Attracting top PHP talent requires foresight, planning, and commitment. One way you can ensure your hiring process finds the best talent is to use an applicant tracking system. An applicant tracking system is a computer software program that helps you handle your hiring process by pre-screening resumes, ranking them, analyzing the data and scoring them. It then forwards the top candidates that you can proceed with to the interview stage.

How do applicant tracking systems work?

An applicant tracking system (ATS) streamlines the recruiting process from job posting to making an offer. To use an ATS, you first create a listing for your job opening. The job listing should be as detailed as possible for the ATS to better match you with candidates who fit the job description.

As the resumes stream in, the ATS organizes and stores them. It then scans and sorts the resumes based on what you have input. For example, using education level, skills, job experience and  keywords such as Laravel, Phalcon, symfony etc.

The resumes that tick the boxes rank with a high score and proceed to the interview stage. At the same time, the ATS will show you if it is a new applicant, the interview stage, and if the offer has been extended.

Which applicant tracking systems are available?

Back in the day, recruiters would advertise a position and wait for applications to trickle in through the mail. Thanks to the internet, things have changed. Now pretty much all job applications are digitized and done through the web.

As things have digitized, recruiters find it overwhelming to keep up with applications. The traditional excel spreadsheets can’t cut it. Thanks to ATSs, recruiters can now handle hundreds, if not thousands, of applications.

Currently, in the market, there are over 350 application tracking systems. This article will show you some of the top ATSs available in the market and what they have to offer.

1. Test Gorilla

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Test Gorilla is an applicant tracking system with 251 scientifically proven tests that help employers test candidates’ job skills. For example, if you’re looking to hire a PHP developer, there are PHP interview questions you can give to candidates to test their knowledge.

It also has psychometric tests that will help you assess the personality of a candidate and determine if they will be suitable for the position and the likelihood of them succeeding in the role in the long term.

Test Gorilla gives all applicants an equal, unbiased opportunity, eliminating hiring bias from the employer. In the end, as an employer, you hire a diverse team from all walks of life.

2. Jobvite

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Jobvite is an ATS software that helps you attract, engage, hire, and keep talent. It offers employer branding, recruitment marketing, application management, onboarding, social recruiting, employee referrals, and internal mobility.

Its notable customers include Hulu, Premise Health, Zappos, Shutterfly, Schneider Electric, Genuine Parts Company, National Automotive Parts Association, and Toys R US, among others.

Pricing: Custom

Features

• Employee referrals
• Automatic screening of candidates
• Interview-based candidate ranking
• Mobile-friendly candidate application
• Smart Scheduler feature that picks the best time to schedule an interview
• Maintains a single record for all conversations with a candidate across all channels
• A search tool that enables you to search for a candidate by name, location, date of application, keywords, workflow, etc.

Pros

• Robust social recruiting tools set
• Simple recruiting funnel management
• Customizable solutions
• Unlimited job link tracking
• Simple application process where candidates do not have to log in
• Low application abandonment rate
• Highly responsive customer service

Cons

• Not all the fields on the hiring side can transfer to the onboarding side
• Reports are clunky, hard to use and follow

3. iCIMS

iCIMS, a Talent Cloud company that attracts, engages, hires, and advances the talent that builds a winning workforce. It is very scalable, mobile friendly and can process thousands of candidate applications and employee data, making it ideal for large organizations.

The platform comprises the Recruitment Marketing Suite, Hiring Suite, Advanced Communications Suite, and UNIFi–iCIMS’ integrated ecosystem of partner products and services.

Pricing: Custom

Features

• Applicant Tracking
• Assessment Management
• Background Screening
• Candidate Tracking
• Communication Management
• E-Verify/I-9 Forms
• Employee Onboarding
• Interview Management
• Reporting/Analytics
• Resume Database
• Skill Assessment & Scoring
• Social Media Integration

Pros

• Easy to use and reliable in tracking every step in the hiring cycle
• Can schedule multiple candidates over multiple interview times.
• Simple to attach documents through all the stages of the hiring process, i.e., onboarding documents, benefits guides, privacy agreements, etc.
• Seamless communication and tracking with candidates using the Text Recruit feature

Cons

• Difficulty in using the reporting feature
• Lackluster design-wise compared to other ATS
• Slows down when you open one too many tabs
• It has a steep learning curve before you get a hang of it
• Slow customer support

4. BambooHR 

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Ben Peterson and Ryan Sanders started BambooHR in 2008. BambooHR is a comprehensive ATS software that streamlines and centralizes recruiting and employee management into a single database.

