In the current competitive talent pool, identifying the best candidate for your small, medium, or large-sized business is more difficult than ever. The Middle East labor & employment environment has undergone significant changes due to the rise of Applicant Tracking Software, with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, & Qatar in the lead. As per the Research estimates, the MENA region has the ability to generate over 10 million new jobs by 2050 because of strong industrial impact & dynamic development policies.
So, in response to this, businesses are seeking to optimize their hiring processes by reducing time-to-hire & cost-per-hire. And they can achieve this with Applicant Tracking Software that helps them to meet their goals in a short period. As it will allow them to implement automation & AI to streamline time-consuming & repetitive tasks, & help in building robust employer brands.
In this blog, we will explore the need, benefits, core features, real-world use cases, cost, and best practices of applicant tracking software that will help every business implement it in their hiring processes.
So, let’s start
What do you mean by Applicant Tracking System?
An applicant tracking system is a software application mainly for HR and recruiters to monitor candidates through the entire hiring & recruitment process. It allows recruiters or any other hiring managers who are also in this to directly send automated emails to all interested candidates, do their background checks, schedule an interview, & gather feedback from them. It also works as a dashboard from where HR or any hiring manager can easily manage job postings and job applications, which include job descriptions that you can post on different job platforms.
Applicant tracking software in Dubai even helps companies attract top talent by developing a robust employer brand through a career page. As ATS contains complete information about candidates, such as experience, location, skills, & more. So, you can track easily the application status, applied jobs, & get alerts & notifications even if you don’t remember.
Why Small & Large Businesses Need Applicant Tracking Software
Due to a highly competitive world, the hiring process has become so challenging, mainly for small businesses, as they don’t have much time & resources they spend on hiring candidates. So, to overcome this, small or medium-sized firms should consider applicant tracking software. As it will eliminate the need to prepare a spreadsheet & do a lot of paperwork to keep track of candidates, which will result in fewer errors and a faster hiring process.
-
Lost top talent
If you still rely on making spreadsheets and doing your hiring process, there are very high chances that you will lose talented candidates and also your money. It is estimated that top candidates leave the market within 10 days. So, make use of applicant software to onboard the top talent quickly and with less effort.
-
Reducing the Time to Hire
According to SHRM, the average time to fill a particular role is 36+ days. But if you don’t use the Applicant Tracking Software Dubai for recruitment and don’t implement automation, the time can increase. For small businesses, they must use recruiting software to reduce downtime with templated communication, built-in scheduling interviews, & pipeline tracking.
-
No structure
If you don’t make a proper plan, you might hire the wrong candidates with bad experience & inconsistent evaluations. An Applicant Tracking Software for small and medium-sized businesses will help you track applicants for every candidate & you can make more informed decisions.
-
Resume overloaded
Finding out the top candidates from hundreds of applications might be difficult and can take a lot of time. But with the right hiring software, businesses, mainly small firms, can make the hiring process easier through automation by shortlisting top talent & ranking them depending on the job fit.
-
Inefficient team collaboration
It might happen during the hiring process that HR or hiring managers may lack team collaboration, as they won’t be able to share feedback or monitor candidate progress on a single platform. But with ATS, information will pass to the entire hiring team, which will reduce delay in hiring, and there will be no miscommunication.
Core Benefits of Using Hiring Software Dubai for Small & Medium Businesses
With the use of the right hiring software in Dubai, businesses will be able to complete the hiring process more quickly and efficiently. Let’s look at the benefits of using applicant tracking software in today’s competitive world.
1. Improves collaboration
With the help of a cloud-enabled feature, your team will be able to leave feedback, review applicants, & make the hiring process faster. This will help to improve collaboration among the hiring team, and you can make better decisions.
2. Time-saving
With the help of applicant tracking software, it will be easy to schedule an interview, do resume parsing, & build in automation. This will save your time & you can complete the hiring process quickly as there will be no manual work.
3. Centralize everything
Hiring software will keep all the details in one place, such as candidate data, communication, & notes, so that recruiters don’t have to look at different places for every information. So, there will be no delay in the hiring process, and you can get the right candidate at the right time.
4. Enhances candidate quality
To hire the top talent quickly, hiring Applicant Tracking Software will allow you to apply filters and know their score, so that you can easily choose which candidate is fit for this role. And you can get the top candidate before your competitor does.
