“The ATS is nothing more than a digital filing cabinet.” Those of us active on LinkedIn & the recruiting blogosphere are very familiar with this line & the drama with career coaches the line is meant to challenge in order to help jobseekers. However, is this really the case? Is the ATS really akin to a “digital filing cabinet?” Therefore, is repeating ad nauseum the digital filing cabinet line helpful?
Greetings fellow TA professionals in the HR.com community. I am Evan Herman. I am the new Chief Evangelist for HR.com’s Talent Tech Marketplace and your “Recruiter in Residence” available to collaborate with our global talent acquisition practitioner members. Today I would like to share something that has been on my mind for several years.
I am increasingly questioning the entire recruiting narrative that the ATS is "nothing more than just a digital filing cabinet." This idea has never sat right with me. There is something fundamentally wrong with going against your own best judgments & gut instincts. Therefore, I am pressing on today with openly challenging this narrative.
To me, the entire idea that the ATS is “merely a digital filing cabinet” is not true or fair. Files are static & stored. Applications are not. Applications of all types, not just job applications, need to be processed & moved forward & closed out. If anything in recruiting is akin to a digital filing cabinet for recruiters, it is the CRM system, not the ATS.
In no other comparable business system or process is this filing cabinet metaphor used. Perhaps this is my financial services background & bias talking here. However, a job application is most akin to filling out a loan application or filing an insurance claim; it is not akin to putting in your paperwork to be stored in the file cabinet or warehouse.
Loans are processed. Insurance claims are processed. Similarly, job applications need to be processed by a processing system, not a storing system. Filing cabinets are for storing, not processing. I think it is time we recruiters find a better metaphor for the ATS than labeling it "a digital filing cabinet."
Perhaps this can move the needle or at least change the conversation to something more constructive to help jobseekers understand what is happening behind the ATS & job applications curtains. We all know that a lot more is happening in the ATS besides just a digital resume being stored in the database & collecting digital dust. We need to relay this recruiting reality to jobseekers.
I hope changing the ATS narrative can help everyone in talent acquisition work more collaboratively on LinkedIn & the blogosphere with our career coach partners out there. I am aware of what many of you may think about career coaches.
No doubt a lot of false myths are spread by career coaches out there. However, we recruiters should remember, it is not just about being right. The “recruiting reality,” as I call it, is that no human in the dark is ever happy when someone else suddenly turns on the light.
Jobseekers are no different in this regard. A different approach & a better ATS metaphor is required to help jobseekers and career coaches understand exactly what happens after they submit an application online. We need to concede to jobseekers that their applications are not just stored in a digital filing cabinet. A more truthful metaphor about the ATS, I believe, can set us free from the distracting drama & controversy clogging LinkedIn about ATS systems.
