Eagle-eyed HR professionals will already know that Applicant Tracking Systems help streamline basic hiring.
But most recruiters are strapped for time, battling a flood of demand and rising talent requirements. They often don’t get the time or space to fully understand how ATS providers and platforms can still help at the non-digital end of the hiring funnel – at interview stage.
Well, we’re here to drop some easy-reading facts and stats on why, how and where ATS platforms can help not only improve interview processes and outcomes but address issues in remote interview cultures and improve wholesale recruiting outcomes, both analogue and digital.
Remote Interview Statistics for 2023.
With the pandemic falling away in the rearview mirror, just how long-term have the changes been to workplace interview processes?
Is remote interviewing now seen, or expected, as standard fair from employers, and how are candidates reacting to remote interview requirements?
- “Per a recent Indeed survey, 82% of employers surveyed use virtual interviews, and 93% of employers plan to continue using them”.
- “There has been a 57% increase in the use of video interviews from 2019 – 2023”.
- “Pre-pandemic 79% of employers conducted first-stage interviews via telephone or face-to-face meeting. As of January 2021, video interviews are the most popular method of conducting first-stage interviews with 86% of employers favouring it”.
- “Nearly 50% of job seekers prefer video interviews over face-to-face interviews”.
- “60% of recruiters use video technology to interview candidates, regardless of whether the job is remote”.
The chief takeaways from the above stats are fairly clear – video interviewing is not only expected from candidates but critical for recruitment success. Video interviews are now expected as standard irrespective of whether the role is remote or not.
In short – remote interview dominates. If you’re not utilising it at some point in your candidate journey, you’re failing potential hires and future stars.
ATS innovations in interview technique, strategy and platform use.
The humble Applicant Tracking System is more than an agile platform for candidate communications and organisation – they are often packaged as an all-in-one, end-to-end digital solution for every recruitment step and every possible recruitment need, including hosting remote interviews.
Innovations in the ATS recruitment space have been legion. From AI-led candidate sourcing to CRM-esque application organisation and administration and more, applicant tracking systems and their affiliate plug-and-play recruiting tools and hiring products are now essential hubs of recruitment information. They are central to successful hiring, and consistently improving data dumps for recruitment metrics and analysis.
Naturally, digital dominance offers new techniques and strategies for recruiting, most importantly around data accessibility and analysis, and how data is understood to drive more favourable recruiting outcomes across the candidate journey.
In our view, Applicant Tracking Systems do one thing more effectively than any other software in a recruiter’s stack, especially when it comes to candidate handling at the interview stage – they sit at the juncture between data, people, and meaningful interview cultures and provide maximum visibility across the entire hiring spectrum.
The trick is using each element to improve hiring outcomes, deliverables and, of course, company reputation.
Applicant Tracking Systems sit at the juncture between data, people, and meaningful Interviews.
So how does the humble ATS organise and administer data and people, and improve remote hiring outcomes?
Data.
- Consider one of the primary features of an ATS – communication automation.
- ATS platforms can automate candidate communications and rapidly move applicants through a sourcing, vetting and pre-interview stage without you having to lift a finger.
- This not only utilises data to highlight and prioritise the best hires but hones that data for applicant upkeep and retains applicant momentum during a critical part of the hiring process – that of screening and vetting candidates for interview.
People.
- A well-placed ATS aligns people across the interview fold, from candidate to interview panel. It can reduce barriers between different departments and provide a sole interview HQ for all applicant information.
- Some ATSs take it a step further, allowing for seamless, multi-site interview panels, or AI-led analysis of applications and resumes to improve interview questions and direction.
- In short, an ATS can improve the connection between every interview party, and even provide niche analysis of specific skills to improve interview effectiveness.
Meaningful Interviews.
- Lastly, an ATS is on-demand information in the palm of your hand. Critically, if one was to centralise an interview process within an ATS or adjacent to an ATS, candidates can rest assured they’ll have immediate feedback on their application and interview.
- An ATS almost acts like a backstop against dropped applicants post-interview and provides immediate context and clarity to interview next steps.
The bottom line.
In theory and practice, ATS systems are a one-stop-show for interview prep, follow-up, and organisation. But above all else they centralise and simplify complex recruitment processes, thereby streamlining those processes and getting talent in front of employers quicker.In
In the digital age, when ATS providers are leaned on more than ever to guarantee hiring success at every stage of an application, ATS platforms can find new and novel ways of engaging candidates and improving interview processes, even when those interviews are remote!
If you’re looking to identify the Best Applicant Tracking System for your business, then be sure to check out our comprehensive guide to the Best Applicant Tracking Systems (2024).
At Rectec we help organisations to find the best recruitment and talent acquisition technologies to suit your needs.
From Applicant Tracking System and Recruitment CRM comparison, to vendor snapshots, and technology showcases in our unique technology marketplace, we provide fee-free tools to help you build the perfect recruitment tech stack for your business!