5. Strengthens employer branding
Hiring Applicant Tracking Software enables you to choose the top candidates quickly, which will help to improve your employer branding status in the market. This will attract top talent, and you will be able to achieve your goal more easily.
6. Ensures compliance
Hiring software complies with labor laws, regulations, & protects candidate information, which will allow all sizes of businesses to rely on this software for recruiting top talent.
How Much Does Applicant Tracking Software Cost in GCC?
It is not easy to provide an answer to this question: how much will it cost to develop applicant tracking software in the GCC due to the wide range of platforms, different pricing models, & extra services & modules. So, the total cost will be based on the size & the unique needs of the business.
| Company type | No of employees | Cost Range |
|---|---|---|
| Small | <100 | USD$3000 to USD$5,000 |
| Medium | 100 to 500 | USD$6,000 to USD$15,000 |
| Large | 500 to 5000 | USD$15,000 to USD$50,000+ |
| Enterprises | >5000 | USD$125,000 |
Key Features to Consider for Applicant Tracking Software
There are thousands of applicant tracing systems to select from, including global ATS providers, local, regional, & industry-specific solutions. According to Aptitude Research’s High-Volume Hiring Guide, 65% of firms with high-scale recruitment needs are not happy with their recent ATS. Many traditional applicant tracking software are not able to meet the needs of the modern recruitment process due to a lack of advanced features. So, ideally, you should integrate these features into your ATS so that it can meet the needs of today’s high-scale recruitment process.
1. Mobile Support
Every modern hiring software should allow recruiters to track applicants through mobile application development, schedule interviews, & attract top talent from anywhere and from any device. So, no matter where you live, there will be no delay in the hiring process.
2. Custom Workflows
Your hiring software should have a customized workflow so that you can make changes and apply filters based on your requirements, no matter whether you hire for a part-time or full-time employee.
3. Job Board Integration
Especially for small businesses, you should choose a hiring software that allows you to post on different platforms with the same dashboard and with a few clicks. This will fasten the hiring process.
4. Lightweight App tracking system
Small teams mainly need simplicity & speed, and don’t want high-end features like enterprises need. So, small companies should consider an intuitive, quick & basic system.
5. Automated Candidate Communication
An important feature for modern ATS is automated communication. This makes the work of the recruitment team easy as it will automatically send customized messages, interview links, & alerts to candidates through the entire hiring process.
6. Interview Scheduling Tools
Modern ATS integrated with advanced tools allows you to maintain a smooth coordination between candidates & the hiring team. These tools provide automated time slot recommendations, calendar syncing, & reminders. This will reduce conflict among the parties related to interview scheduling and help improve recruiter productivity.
Top 8 Applicant Tracking Systems for Businesses
Choosing the Best Applicant Tracking System in the UAE not only makes the process easy but also speeds it up. No matter whether you are a small, medium, or large business, finding the right ATS will be beneficial to meet your business objectives. Below, we have listed the in-depth insights about the top 8 applicant tracking systems for your business.
1. Zoho Recruit
Zoho Recruit comes out as one of the top ATS for small businesses that want to scale in a short period. It is a fully customizable & affordable platform, mainly useful if you are already using Zoho tools. It provides tools for scheduling interviews, handling candidate profiles, & communicating with team members.
Key features
- Custom Workflows
- Candidate assessments
- Multi-platform job posting
- AI-based resume analysis
Pros
- Custom automation workflow
- Available career portal
- Large reporting & analytics
Price: Free Plan (1 active job), paid from $25/user/month
2. Breezy HR
If you are looking for a free ATS, go for Breezy HR. It is mainly for startups and for those who need it occasionally, but in a structured format. There is unlimited user access in the free tier, and it is a perfect tool to start with.
Key features
- Automated messaging
- Resume analysis
- Branded career pages
- Drag-and-drop pipelines
Pros
- Success plan available
- Easy & user-friendly interface
- Incorporate with messaging platforms
Price: Free plan (1 active job), paid plans from $157/month
3. Recruitee
Recruitee is a high-grade, lightweight applicant tracking system that emphasizes collaboration. It’s ideal for cross-platform hiring, with user-friendly features & robust analytics. This will speed up the hiring process as your job posting is done on multiple platforms.
