The ATS Guy » General

HRIS – Picking Up where the ATS Leaves Off

Jake Stupak — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:54:31 +0000

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are an effective way to post positions, organize candidates and streamline the hiring process. For many HR professionals, ATSs are typically their first experience with new talent management solutions. In my experience, once the value of the ATS has been recognized, there is a spark of consideration for new features, benefits and values that opens up the potential for investing in additional talent management solutions. The question then becomes “where does the ATS end and other talent management solutions begin?”

Identifying where your ATS ends in the spectrum of overall talent management solutions really depends on its specific features available. While some stand alone ATSs provide onboarding and API integration into HRIS systems, many other simply manage candidates up to the point they are hired. In these situations, I like to use my “ruler” analogy. For example, lets assume that an ATS is part of an over grand talent management solution/system for a company. If we took all of the functionality and aligned it with a ruler, I believe an ATS is the first inch (it would be different if we did it for value, but that is another post).

So if you have an ATS that leads you up to the point of hiring a candidate, where do you continue to manage candidate into the transition of an employee? You might want to consider reviewing Bamboo HR’s HRIS as the continuation.

BambooHR.com is a web-based HRIS solution for small to medium-sized businesses which integrates multiple HR functions under a single roof. They are a great alternative for companies cannot afford larger solutions and who are drowning in the headache of spreadsheets. With 100% customer retention, Bamboo HR is demonstrating a real market need for this type of solution. It’s clear that companies of all shapes and sizes place a high value on saving money, eliminating mundane administrivia, and increasing efficiency.

“We’re thrilled that our affordable and flexible HRIS is a great value-add for companies already using an ATS”, stated Ben Peterson, CEO of Bamboo HR. “The ease-of-use creates a natural fit between BambooHR.com and the ATS, which keeps customers happy. Everybody wins.”

I’ve had an opportunity to use Bamboo HR for several months now and its functional simplicity increases usability while streamlining navigation with great performance. What works out really nice is how Bamboo HR uses information directly from your ATS. While the solution can be implemented with just about any ATS, I believe you will see several ATS partnerships develop.

LinkUp helps Job Seekers through a new iPhone Application

Jake Stupak — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:12:14 +0000

While my typical posts revolve around applicant tracking systems (ATS), I wanted to cover something a little different with this one. I have become more involved with a job search engine called LinkUp. It is similar to Indeed and Simply Hired, however, it only aggregates jobs from an employers’ website or ATS.

Today, LinkUp is further equipping job seekers with the release of its new iPhone application. Specifically designed for job seekers, LinkUp’s iPhone application, which also supports the iPod Touch, allows the user to easily search job listings found only on company websites, search jobs by keyword, location, company, or category. Users can also save jobs to Favorites and access Favorites via browser or feed reader and save searches to email alerts and be notified of all new matching jobs.

Possible New Candidate Feature for an Applicant Tracking System

Jake Stupak — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:13:48 +0000

Anyone reviewing applicant tracking systems (ATS) knows there are plenty of features and functions designed to deliver the core benefits of reducing costs, increasing efficiency and placing quality candidates. The other side of the ATS that sometimes takes the backseat during considerations revolves around the benefits for the candidates. The following is a shortlist of some of these features:

ATS Candidate Features

Searchable job listings
Send job information to a friend
Signup to receive new opportunity notifications
Online applications
Automated emails

These features actually translate into great benefits for recruiters including high candidate satisfaction. However, I recently ran across a solution that could take candidate satisfaction to another level. It is EmployPrep by HRinmotion. Here is the idea behind it according to their site:

“EmployPrep is the only “white-label” career training software as a service (SaaS) for the staffing and recruitment industry’s candidates.

Your candidates gain a competitive edge through professional online career training – covering everything from resume writing to advanced interview skills. And all they need is a computer with Internet access.

The online career training tool is fully customizable, easy to set up, and showcases your staffing and recruitment company’s name, logo and colors, etc. right on your website.”

As a one time job hunter myself, and talking with several friends currently looking for one, this could certainly be a positive refresher to help build confidence to continue to the next step and help polish techniques for other opportunities. The concept in general could certainly be a nice value add-on for an ATS in regards to the Applicant Portals/Career Centers.

LinkUp.com Press Release

Jake Stupak — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:25:46 +0000

Here is a news release for my favorite job search engine:

Minneapolis, MN. – April 28, 2009 – LinkUp, a job search engine that collects job openings exclusively from company websites, today announced the launch of a universal login feature to greatly simplify the job seeker’s experience.

This new feature allows job seekers using the LinkUp website to login with their existing Facebook, Google, Yahoo, MySpace or AOL account. Users simply choose which account they would like to use and are seamlessly logged in with one-click. Once logged in, users can select from a host of new features, including saving jobs listings and setting up personalized RSS feeds. LinkUp is using the single sign-on technology of RPX by JanRain Inc to provide this service.

“Our not-so-modest goal with LinkUp is to build the best place on the web to look for a job,” comments President & CEO Toby Dayton. “And with over 400,000 job listings from over 19,000 company websites, we could make a strong case that we are well on our way. Our jobs are always current, often unadvertised, and never fake. But we also need to make sure that we offer a terrific user experience for job seekers and Universal Login is just a small example of how we’re trying to make LinkUp easy, valuable, and useful for people looking for a job.”

