Best ATS Platforms in 2026

Recruitment, HR & ATS working together

Recruitment is summarised as the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for available jobs within an organization. Recruitment can also relate to the steps involved in identifying and selecting volunteers for unpaid roles

There are 7 stages involved in a recruitment process:

• Identifying the Hiring Needs ie expected (or desired( skills, salary & experience
• Preparing the Job Description for advertisement
• Talent Search. Ranging from working with external recruitment agencies to advertising on global job boards such as gigexchange.com
• Screening and Shortlisting. Filtering out the top talent via applicant profiles/CVs
• Interviewing. 1st & 2nd stage as well as technical testing
• Evaluation and Offer of Employment. Selection process between HR/TA & Hiring manager
• Introduction and Induction of the New Employee. Employment offer & onboarding

The purpose for hiring employees is to employ new talent into the organisation that has the expertise required to complete work tasks and fill a role vital to a business. This improves the performance and capability of the business, which indirectly leads to increased sales, productivity and profits. Alternatively, hiring interns or juniors may mean the new recruits do not have the necessary skills or experience to add value to the business immediately, but in the long run will do so.

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is used by companies to organize candidates during the hiring and recruitment process. These platforms allow businesses to collect information and organize and classify applicants based on experience and skill set, then filter applicants.

ATS can streamline certain recruitment tasks and increase efficiency when hiring or interviewing especially a large pool of job applicants. A good ATS enables the hiring manager to list job descriptions, manage job applications, select interview candidates, and move progress them through the hiring process.