Key features
- Real-time evaluation dashboard
- E-mail template & automation
- Personalized hiring workflows
- Team scoring system
Pros
- Mobile app to monitor candidate interactions
- Multiple language support
- Workflow templates & job calendar
Price: Free Trial (18 days), paid plans from $249/month
4. Workable
Workable is an outstanding choice for startups that want to scale and reach global in less time. It blends with an intuitive user interface with strong automation & broad visibility.
Key features
- Feature-packed mobile app
- More than 200 job site integrations
- AI-based sourcing
- Hiring source automation
Pros
- Intuitive UI & easy to navigate
- Mobile app offers complete assistance
- Seamless integration with other platforms & tools
- User support
Price: Pay-per-job (~$129/job) & monthly plans from $149/month
5. Recruit CRM
Searching for both ATS for small businesses & CRM for startups? Recruit CRM is the right choice that combines both worlds. It’s good for those firms or teams handling a long-term candidate channel.
Key features
- Chrome extension for documenting
- Resume analysis & channel
- Interview scheduling tools
- Keep track of the client & candidate relationships
Pros
- Resume formatting
- Improved candidate engagement
- Reporting
- Candidate matching
Price: Free trial available, paid plans from $45/user/month
6. JazzHR
JazzHR is a modern ATS platform that allows teams to collaborate in one place for hiring decisions. So, there will be no miscommunication or conflicts among the hiring team, and the hiring process will be completed smoothly.
Key features
- Team reviews collection tools
- Email template management
- Recruiting roadmap management
Pros
- Custom reporting available
- Automated task control
- Email sync potential
Price: $116.00/month when billed annually
7. Rippling
Rippling acts as a comprehensive tool that merges HR, finance, & IT systems. It is developed to scale, no matter what the size of your business, providing large-scale automation with benefits, time tracking, mobile device control, & more.
Key features
- Built-in compliance monitoring in all 50 states
- Customizable interview phases & channel control
- Latest permissions & role-based controls
- Automated offer letters & onboarding in 90 sec
Pros
- Proactive consent tracking with automated suggestions
- Automated localization support in more than 185 countries
- Pre-made workflow designs with 100+ recipes
Price: Free demo available, Pricing upon request
8. Lever
Lever comes up with both ATS & CRM potential based on talent acquisition. Here you will find everything that helps you to hire faster, smarter, & more strategically, all in one place.
Key features
- Custom hiring management
- Visual insights for channel control
- 300+ integrations with HR & recruitment tools
Pros
- Large integration option
- Robust candidate relationship
- Brief analytics capabilities
Price: Based on your business requirement
How to choose the top applicant tracking software for your business?
With so many options available in the market, it might be difficult for businesses to choose the right applicant tracking software. But we have made it easy for you by providing you with the reasons that you should look at before choosing any ATS for your business.
1. Budget Alignment
If you are cost-effective, you should go for a free or low-cost ATS platform such as Zoho Recruit. It provides key functionalities with no premium price tag. You can explore Workable & Recruit CRM if you have strong needs, as they offer value with a premium price structure.
2. Team Size & Hiring Demand
If you have small business teams and look for occasional hiring needs, then a lightweight applicant tracking system such as Zoho Recruit & Breezy HR will be best for you. But if you do large-scale hiring across different departments, go for Recruitee & Workable with multiple workflow options & advanced automation.
3. Technology
You should choose an ATS that works best with your HR, Payroll, & collaboration tools. For example, you can use Zoho Recruit, which operates well with the Zoho ecosystem, or you can also go for Recruitee, which integrates well with Slack & G Suite.
4. Scalability & Growth
Pick an ATS that will help grow your business. So, if at any time your hiring requirements expand, the system should be able to support more candidates, advanced operations, & new integrations with no need for you to change platforms.
5. Industry Specific
If you are hiring for the Tech industry, you should look for API off-the-shelf tools with developer-friendly features that work best for you. For staffing firms, they should choose Recruit CRM that includes an API with CRM, and it will be easy for them to track both clients & candidates.
6. User Experience & Support
Your ATS must be easy to use, intuitive, & simple for HR teams & hiring managers to use. Reliable user support & training are also important to solve problems fast and ensure seamless adoption.
The right practices for executing an Applicant Tracking System
For a hassle-free ATS execution experience, proper planning, implementation, & effort are needed. Look for these practices to implement an applicant tracking software that works smoothly on every platform.
-
Define your recruitment process
First, you need to identify the different phases of the recruitment process, such as conducting interviews, scheduling interviews, resume parsing, & engaging top talent. You should outline the business process and workflows that match your goal of developing an ATS. After that, determine the core metrics you will monitor in the ATS, like cost per hire, time to hire, offer acceptance ratio, & so on.
