Glossary
Applicant tracking system (ATS)
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software that stores job openings, applications and candidate records, and moves candidates through the stages of a hiring process.
An ATS is the system of record for hiring. It’s where job posts are created, applications land, candidates move from stage to stage, and the history of every decision is kept.
What an ATS typically does
- Publishes jobs to your careers page and job boards.
- Collects applications, including résumés and form answers.
- Tracks stages, such as applied, screening, interviewing, offer, hired.
- Stores notes and feedback from interviewers.
- Sends emails to candidates, often from templates.
- Reports on volume, time to hire and source of hire.
- Keeps records for compliance and audits.
What it usually doesn’t do
Most ATS products are built to organize candidates, not to assess them in depth. They can apply knockout questions and keyword filters, but they don’t interview anyone or evaluate spoken answers. Teams add separate tools for assessments, scheduling and interviews, then bring the results back into the ATS.
Common myths
- “The ATS rejects most résumés automatically.” Only if it’s configured to. Many ATS rejections are knockout questions or filters someone on the team set up.
- “You need special formatting to beat the ATS.” Clean, readable résumés parse well. Tricks like hidden keywords mostly annoy the humans who read them later.
- “A new ATS will fix our process.” It will organize whatever process you have, good or bad.
Choosing and using one
For a team hiring a handful of people a year, a spreadsheet or a simple tracker may be enough. Once several people are involved in hiring, or you’re hiring continuously, an ATS pays for itself in fewer lost candidates and a clearer record.
Keep the stages in the system matching what actually happens. If “Screening” means three different things on three different teams, the reports won’t mean much.
How screening tools fit
A pre-screening or AI interview tool usually sits between “applied” and “interviewing.” Results either sync into the ATS through an integration or move across by export. LessRounds doesn’t offer ATS integrations yet. Results can be exported to CSV and imported or attached from there.