Applicant tracking systems have been more widely used as the remote work model has become more popular. At the same time, over the last 20 years, technology has made incredible advancements. With these advancements came social media, which has become one of the most-used networking systems for the new age of candidates and recruiters. How do you, as a recruiter, HR manager, or business person, utilize both of these tools?
What Is an ATS?
ATS stands for applicant tracking system. It’s a type of software that’s used by businesses to help with the hiring process. There are many functions and features that come with different ATS software platforms which can help you make the most out of the hiring process. These systems also help companies keep track of all employees, current, future, and past.
ATS & Social Media
You might be wondering, what do ATS software systems and social media have to do with one another? They may seem like two separate tools for different branches of your company: HR and marketing. On the contrary, in today’s social climate, employers and employees are using social media to research jobs, the company’s owners and founders, and reaching out to previous employees to get first-hand experience of working there.
Companies may have better success attracting top talent if they reach out to candidates where they are: social media.
What Are the Best Practices for Integrating ATS With Social Media?
With social media becoming a job-sourcing tool, it’ll be in your best interest to learn the best practices for integrating your ATS with social media platforms.
Have a Social Media Presence
Do not make the mistake of waiting too long to create your social media platforms. The best thing you can do for your company is create a presence on social media and stay active. Prospective employees look for different characteristics when they’re looking through a company’s social media pages. Make sure your mission statement, your company values, and your company’s personality shine through here. The more active you are, the more engagement you’ll receive.
Only posting job vacancies can quickly turn prospective employees away. You want to be sure that you’re balancing professionalism with personality. Potential hires are looking for your engagement as much as you’re looking for theirs. They want to see you interacting with commenters, posting frequently, sharing event highlights, etc.
Track Your Analytics
Integrating your ATS and social media pages brings about one of the best tools you can have for your business: analytics. With your ATS, you’ll be able to track the likes, clicks, comments, and overall engagement that your social media gets with potential hires. The goal here is to interact with potential candidates, so being able to see what gets the most traction is important.
These analytics can show you what employees in the job market like to see. Since the job market and hiring trends are constantly changing, tracking these analytics can be beneficial. You’ll keep track of when trends aren’t popular anymore, what events get the most interaction, etc.
Change Marketing Strategies
Alongside tracking your analytics will be a marketing strategy. If you’re checking your analytics and see very little engagement, then you know it’s time to switch things up. You don’t want to be the kind of person that sticks to one technique no matter the results. Instead, engage with the current trends, memes, and hiring topics. Put your thoughts into current topics within your job sphere (AI is one of the big topics today).
Don’t be afraid to compare and contrast different marketing strategies you’ve tried over the past months or years. This way, you’re able to see the pros and cons of the different strategies and integrate different ideas from each of them. You can use your ATS to make these strategies better. The different functions allow you to change settings to have more engaging posts, schedule posts to go out ahead of time, and even archive older posts that aren’t relevant anymore.
Filter Through Your Job Applications
The best thing about integrating your ATS with your social media platforms means that all the job applications go into your ATS. No matter where a candidate applied, with ATS integration, applications are all in one place. This may sound overwhelming, but there are organizing systems that allow you to categorize the applications by social media platform or automatically filter by qualifications.
Going through your applications frequently can show you which social media platforms get the most applications. This can allow you to prioritize social media platforms and can even help you make decisions on whether you should delete or archive a social media page. Additionally, you can keep qualified candidates’ information in your ATS in case future job vacancies pop up. You’ll want to go through those in the future to save yourself time in the hiring process.
Collaborate With Your Hiring Team
Your ATS should be accessible to your whole hiring team in order to create a workflow that increases your chances of hiring the best talent. Within your ATS, you can assign tasks and create checklists with your collaborators. This is especially beneficial in a remote work setting as it streamlines communication within the ATS rather than having to hop on a call or send emails back and forth. This can also allow you to track the team’s progress and figure out what they may need help with.
Your ATS may also have reminders within the settings, which can allow you to set daily, weekly, or monthly reminders. This can help your team stay on top of frequent posting on social media, be reminded to check analytics, or even remind them to post special occasion or event posts. Things like this may seem minuscule when looking at the big picture, but even the small things help a team become more cohesive, creating a more effective working environment.
How To Begin the Integration
There are many ways you can begin integrating your ATS system with your social media accounts. However, there are some common factors you must consider as you begin the integration.
Define Your Goals
Obviously, before you begin any major changes in your company, you’ll need to define your wants and needs. What do you hope to gain from integrating your ATS and social media pages? Is there a realistic goal you’re looking to achieve? What is the timeline for meeting these goals? By setting your company’s expectations and having a common goal, you’ll be able to get the most out of this new change.
Choose Your Software and Platforms
Will you be using an ATS you’re already familiar with, or are you looking to expand into a new ATS software? Regardless, you’ll also have to figure out what platforms you want to integrate with your ATS. You can start with the most popular ones such as Instagram or Facebook, or you can go ahead and integrate your ATS with job boards like LinkedIn. You’ll want to take your time, do your research, and consult with your executives and professionals about the best course of action.
