ATS - Anti-Tracking System??

Posted on January 26, 2007
Filed Under Online Recruiting, Advertising Mistakes, Applicant Tracking |

There has been a lot of discussion in the industry about Applicant Tracking Systems and their ability to…..”track.” A recent study conducted by Jake Firth from JobsinLogistics.com validated the job board industry claims. The study reports that 83% of jobseekers self-select their source improperly.

What does that mean?

Most applicant tracking systems allow the candidate to self select how they came about finding the job opportunity. Only 17% select properly from a drop down.

As HR professionals we try to measure everything and make our decisions based on the validated data we collect. But if the data from our ATS is incorrect, everything from that point forward is also measured wrong.

The White Paper is well worth the read. Download it by clicking here.

Fortunately, the International Association of Employment Websites is tackling this problem. Yours truly is the chair person for the task force that has been assembled and we have met to discuss some potential solutions. We expect to have a few recommendations for a standardized tracking code to present to the remainder of the membership in the next few months.

It really is a simple solution, but the problem is getting all of the job boards to come together and work with the ATS partners on a form of standardization. For ATS providers, it is just a tracking token or tag that automatically selects the source from the job board.

Here is an example.

Recruiting Nevada does a substantial amount of sourcing for the Clark County School District. CCSD uses a home-grown applicant tracking system right now. Typically, the applicant is able to use a drop down to select where they found out about the teaching job in Las Vegas.

By adding an id code in the URL:
https://hrd6.ccsd.net/HRD/forms/LicIntForm/prgLicIntForm.php?refID=55

(in this case ID=55) The selection is already made for the applicant. CCSD knows that Recruiting Nevada is the source for this applicant. And Recruiting Nevada is credited for delivering another qualified applicant.

Now we can remove the drop down so the applicant does not even have to provide input and it is known that 100% of the applicants who land on this page were delivered by one of Recruiting Nevada’s job boards. Accuracy is 100%. And the “source” can be effectively measured all the way to the cost-per-hire portion of the measurement. Very big for hiring metrics.

The real question - How accurate is your applicant tracking system? Or should your ATS be renamed “Avoid Talented Seekers” - a term used by Don Firth, CEO of JobsinLogistics.com.

Comments

One Response to “ATS - Anti-Tracking System??”

jasonwhitman on January 30th, 2007 1:17 pm

Great post and example, it is essential that we solve this issue for employers and the industry - looking forward to working with you on it.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.