What are the most effective ways to use ATS to improve your time-to-hire metrics?

I am personally hiring across 7+ countries in EMEA & APAC. For me, the automation of screening questions was vital to understand if candidates have the legal right to work in the country that they are applying for, notice period, salary expectations, etc. I do understand that candidates don't like answering many questions in the application process but truth be told it saves a lot of time for both TAs and candidates when with simple "Question & Answer" we can determine if we can hire them or not. It's a waste of time for the candidate to speak with us if, for example, they need a visa in a country where we can't provide sponsorship.

I'm wary of pre-loaded filters in an ATS to include or exclude candidates from a requisition, and there continue to be legislative developments addressing when and how AI should be involved in that step. Too many times the best candidate isn't the 'obvious' candidate. Similar thoughts re: "Ranking or Scoring" candidates. With regard to an ATS streamlining or even automating communications to people before/during/after an appropriate review or lifecycle....knock yourself out.

To be able to have a clean and efficient workflow in your ATS system you need to have a detailed Kick-Off meeting with the hiring team on which you agree on: - What are the stages - Who is participating in each stage - What is each stage trying to assess Scheduling and Coordinating interviews via your ATS system is a game changer. It's easy to see changes, communication, feedback, etc. Once you have your process in place and got the details mentioned above from the hiring team your time-to-hire will improve.

I have always found pass-through-rates to be a valuable metric as a TA leader to assess where recruiters and sourcers strengths and areas for improvement are. For example: If you send out 500 inmails but only get 3% of candidates who respond interested, let's work on your messaging to keep the same amount of output but skyrocket results! If you screen 10+ candidates a week but less than 50% are making it past the hiring manager screen, let's look into what's misaligned and recalibrate on the ideal candidate profile. This helps TA leaders give data-driven feedback, praising what employees do well and coaching on focused areas of improvement. Saving time and energy while optimizing team performance.

I found it helpful to set goals on how long each candidate stays in a specific stage, how long it takes the interview team to submit their scorecard/feedback, and how quickly we can schedule the next stage. Pass-through rate is highly important in any process if you have a rejection rate of more than 20%-30% after your initial screening of the candidate you should re-align with the hiring team on the profile of the candidates you are looking for. This works well with very demanding hiring managers, especially if you are working on a very niche position.

+1 to Milan and Jaidin's thoughs. Pass-through rates help identify where you may have problems in the lifecycle. Dwell-Times help identify what the specific problem might be, and can often be linked to instances of regretted candidate exits. Note: Getting clean/reliable data on these metrics will require an employer to establish a level of directed workflow (at least at the Req level) that some team members will challenge.

A few integrations that are very helpful for me: 1. Calendar Integration - You can send candidates a "Self Scheduling" link that is integrated with your calendar. It saves a lot of time. 2. Canditech or Video Recording - For entry-level roles where you don't have any specific requirements but are looking for a specific type of personality and enthusiasm. Having candidates do a 2-minute intro video that you can share with the hiring manager is helpful. 3. Integrating your HRIS with your ATS for a smooth transition from "Hired" to "Onboarding". 4. LinkedIn Recruiter Integration - You can easily see the communication you had with the candidate on LinkedIn in your ATS.

I'd say the CRM to ATS connection or integration is most helpful in eliminating lost or wasted time in the lifecycle. One system not mentioned here but one I've found pivotal to effective hiring is a position-control system that connects financial headcount data (i.e. authorization to hire) to the ATS (i.e. the work executed to hire). If Finance, HR and TA aren't fastened together into a triangle, hiring lurches.

While customizing your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to fit your specific needs can significantly enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and employer branding, remember that these customizations can introduce additional maintenance work and complexity into the system. Custom features and options often require special, ongoing updates and adjustments to ensure they remain aligned with changing platform structures. The more tailored the system becomes, the more specialized knowledge may be required to manage and troubleshoot it effectively. This added complexity can mean more time and resources dedicated to system management, offsetting some of the efficiency gains.

I've been in the ATS game since 1993 (MacHunter). I'll tell you that all ATS workflows are built around the resume... So no matter how much "tweaking" you do to your ecosystem, you are speeding up a failed solution and still end up doing more data entry, than receiving quality output. Solution companies like Honeit.com built the solution around the conversations, the interviews... INTERVIEW DATA. Once you add structure to unstructured data, magic happens: Automated candidate write-ups... automate email introductions.... all this happens when you capture the conversations.... resumes are so 1980's.