I like everything about our ATS
30%
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
26
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What Is the Candidate Experience Like?
Finding: Many have no way to gauge the
quality of the candidate experience
We asked participants how they measure whether candidates have a positive experience when using their organization’s ATS. The most common answer to this question is, “We have no way of gauging their experience,” cited by 44%. As troubling as this appears, this actually represents a modest improvement over 2019 (47%) and 2018 (52%).
Among those that do measure such experience, their most widely-used measurement tool is candidate surveys, closely followed by written feedback from candidates. In the write-in portion of this question, some respondents also mention directly asking candidates about their experience.
Even among those that measure, they may not measure the experience of every candidate. One participant specified, for example, that they only seek feedback from candidates who made the first screening cut.
Someone who abandoned their application and a candidate who made it through several screenings may have very different experiences and pain points. Gathering data from all types of candidates can make these systems more robust.
Survey Question: How does your organization measure whether candidates are having a positive experience using the ATS?
(select all that apply)
We have no way of gauging their experience 44%
Candidate surveys
31%
Written feedback from candidates
29%
Abandonment rates
26%
0
10
20
30
40
50
27
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Finding: About half believe the candidate experience with their ATS is good or
excellent
Among the subgroup that can gauge candidate experience, 53% say their ATS delivers a good or excellent candidate experience. Although this sounds somewhat impressive, we should remember that this is only a minority of all organizations with an ATS. Many do not measure the candidate experience at all.
We believe it is important to both measure and, when possible, improve the candidate experience. As the old adage says, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” The candidate experience with the ATS often represents this one chance.
Survey Question: Based on feedback and/or usage data, how would you describe the overall experience of applicants/candidates with your ATS system?
Excellent
15%
Good
38%
Average
40%
Below average
5%
Poor
2%
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
28
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Finding: Even with so many having no way to measure the experience, a significant majority have taken steps to improve the candidate experience in the last two years We asked respondents, “Has your organization embarked on a project to improve the candidate experience in the last two years?” Sixty-nine percent say they have done so, which is about the same as in 2019
(70%). Therefore, whether organizations are measuring the quality of the candidate experience or not, most are involved in some effort to improve it. This demonstrates the continued importance of candidate experience in the minds of most recruitment and HR experts.
Survey Question: Has your organization embarked on a project to improve the candidate experience in the last two years?
31%
No
69%
Yes
29
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In What Ways Do High-Performing and
Lower-Performing TA Organizations
Differ?
Finding: High-performing TA firms appear to provide a better candidate experience
More than two-thirds of respondents from high-performing TA firms (66%) say their organization provides a good or excellent candidate experience. In contrast, just 24% of the lower-performing TA firms say the same thing, albeit with none saying they provide an excellent candidate experience.
Just as striking are the percentages of these cohorts saying they provide a below average or poor experience. In high-performing TA organizations, a scant 2% say they provide a below average experience and none of them say the experience is poor. In the lower-performing TA firms, 18%
say their candidate experience is either below average or poor. These findings are virtually unchanged from 2019.
Survey Question: Based on feedback and/or usage data, how would you describe the overall experience of applicants/candidates with your ATS system?
High-performing TA firms
45%
21%
66%
Lower-performing TA firms
24%
24%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Good
Excellent
30
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Finding: The ATS in high-performing TA firms perform a variety of tasks at higher levels than those in lower-performing TA firms High-performing TA firms get higher levels of performance from their ATS across the board. In what may help explain the different quality of the candidate experience, 77% of high-performing TA firms say their ATS
is good at customizing the application process, compared to 34% of lower-performing TA firms. High-performing TA firms also say their ATS
offers candidates a high-quality experience at a much higher rate than lower-performing TA firms—77% to just 36%.
More than half of both cohorts say their ATS is good at tracking candidates through the process. But that is only one of two tasks that more than half of lower-performing TA firms say their ATS performs well, along with “providing notifications and alerts.” Conversely, there are no tasks that fewer than half of higher-performing TA firms say their ATS
performs well, with the lowest being automatically matching candidates to the right job postings at 60%.
Just 63% of lower-performing TA firms say their ATS is good or very good at tracking candidates compared with nearly all of high-performing TA firms. Tracking candidates is the most basic function an ATS should be able to do, yet more than a third of lower performers aren’t happy with the most crucial of tasks.
31
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Survey Question: How good is your organization's ATS
at the following tasks?
[Percent responding good or very good]
Tracking candidates as they
91%
move through the process
63%
81%
Providing notifications and alerts
54%
Customizing the application
77%
process to specific needs of
34%
different jobs
Giving the candidate a
77%
high-quality experience
36%
Routing jobs and offers for
75%
executive approval
49%
Reporting mandatory compliance
75%
data in a format that is easy to
understand
39%
71%
Building or incorporating
useful dashboards
30%
Tracking key performance indicators (e.g., 71%
quality of hire, time to fill)
34%
Automatically matching candidates to
60%
the right job postings and alerting the 25%
recruiter
0
20
40
60
80
100
High-performing TA firms
Lower-performing TA firms
32
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Finding: High-performing TA firms make
greater use of their ATS capabilities
As we just saw, ATS in high-performing TA firms are more likely to perform every task at a higher level than in lower-performing TA firms.
While we can’t say for certain the data are clearly related, 76% of higher-performing TA firms say that they utilize “all or most” of the capabilities of their ATS, compared to just 48% of lower-performing TA firms. It seems fair to infer that the firms utilizing more of the capabilities of their ATS would see better overall performance, and the data supports such an inference.
Survey Question: Does your organization utilize all or most of the capabilities of its ATS?
76%
Yes
48%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
High-performing TA firms
Lower-performing TA firms
33
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Finding: High-performing TA firms gauge the quality of the candidate experience at much higher levels than their lower-performing peers
Why do high-performing TA firms provide a better overall candidate experience? One key factor may be that they bother to measure that experience, with only 40% saying they have no way to gauge the candidate experience. In contrast, 53% of lower-performing firms have no way to gauge the candidate experience.
Among those that do measure employee experience, high-performing TA firms are considerably more likely to use candidate surveys and obtain written feedback from candidates.
Survey Question: How does your organization measure whether candidates are having a positive experience using the ATS? (select all that apply)
40%
We have no way of gauging
their experience
53%
33%
Candidate surveys
28%
35%
Written feedback from
candidates
17%
29%
Abandonment rates
19%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
High-performing TA firms
Lower-performing TA firms
34
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Finding: High-performing TA firms are
almost twice as likely to say they are
satisfied or very satisfied with their ATS
High-performing TA firms are far more likely to be satisfied or very satisfied with their ATS. Since these organizations are also far more likely to utilize more capabilities of their ATS, they most likely have a deeper understanding of the capabilities and how they can benefit their organizational recruiting needs.
Survey Question: Overall, how satisfied are you with your applicant tracking system (ATS)?
[Percent responding satisfied and very satisfied]
86%
