10 Questions to ask before you look for a new ATS.

Written By Darren .

1) Do we need a new ATS or can we simply optimize the one we already have?

  • Often ATS systems are under designed and under utilized. Generally, it’s because there is no resource at the company dedicated to those tasks. Buying a new ATS will not solve these problems. It may be easier and cheaper to relaunch the ATS you have today rather than putting something new in place.

2) How many employees do we have?

  • Simple question but this is key to your budget. Most vendors charge per employee including contractors.

3) What is our budget?

  • The yearly cost of an ATS solution can range from $2000 to several million per year. A robust requirements gathering process will help you determine what your needs are how much it will cost to need those requirements.

4) Will we need the ATS to integrate with our HRIS?

  • Integrating the ATS with your HRIS is a large commitment, is expensive, and requires support from your People team members who own the HRIS. But there are many advantages in the areas of requisition creation, data integrity, and onboarding.

5) Do we have the internal resources for this project?

  • An ATS implementation is a large complex project that requires a significant time commitment from multiple internal stakeholders including Recruiters, your People Ops team, IT, project managers and whoever manages your careers site.

6) Who will own the ATS after launch?

  • Protect your investment by making sure you have the resources for continued optimization after the initial launch.

7) How robust of a data and analytics solution do we need?

8) Are my expectations tempered around what a new ATS can and can not do for me?

  • Sometimes a company will believe that a new system will help them solve internal problems around bad processes. A new ATS will not solve these problems. You will need to redesign bad processes before you implement a new ATS (or during the process).

9) Do we have an internal resource to be the Project Owner?

  • This stakeholder will make the final decisions on all things related to process and design. This is usually the VP of Talent Acquisition. A new ATS launch will require considerable time from this stakeholder.

10) Do we need an external resource to project manage this entire process?

Darren .
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10 Initial Questions to ask when evaluating an ATS vendor.