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10
Predictions
About the Evolution
of Applicant
Tracking Systems
Matthew Kosinski

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Intro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Whats Inside

I. ATSs Will Begin to Lookand Act

More Like a Social Network. . . . . . . . . . . 6
II. ATSs Will Help You Make
the Right Decisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
III. ATSs Will Turn Rejected Talent
into Future Hires Analytics. . . . . . . . . . . . 9
IV. ATSs Will Prioritize Data,
Metrics, and Analytics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
V. ATSs Will Become More
User-Friendly for Candidates. . . . . . . 11
VI. ATSs Will Make It Easier
to Onboard Employees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
VII. ATSs Will No Longer Need
Power Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
VIII. ATSs Will Make
Resumes Obsolete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
IX. ATSs Will Go Visual. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
X. ATSs Will Accommodate
for the Gig Economy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

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erhaps the most basic and essential of the recruiters

software tools, the applicant tracking system is perched

on the cusp of a new era. Indeed, the ATS is evolving
right before our very eyes, thanks to advances in
technology and the efforts of some passionate and
talented recruiters, programmers, and entrepreneurs.

What will the ATS look like when all is said and done? Whats
in store for the applicant tracking system? Here are our ten
predictions on the future of the ATS, all based on exciting
developments happening right now.

2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

I. ATSs Will Begin to Lookand Act

More Like a Social Network

emember when chat clients like AOL Instant

Messenger were the best way to connect with

people on the Internet? Back then, we had little to
represent us but our buddy icons and our screen
names.
Nowadays, of course, things have changed for the
better. Thanks to social networks like Facebook, we
can all maintain much more robust presences on
the Web. Through our pictures, our comments, our
likes, our status updates, and our profiles, we can
really show other people who we are.
For a long time, ATSs were stuck in the chat-client
phase, representing candidates as little more than
names and tokens of information. Now, however,
were watching the ATS enter its Facebook phase.

2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

As more and more people rail against the ATSs

For recruiters, social-style ATS interfaces offer more

overemphasis on keywords, more and more ATSs

than just the chance to get to better know their

are finding ways to present fuller pictures of

candidates they also offer an easier way to make

candidates as human beings.

hiring a collaborative process. Just as multiple

people can all look through and comment on one

Soon enough, a candidates presence in an ATS

persons Facebook profile at once, so, too, will multi-

will be more like a Facebook profile than a

ple recruiters from the same team be able to peruse

traditional ATS database. Candidates will be able

their candidates profiles, share their thoughts on

to upload photos, share stories about themselves,

the candidates, and discuss the candidates with one

and, of course, explain their experiences and

another all without ever leaving the ATS. No more

qualifications in much more detail.

emailing back and forth; no more wrangling

everyone into one room.

2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

II. ATSs Will Help You Make

the Right Decisions
Todays recruiters know that cultural fit is often just

testing collide, we end up with predictive ATSs that

as important as if not more important than

is, ATSs that can help us make better hiring decisions.

credentials and qualifications. As a result, many more

companies have taken to integrating personality

The idea behind hiring for cultural fit is that people

assessments and psychometric

who can thrive within a

testing tools directly into their

companys culture are more

hiring processes. When we

likely to be better hires. Predictive

have a better picture of our

ATSs can take this one step

candidates personalities, we can

further: they can compare

better decide which ones will

the personality profiles of top-

really thrive in the company culture.

performing employees with the

personality profiles of current

Meanwhile, many ATS-makers

candidates. Recruiters can then

have been working feverishly to

use this information to identify

create ATSs that can freely integrate with all manner

the candidates who are most likely to succeed at the

of hiring tools including personality assessments

companybased on how those candidates align with

and psychometric tests. When ATSs and personality

the people who already do succeed in the company.

2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

III. ATSs Will Turn Rejected Talent

into Future Hires Analytics

As talent communities become a more prevalent

the ATSs screening process, that candidate is

sourcing method, ATS-makers will take notice.

essentially condemned to a black hole, their resume

Theyll see that recruiters want a more dynamic way

filed away in a void into which recruiters are

to manage long-term relationships with candidates,

unlikely to ever look again.

and theyll create ATSs through which recruiters will

oday, when a candidate doesnt make it through

be able to directly manage their talent communities.

