For applicant tracking systems, this is the dawning of a new era. The ATS is evolving right before our very eyes, and these are our ten predictions on the future of the applicant tracking system, the most essential of the recruiter's tools.
What's in store for the ATS? We can learn a lot by looking at current advances in technology and the efforts of some passionate and talented recruiters, programmers, and entrepreneurs.
ATSs Will Turn Rejected Talent Into Future Hires
Today, when a candidate doesn’t make it through the ATS’s screening process, that candidate is essentially condemned to a black hole, their resume filed away in a void into which recruiters are unlikely to ever look again.
The problem with this set up is the underlying assumption that a candidate who isn’t right at this moment won’t be right later on down the line. Many recruiters are already challenging this assumption by cultivating talent communities, which serve as pre-filled talent pipelines. By maintaining relationships with high-quality candidates in the long term, recruiters can more easily find the best talent when positions open up in the short term.
As talent communities become a more prevalent sourcing method, ATS-makers will take notice. They’ll see that recruiters want a more dynamic way to manage long-term relationships with candidates, and they’ll create ATSs through which recruiters will be able to directly manage their talent communities.
