Definition
What is an applicant tracking system (ATS)?
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software that helps a company manage its hiring process, from receiving applications to tracking candidates through each stage to a hiring decision. It centralizes candidate information, organizes resumes and CVs, and moves applicants through defined recruitment stages, replacing scattered emails and spreadsheets during hiring.
What an applicant tracking system does
An ATS gives recruiters and hiring managers one place to run a hiring process. Rather than tracking candidates across inboxes and spreadsheets, the system holds each applicant's details and shows where they are in the pipeline. Typical capabilities include:
- Storing candidate profiles, resumes, and contact details in one place
- Moving candidates through stages such as new, interviewed, hired, or rejected
- Extracting details from a resume or CV to reduce manual data entry
- Keeping notes and documents attached to each candidate
Why companies use an ATS
As soon as a role attracts more than a handful of applicants, keeping track by hand becomes error-prone. An ATS keeps every candidate visible and consistent, so no applicant is lost and the hiring team shares the same view of who is at which stage. It speeds up hiring, reduces duplicate effort, and creates a record of the process.
Resume and CV extraction
A common time-saver is automatic extraction, where the system reads an uploaded resume or CV and pulls structured details such as name, contact information, job title, and skills into a candidate record. This removes the repetitive typing of copying details out of each document, so recruiters can review candidates rather than re-key data.
How this works in Belvak
Belvak includes built-in recruitment, so hiring lives alongside the rest of your operations. Candidates move through active, interviewed, hired, and rejected statuses, and uploading a CV extracts key fields into the candidate profile so you spend less time on data entry.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does an applicant tracking system do?
It centralizes hiring: storing candidate details and resumes, moving applicants through recruitment stages, and keeping notes and documents in one place. It replaces the scattered emails and spreadsheets teams otherwise use to track candidates.
What is CV or resume extraction in an ATS?
Extraction reads an uploaded resume or CV and pulls structured details such as name, contact information, job title, and skills into a candidate record. It removes the repetitive typing of copying details out of each document.
Do small companies need an ATS?
Once a role attracts more than a few applicants, tracking candidates by hand becomes error-prone. An ATS keeps every candidate visible and the hiring team aligned, which helps even for occasional hiring.