The problem with this set up is the underlying
assumption that a candidate who isnt right at this

When this happens, itll be goodbye keyword filters

moment wont be right later on down the line.

and goodbye black holes for those not hired. Instead,

Many recruiters are already challenging this

ATSs will be more like customer relationship

assumption by cultivating talent communities, which

management software solutions(recruitment CRMs),

serve as pre-filled talent pipelines. By maintaining

allowing recruiters toengage with candidates as if

relationships with high-quality candidates in the long

they were sales prospects. Given how much

term, recruiters can more easily find the best talent

better our treatment of potential customers is

when positions open up in the short term.

than our treatment of potential employees, this is

a development to look forward to.

2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

IV. ATSs Will Prioritize Data,

Metrics, and Analytics

executive leaders want to measure their companies

presented fuller pictures of candidates as human

hiring efforts in tangible ways.

reviously, we predicted socialized ATSs that

beings, rather than resumes. We still believe thats

the case, but we also believe

The ATS of tomorrow will

that these same social-style

meet the needs of both re-

ATSs will put more data

cruiters/HR pros and top

analytics power into the

executives by putting critical

hands of recruiters and HR

metrics directly at everyones

professionals. Data is the

fingertips. Through in-depth,

buzzword in recruiting and

customizable reporting

HR today, and for good reason.

features, users of ATSs will

HR pros and recruiters alike

be able to track, analyze,

both want to demonstrate their

and share data related to

impact on their organizations bottom lines. Similarly,

everything from the number of applicants to a

as the C-suite increasingly understands the

recent job to how long it takes new hires become

importance of recruiting as a business strategy,

productive team members.

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2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

V. ATSs Will Become More

User-Friendly for Candidates
Has any candidate anywhere ever been happy with

engage with candidates more easily and they want

the experience of submitting their information

to make the application process as hassle-free as

through an ATS? Wed wager that the answer is a

possible in order to attract the best of the best.

resounding no. Todays ATSs are cumbersome,

inelegant systems and they often ask candidates

As a result, we can expect ATSs to become more

to keep entering the same info over and over and

user-friendly in the very near future with the user

over again. Highly qualified job seekers often get so

here defined as the candidate. No longer will

fed up with ATSs that they ditch the application

candidates have to wade through page after page

process before its over.

and form after form, filling and refilling the same

fields over and over again. Instead, job seekers will

This makes for bad recruiting in any economic

enter their information into ATSs the same way they

climate, and doubly so today, when it is clearly a

build their LinkedIn or Facebook profiles: through

job seekers market. Recruiters want to be able to

clean, intuitive interfaces with no needless repetition.

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2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

VI. ATSs Will Make It Easier

to Onboard Employees

onboarding and employer brand management

cultural fit as outlined in an earlier prediction we

systems with minimal fuss. That way, recruiters and

can expect to see ATSs that allow for seamless

HR pros can begin pre-onboarding employees

transitions from applying to onboarding.

through the same systems they use to screen and

n keeping with the increasing focus on hiring for

track candidates. Plus, the earlier candidates are

Nowadays, companies want to begin onboarding

onboarded, the less time theyll need to get adjusted

employees before they are even hired. They want to

when they join the company.

offer engaging, employer-brand-specific content that

interests candidates. That way, job seekers can learn
about the company, its culture, its values, and its
mission prior to joining the team. This allows
candidates to determine whether or not theyll fit
with the culture, and they can either self-select in or
out making recruiters jobs much easier by decreasing
the amount of pre-screening theyll have to do.
To facilitate smooth transitions from application to
onboarding, ATSs will be made to integrate with

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2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

VII. ATSs Will No Longer

Need Power Users

people without whom others could never get

platforms as reliable sources of high-quality

companies want to recruit from the trenches: they

candidates. Rather than navigating through the

want their employees to put candidates into the

esoteric sourcing channels of old, recruiters often

system, and they want their recruiters to learn the

walk right into the spheres of public life to find

ins and outs of social media.

