Improving Applicant Tracking Systems for Both Employers and Job Candidates

It's long been known that job seekers hate applicant tracking systems (ATS), and with many, many good reasons. But it turns out, many employers hate them too. Take a look at Dave Zielinki's article in SHRM's HR Magazine, "7 Reasons to Love Your ATS: Thanks to recent advances, the long-maligned applicant tracking system may now be more help than headache." ATS are quickly improving, and that's good for both sides of the hiring table.

Zielinki details seven changes:

1. More-intuitive user interfaces and improved integration capability.

2. Improved candidate experiences.

3. Savvy social recruiting and integrated assessment.

4. Job board integration.

5. Robust analytics.

6. Emergence of the talent acquisition suite.

7. Increase automation and configurable workflows.

While this is good news all around, it's also an opportunity for me to remind lawyers that if they're job search is depend upon successfully working through the twists and turns of ATS, then they're making a mistake. Uploading your legal resume to a job board or in response to a job ad is unlikely to land your legal dream job. 

Remember that word on the street is that up to 85% of job opportunities are never advertised. Instead, networking is still the number one way to find new job and career opportunities. So rejoice that ATS is improving, but lawyers should spend less time surfing the net and uploading their resumes, and more time making meaningful connects.