-
Built an ATS Execution Team
When you are implementing the ATS, you should make a proper plan and execute it in a well-organized way. If you are making any changes in your existing ATS or developing a new ATS, you should inform all the hiring managers, HR, or clients about this. So, that all should be on the same page, and there will be no miscommunication.
-
Arrange for data migration
Data migration consists of the following steps:
- Choose a migration method
- Find out existing data in every location, like HRIS, spreadsheets, existing ATS, and job portals.
- Identify the source & destination fields
- Clean, organize, & verify data
-
Set up & Personalize your ATS
Now that you have collected the data, you should work with the clients and hiring team to customize the ATS to meet their requirements. You should discuss and create a customized application form for candidates or provide an option to customize job searches. All these things you need to know in advance.
-
Test your ATS
With the help of beta, you can test your Applicant Tracking Software without creating any issues for the whole organization. You should invite users to test your features, integrations, & workflows of the Applicant Tracking Software and provide feedback depending on their experience. This will help make the changes before launching it to the entire organization.
The Future of Applicant Tracking Software For Businesses
As the Middle East emerges as an evolving economy, firms are most inclined to adopt new tools & technologies like applicant tracking software to grow their business & stay competitive. A few future trends that companies should consider to stand out in the curve.
AI-powered automation
AI–based automation allows companies to speed up the screening process, as it will allow them to set the interviews, shortlist candidates, and show suggestions based on preferences. This will streamline the workflows and also make it easy for the hiring team to hire the top candidate quickly.
Bias reduction through AI
With AI, there is a greater possibility that the right candidate will get selected first and not those for whom a reference has been given. In that case, skilled candidates might lose the chance to get selected, but with AI, it will do the screening part and find out the best candidate.
Predictive analytics for talent prediction
Firms are making use of predictive analytics to attract the top talent based on their interview, employee performance, improve diversity, & predict future hiring requirements. This will give a positive look to the employer brand, employee retention, & more.
Enhanced candidate matching with AI
Modern ATS will allow us to improve candidate matching with AI. So, HR or hiring managers don’t have to see one by one the candidate’s resume, but by applying filters or setting the scoring, they can find which candidate is fit for this role.
Conclusion
The hiring environment is changing so quickly, and to cope with that, businesses need to adopt modern applicant tracking software and make their hiring process smarter & more faster. From AI-based screening to automated scheduling, businesses are using applicant tracking software to remove guesswork, save time, and reduce costs, which will give them a competitive advantage in this.
Being a renowned software development company in Dubai, TechGropse specializes in developing smart applicant tracing software for all sizes of businesses. We make sure that our Applicant Tracking Software solutions will be scalable, flexible, & lightweight, so that they can be used easily by small businesses. We integrate ATS with CRM solutions so that large firms can streamline the hiring process and choose the top candidates before their competitors do. So, if you are looking for the best software development companies in the UAE for custom ATS, contact us today.
FAQs
A modern ATS assists with compliance & rules in the following methods:
- Organize processes & maintain actual records
- Making reports, staying compliant with rules
- Reserve candidate data by protecting their sensitive information
Key features that you should include in your ATS are:
- Custom Workflows
- Mobile Support Lightweight
- App tracking system
- Job Board Integration
- Interview Scheduling Tools
Yes, ATS assists with email control by generating automated emails, allowing you to monitor email history, develop goal campaigns, & offering tools for recruiters to collaborate at a single platform.
The cost of an ATS will depend on the size & specific needs of your business. So, if you have a large team & hiring is done frequently, you may need to invest more & choose an ATS that works best for you.
The most famous ATS software on the market is Workday, which is widely used by large companies, whereas Greenhouse & Lever are mainly used by startups or small companies, and it depends on the job postings.
No, it is not only for large firms, but it is now used by small or medium-sized companies to make their hiring process faster & smarter and attract the top candidate at the right time.
Hello All, Aman Mishra has years of experience in the IT industry. His passion for helping people in all aspects of mobile app development. Therefore, He write several blogs that help the readers to get the appropriate information about mobile app development trends, technology, and many other aspects.In addition to providing mobile app development services in USA, he also provides maintenance & support services for businesses of all sizes. He tried to solve all their readers' queries and ensure that the given information would be helpful for them.