oday, recruiters often focus on social media

anything done are no longer necessary. Now,

prospective talent.
As a result of this shift, ATSs can no longer be
Similarly, many companies have redoubled their

designed with highly specialized power users in mind.

efforts to build and maintain employee referral

Instead, they need to be created expressly for use by

programs (ERPs), because candidates sourced

average employees. That way, employees will be

through ERPs tend to be of a higher caliber than

more encouraged to tap into their own networks,

non-referred candidates.

share job openings with trusted contacts, and bring

in more referred talent. Recruiters too, will benefit:

All of this is to say that the power users of the old

theyll be able to focus more on sourcing candidates

days those experts who knew everything about

and less on reading user manuals.

their complicated applicant tracking systems, the

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2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

VIII. ATSs Will Make Resumes Obsolete

emember our first prediction, the one about social-

media-style ATSs? Wed like to return to that idea for a

moment, because we think it points to another advance
in the world of recruiting and hiring namely, the end of
the resume.
As ATSs come to look more and more like social media
platforms themselves; as they gain the capacity to integrate
with social media platforms; and as they become more
user-friendly for candidates, resumes may die out
altogether. When candidates can log into ATSs and create
comprehensive profiles that delve deeply into their
professional lives, they wont need the stodgy,
limiting bullet points of traditional resumes.
Recruiters wont need those one-pagers, either:
who needs a resume when you can pull up a
candidates profile and really get to know them?

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2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

IX. ATSs Will Go Visual

Our workforce is more mobile than ever. Freelancers,

standard ATS functionality. That way, recruiters and

contractors, flexible work schedules, and remote

remote/flexible employees will be able to meet eye

employees are the new normal. This shift comes with

to eye even when theyre sitting across the ocean

lots of benefits, but theres

from one another.

also a major
downside we cant

Another benefit of video

overlook: when our

technology is that it

candidates and employees

allows everyone in the

are spread all across the

recruiting department to

globe, how can we really

sit in on an interview

get to know who they are?

even if they cant be there

in person. A recorded

ATSs will help us solve the

video interview can be

problems of connection

passed along from recruiter

in a mobile world by incorporating more video

to recruiter, and in that way, everyone on the team

capabilities in the future. Video interviews, video

can have a say about a given candidates suitability.

resumes, and video introductions will all become

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2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

X. ATSs Will Accommodate

for the Gig Economy
Speaking of our mobile workforce we now live in
the age of the gig economy. Full-time, lifelong

Expect ATSs to respond to the rise of the gig

employment is no longer the only way to go. Plenty

economy by introducing more fluid candidate

of workers in todays world operate in flexible, free-

management capabilities. Future ATSs will allow

lance capacities, doing a number of jobs, or gigs,

recruiters to sort through candidates according to

all at once. A person, for example, can drive for a car

the types of jobs theyre applying for. More

service in the mornings, book some handyman work

importantly, however, future ATSs will make it

through an app in the afternoons, and write content

easier for employers to see the kinds of work that

for a companys blog in the evenings.

candidates have already done for them in the past.

Have an applicant for a contract position? See what

The problem is, ATSs are not designed to track

kind of short-term work shes done for you already

these sorts of employees. ATSs were designed with

by logging into your ATS.

traditional full-time employees in mind. That makes it

difficult for HR pros to keep tabs on freelancers,

ATSs will allow recruiters and HR pros to engage with

gig workers, and flexible workers.

gig workers in much the same way that theyll allow

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2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

recruiters and HR pros to manage talent

critical to every recruiters success, and as they

communities. The focus will be on building and

evolve, we can only expect that they will grow more

maintaining long-term relationships, rather than

and more indispensable. Recruiters, rejoice: your

on immediate full-time employment.

ATSs will soon be more powerful than ever.

The applicant tracking systems future is a bright one.

These trusted software solutions have long been

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2015 Recruiter.com | 10 Predictions About the Future of ATSs

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