Since it started, it has served over 20,000+ companies. Its notable clientele includes Reddit, Asana, Quora, Universal Group, Postmates, Change.org, University of Maryland, Grammarly, Wistia, Stance, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and ZipRecruiter.

BambooHR best serves small and medium businesses with up to 300 employees.

Pricing: Free 7-day trial after which custom pricing

Features

• Applicant tracking system
• Centralized employee database
• Employee Self-Service
• Performance management
• Reports / Analytics
• Phone and email support
• Open API
• Supports six languages (English, French, Spanish, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch)
• eSignature
• No long-term contract
• Free trial

Pros

• Free 7-day trial
• Tailored pricing with the option to add or remove features
• It has a mobile app that you can use on the go
• Clean and easy-to-navigate user interface

Cons

• Only US-based employees can access payroll
• Customer support is only available during US business hours
• Features like time tracking, surveys, payroll, and performance management are only available as add-ons
• Doesn’t support expense management
• Doesn’t run benefits directly in BambooHR

5. VanHack

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VanHack is a platform that seeks to create a borderless world by connecting tech talent worldwide. It helps tech companies source and hire the best international talent. Headquartered in Vancouver, it has a membership of over 215,000 members (mainly software engineering talent) from 100+ countries. The talent is available on-demand to work remotely or relocate.

VanHack has a 100% free ATS platform that supports unlimited users and jobs. To manage applications, it has a Kanban pipeline that streamlines the whole recruiting process from start to finish. The key selling point of VanHack is its ability to connect recruiters with top tech talent within 48 hours.

Employers are only charged when they hire a candidate. The fee per hire is 20% of the annual salary of the hire, with a 3 months 100% refund guarantee in the event the new hire doesn’t make it past probation.

Features

• Unlimited users
• Access to a talent pool of over 250,000 candidates
• Global Mobility Team that helps with relocation and visa processing
• Only charge employers when a candidate is hired
• Virtual hiring fairs
• Speed-recruiting events
• Code challenges and tests to narrow down applicants
• Google Calendar and Outlook integrations make it easy for interview management

Pros

• Free ATS, no credit card or the trial period required
• Supports enterprise-wide hiring processes from job application to hire
• Easy and quick to post jobs
• Simple visual tracking of candidates through your hiring pipeline
• Automated notifications of your hiring process.

Cons

• The English verification will lock you out if you’re not fluent in English
• The hiring process may take 3-6 months before you fill it up with a developer who wants to move.

6. Manatal

Manatal is an AI recruitment software with multilingual capability that helps companies source and hire candidates faster. It’s tailored for HR teams, recruitment agencies, and headhunters. With Manatal, you can post your job on 2,500+ free and premium job channels; including global, local, and specialized job platforms.

Being that it is powered by AI, Manatal suggests the best candidates for a job based on job requirements, therefore hastening the screening process. It also automates the screening process further by doing redundant tasks. The Kanban board gives a visual overview of the recruitment process and its customizable pipeline gives a smooth flow of candidate passing.

Pricing: Free 14-day trial, professional plan starts from $15 per user/month

Features

• Indexation of CV/resume based on skills, education, and experience on the candidate profile
• AI filtration and recommendation of candidates based on the job description
• CV/resume parsing and data enrichment
• Candidate quick search, advanced search & Boolean search
• Outlook/Office 365 & G Suite/Gmail Integration
• Open API Access
• Data import tools for jobs, candidates, contacts, clients or departments (CSV & JSON file formats)

Pros

• AI-based algorithms for candidate filtering, scoring, and ranking
• Compatible with desktop, tablet, and mobile and is 100% cloud-based
• Easy-to-use and adopt and requires little or no orientation to use
• ATS has an automatic CVS search
• Free trial
• Value for money
• Intuitive interface

Cons

• The AI recommendation function does not work as well with other languages other than English
• Free job board posting feature is not available with the free trial

Final thoughts

Application tracking systems have revolutionized the traditional hiring process. With ATSs, you can handle the entire hiring process from start to finish without the headache of manually having to go through resumes or navigate large spreadsheets.

There are various ATSs in the market, and most are customizable to the recruiters’ needs. To get started, check out the above software and select one that caters to your needs.