreening Question capability that allows recruiters to build job specific questions that can be applied to applications and setup to “knock in” or “knock out” candidates into workflows based on their responses.  Setting these questions as required answers will ensure that applicants who are not qualified are not sourced into recruiter pipelines so they can instead spend more time focusing on applicants who qualify.

If your current ATS technology doesn’t make recruitment easier, it’s time to re-evaluate your system.  You need a solution that not only automates workflow but speeds up recruitment and gets top talent into open positions fast.

If you were in the market for a new car, would you purchase one without test driving it? Of course you wouldn’t! The same goes for purchasing recruitment software such as an applicant tracking system (ATS).  Applicant tracking is a business software solution utilized by HR professionals to automate recruitment and hiring processes. It is estimated 75% of businesses currently use some form of applicant tracking software and spend thousands of dollars each year using it. That’s why it is so important the ATS vendor you are interested in offers a free trial allowing you to explore and review the system prior to making a financial commitment.

1. Free trials help determine ease of use: When buying a software product, one of the most important factors to consider is how easy it is to navigate the system.  Often times, several team members of a company spanning from all technological capability levels will be utilizing the ATS for everyday tasks.  If employees are frustrated or confused while using the system, they won’t use it, and money and time will be wasted!  A free trial will allow employees to try out the ATS and determine if it is user friendly for all and a good fit considering company needs.

2. Test system functionality & capability:  Speaking of company needs…what does your company need from an applicant tracking system?  Are you a small to mid-size company that requires only simple automation and record keeping?  Or do need more advanced recruitment and hiring tools?  A free trial can help ensure that you are purchase an ATS that does everything you need it to but also doesn’t overwhelm you with modules you don’t need.  Make sure that during the trial period you are granted full access to all of the essential tools expected and that all team members can participate in testing o each functionality for themselves.  You don’t want a product that will add work and frustration to your team’s effort–make sure the system relieves the pressure!

3. Discover the candidate perspective: An important part of sourcing the best talent is building company reputation.  One way to do that is to create a positive candidate experience that begins at the career page and continues beyond their hire date.  Incoming job applicants who have negative experiences (i.e. the apply process is too long, they experience technical issues, they don’t receive confirmation emails, no follow ups etc) are not likely to apply again.  In fact, according to this survey, 33% of candidates who had a bad experience share it with social media (NOT good for company brand)!! Other research suggests that 1 in 4 candidates will sever ties with the company altogether.  During a free trial, you can explore the candidate perspective and apply as a test candidate to ensure the apply process is seamless and won’t frustrate candidates that can cause them to quit the application altogether.  It is also super important that career sites and the apply process are mobile friendly.  When one of the world’s largest career boards CareerBuilder cites one-third of their traffic as mobile users, you can’t leave that massive chunk of candidates out of the running!

4. Make sure your team is happy: Engage your team before, during, and after the applicant tracking system trial period.  Ensure that the entire team agrees the ATS will be beneficial and provide value to their workflow in efforts to solve pain points.  Otherwise, you might end up purchasing a software that no one can use; resulting in a massive loss of time and money. As Josh Bersin from SHRM states in his article:

“I talk with HR software buyers all the time, and more and more they ask, “How useful will this be for employees or managers to get their jobs done?”  If the answer is “not very useful,” the chances are that the system won’t be utilized very much.”

An applicant tracking vendor willing to provide a free trial with full access is a great signal they are confident in their product.  Take the Pereless Systems Challenge and test drive the ATS for 30 days absolutely free!