Selecting an ATS System

Saw a great post today on selecting an ATS system.

Most discussions around this tend to focus on various tactical aspects - functionality, access, etc.

This note points out that the KEY to starting an ATS selection process, or any software selection process, is understanding your business and requirements before you start. Most software implementations fail, and a good percentage of them fail before they ever start for the same reason: If you don't know what you should be getting, then how do you make a good choice? Most business people proceed assuming they know the answer, and they don't:

http://tinyurl.com/7ev4jt

Reminds me of people selling their gas guzzling SUV's for a $20k hit to save $500 a year on gas.

Your Résumé and ATS Systems

A small tidbit of advice:

Most recruiters and hiring organizations use some sort of ATS (Applicant Tracking System) today for managing and storing applicant résumés.

Some of these tips have been shared in other places, but it's worth a reminder:

Try and keep the formatting fairly simple; too many tables, boxes, graphics and other creative effects to show off your skills, can get either lost completely, or corrupted, sometimes leaving the document unreadable.

Try and minimize graphics that end up bloating the file size.

Name the attachment something useful; not "Résumé", or the modified date, but your preferred job title (e.g., VP IT Services), or something else descriptive. Many of the ATS systems default to the document name for the title of the record when they are imported, and if the recruiter forgets to edit it, you end up in the system under some undecipherable heading.

Identify preferred locations, travel ability, complete address info, and identify phone numbers as office, home, cell etc so the recruiter can document your info properly and quickly. Make sure to include the info on the Résumé since it is probable it will be separated from the email you sent.