With in-person recruitment fairs and hiring events put on pause for the foreseeable future, most (if not all schools) are going to have to turn to online recruitment.
You might be wondering:
How can you get the most from your online recruitment process?
One of the most important tools for optimizing digital recruitment is an applicant tracking system (ATS).
In this article, we’ll answer a few common questions about applicant tracking systems.
- What is an applicant tracking system?
- Why do I need an applicant tracking system?
- How do I choose an applicant tracking system?
- What features should I look for in an applicant tracking system?
What is an applicant tracking system?
An applicant tracking system is a human resources software that enables you to fully manage your recruitment process.
Most applicant tracking systems have a few common functions and applications. Essentially, they’re used to digitally organize, search and communicate with a large number of applicants.
Here’s what you can do on a typical applicant tracking system:
- Post your jobs to an online job board.
- Manage your jobs by extending the duration they remain active or closing jobs you’ve received sufficient applications for.
- Review the applicants who’ve applied to your jobs.
Why do I need an applicant tracking system?
Before the rise of online recruitment, applicant tracking systems were unnecessary for most.
The simple fact is that most schools and employers used recruitment methods that didn’t create a need for an automated system.
However, with the rise of online recruitment came a whole new process. And with that, a whole new set of challenges.
Advertising jobs online means that schools open themselves up to a whole new global audience of teaching candidates.
It’s not uncommon for schools to receive dozens, even hundreds, of applications for an online job posting.
With such a massive quantity of applications coming in, you need a streamlined way to collect applications and keep track of applicants. Plus, you’ll need a centralized place where you can review applicants quickly.
You wouldn’t want to collect hundreds of applications by email and try to keep track of resumes, documents, and other details, would you?
Enter the applicant tracking system.
How do I choose an applicant tracking system?
There are many varieties of an ATS. Some are fairly rudimentary and others are quite sophisticated.
At the high end, there are standalone applicant tracking systems that organizations can purchase a license to (such as WorkDay, etc.). These options offer a robust solution to manage your recruitment process and often come at a high cost.
On the other hand, many international education recruitment companies offer access to an applicant tracking system as part of a recruitment subscription.
As with anything, the more bells and whistles you want, the more it will cost you.
But for the majority of international schools, we work with, a fairly simple applicant tracking system is more than enough to suit their needs.
Now, as you might expect, the features and functionality in an applicant tracking system available from one recruitment company will vary from what you might find in an ATS from another.
So let’s take a look at some of the more common features you might find in an applicant tracking system. What they do and how they can help you streamline and simplify your recruitment process.
What features should I look for in an applicant tracking system?
Manage jobs
Probably one of the most basic and fundamental things an applicant tracking system will enable you to do is to manage your jobs.
You can use the applicant tracking system to create your complete job posting and post your job so that it appears online on the job board or website of your choice.
Later you can update your job posting, extend the duration it displays on the website or job board, or remove the job once you’re ready to proceed to the next stage of your recruitment process.
Review applicants
Once you’ve received enough applicants and are ready to move forward in your process, an applicant tracking system will allow you to review all of your applicants.
A standard applicant tracking system will generally allow you to see all your applicants for each posting.
This allows you to keep your recruitment process organized so you’re not mixing up candidates between your various open roles.
Candidate profiles
When you’re ready to start reviewing applicant qualifications to narrow down your list of candidates, you need to be able to access pertinent candidate information.
Teachers that register with us are required to complete full candidate profiles so that hiring schools have access to as much information as possible – including personal information, educational background, work experience, and more.
Candidates are also encouraged to upload a resume, and copies of any necessary documents such as degrees, teaching licenses, etc.
This gives hiring schools access to all of the information they need to make informed decisions about candidates all in one place.
With all of the information you need at your fingertips, it’s easy to compare candidates and find the best fit for your open roles.
Update candidate status
Once you’ve reviewed a candidate, it’s handy to have the option to rate them or update their status as a candidate.
When you find a candidate you want to interview, it’s nice to have the ability to quickly update their status to ‘Interview’. Or if you want to add them to your shortlist you can update their status to ‘shortlist’
Similarly, if a candidate doesn’t meet your requirements, you can screen them out.
This is helpful in keeping your recruitment process running efficiently and effectively.
Filtering
Another handy feature to have in an applicant tracking system is the ability to filter candidates based on your specific criteria.
If you have specific criteria you’re looking for in a candidate, it can make your job much easier if you’re able to filter your list of applicants based on the candidates that match those criteria.
For example, if your country requires foreign teachers to have specific citizenships you can filter by citizenship.
Search candidate database
Most online recruitment follows a similar process: schools post their jobs online and wait for teachers to find the job posting and apply.
It’s a tried and true method of recruitment and one that’s worked for years.
Unfortunately, for some, sitting back and waiting for applications to come in is not a fruitful strategy.
Some schools, especially those in less-desirable locations or who aren’t able to offer the same compensation packages as their competitors, need to take a more proactive approach by going out and finding candidates and selling them on their opportunity.
Teach Away partner schools have the ability to access our Talent Pool at any point during the duration of their recruitment subscription and can filter the available pool of active job-seekers based on a variety of criteria.
School recruiters have the opportunity to reach out with customized messages and invite candidates to learn more about the school or apply to specific vacancies.
For schools that aren’t able to generate sufficient interest, accessing a database of teachers can make the difference between a good hire and a great one.
Artificial intelligence
A relatively new technology that can make the job of screening and evaluating candidates even more streamlined is artificial intelligence.
At Teach Away, our Teach Ai feature uses artificial intelligence to streamline your recruitment process.
This cutting-edge tool evaluates applicants based on your job criteria and recommends the best candidates for your jobs.
What’s more, Teach Ai gets better with time. The more you use it, the more our algorithm learns what you’re looking for in a candidate and adjusts its recommendations.
Artificial intelligence can significantly reduce the time and effort you spend on screening candidates.
What’s the best part?
Teach Ai allows you to focus on the most qualified candidates, so you can find your next great teacher faster.
Streamline your digital recruitment process with an applicant tracking system
When you leverage technology you’ll make recruitment easier, more efficient and get better results.
What’s the bottom line?
You’ll get the best teachers right in front of you faster.
Interested in upgrading your recruitment process? Contact one of our representatives to request a demo or learn more.