About LinkUp
LinkUp (www.linkup.com) is a job search engine that indexes job listings directly from company websites. Since every job listing published on LinkUp is sourced directly from a company’s website, the job listings are always current, often unadvertised, and never fake. LinkUp has various promotional partners around the U.S., including over 50 television and radio stations. In 2008, PC Magazine declared LinkUp the “Best of the Internet.”

One Year with Applicant Tracking Systems

Jake Stupak — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:56:27 +0000

Today marks my one year anniversary of working with applicant tracking systems. I thought it might be fun to take a look at the top five ATS related “events” in the past year that standout to me:

JobDig Tracker is released
Integration of ATSs into Social Networking greatly increases
Taleo acquires VURV
TheATSGuy blog is launched
Direct job board posting from ATSs boost

These are just my quick listings, what others do you have to share?

Microsoft Recruiting Site

Jake Stupak — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:54:29 +0000

The following article is an interesting story that was passed along to me: Microsoft is Building An Ambitious, New Global Recruiting Site. I’m looking forward to this site’s release.

TheATSGuy makes Compete.com

Jake Stupak — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:51:44 +0000

I started this blog several months ago in order to share some of my thoughts about applicant tracking systems. The number of visitors has naturally gone up over time. However, I was pleasantly surprised today when I found in one of my searches that TheATSGuy.com has a small ranking on Compete.com.

Thank you to everyone that reads my blog!

Question: How Many More Resumes?

Jake Stupak — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:57:38 +0000

In the last several months, there have been a huge number of layoffs. Lots of very talented, experienced, and motivated folks have unfortunately been affected. Earlier this week, I read an article written by GL Hoffman on US News entitled When HR is Bad PR. The article highlights the efforts that should be made to reply to candidates. The article made think – “How many more resumes are recruiters and HR professionals receiving because of the recent layoffs?”

This is where I would like some participation and comments from you. How many more resumes have you noticed? I’m just looking for a general sense and not an accurate percentage or count…though it is great if you know this number and are willing to share. However, sticking with the general sense, I’m just looking for something like “a bunch more” or “about the same.” It would also be nice to know perhaps your location and industry. Submitting anonymously is certainly welcome.

Answering the resume question above should be very easy for anyone with an applicant tracking system (ATS). If you currently don’t have an ATS, now would be a terrific time to consider implementing a solution to organize additional candidates while quickly identify the strongest ones. I would be happy to discuss it with you more if you are interested in learning. In fact, I will be hosting a webinar next Wednesday (12.17.2008) at 1:00PM CST for anyone interested in learning the basics of an ATS. Space is limited, but feel free to contact me if you would like to attend.

Thank you in advance for anyone that shares information.

TheATSGuy on LinkedIn

Jake Stupak — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:05:09 +0000

I’m still a greenhorn when it comes to LinkedIn. I have a bit of work to do in order to get my profile up to 100%. Take a peek: Jake Stupak. However, I have found the latest applications on LinkedIn great! For those that might not have had an opportunity to learn about them yet, I would suggest reading Facebook in a Suit: LinkedIn Launches Applications Platform. I’ve already added my blog to my profile using their new WordPress app, and it was super easy…though pretty much anybody could add anyone’s blog to their profile.

Lawson vs Google vs Microsoft – SaaS Models

Jake Stupak — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:23:21 +0000

You have probably noticed in the last few years that many applicant tracking systems (ATS) have shifted to a “new” web-based model. For those that might not know, this model is referred to as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). I estimate that nearly 95% of all ATSs are designed with the SaaS model. While the idea is nothing new, I’ve been noticing some conflicting perspectives on the future of this model.

Harry Debes, CEO of Lawson Software, made a prediction that SaaS will collapse within the next two years in an article which was cleverly entitled SaaS Market will ‘Collapse’ in Two Years. However, I believe this statement is too bold. Like the web-based technologies before, I believe SaaS is providing the next true foundation for computing. This is just my humble opinion, but I am not along. Google and Microsoft are also betting on SaaS.

Google is offering a great set of applications that you can access through their Documents lineup. The applications are great, and not just because they are free. I started using Google’s Documents because I didn’t like having to send multiple copies back and forth to other folks. I can now share all of the documents and allow specific permissions per user. I guess I should get to the point. All of this is delivered via SaaS, and for everyone that might not have heard…Google is doing okay.

More recently, Microsoft has announced their new cloud computing with Windows Azure. This basically reflects on the SaaS model, yet they refer to it as OS(or Platform)-as-a-Service. However, this is more proof that SaaS foundation will be around for more that two years as predicted by Debes. Microsoft intends to have Azure closer to a production release in 2010. If you would like a simple overview of Azure, I recommend watching Ozzie Paints Windows Azure.

Again, I don’t personally believe SaaS is going to collapse in two years, yet I know that it isn’t that last in a long line of web-based platforms for solution delivery. However, I do believe that it is shifting the approach many companies take when considering solutions.