Applicant tracking systems (ATS) used to be simple databases. Now, they’re crowded, complex ecosystems. There are hundreds (arguably thousands) of tools calling themselves ATS, hiring platforms, talent suites, or recruiting OS.
For People and Talent leaders, that’s a problem:
- Everyone claims to “revolutionize hiring”
- Demos all look good in isolation
- Buying the wrong system locks you into years of workarounds, manual hacks, and low adoption
This ATS buyer’s guide is designed to cut through the noise and help you choose the right ATS for the way your team actually hires—not the way vendors think you should.
We’ll walk through:
- How to understand your hiring DNA
- Which stakeholders to involve (and when)
- How to build requirements that aren’t just endless feature spreadsheets
- How to run effective demos
- What to do after the demo
- Vendor red flags and green lights
- What to double-check before signing
Throughout, we’ll keep the lens on scalability, compliance, and real-life recruiter workflows—the things that actually matter.
The ATS Market: Why It Feels Like a Maze
The ATS market is messy because:
- Some vendors are minimalist trackers
- Some are full talent acquisition suites
- Others sit inside HRIS or HCM platforms
- Many don’t even use the phrase “ATS” anywhere
On top of that, HR tech moves fast—AI features, new integrations, changing data/privacy rules, and evolving candidate expectations.
That’s why it’s dangerous to choose an ATS based on a glossy 3-year roadmap. You’ll likely outgrow your assumptions in 12 months. Instead, your ATS decision should be anchored in:
- How you hire right now
- How you expect to hire in the next 12–18 months
- What absolutely must work flawlessly every single day
STEP 1: Define Your Hiring DNA
Before you even book a demo, get crystal clear on how hiring really works inside your organization. That’s your hiring DNA.
i. Map the Basics
Ask:
Volume & speed
- How many roles do you hire for each year?
- Are you hiring steadily, or in big spikes (e.g., seasonal, post-funding)?
Role mix
- Are you hiring tech, frontline, buyers, field roles, execs?
- Do different role families need different workflows?
Locations
- Single-country hiring or global?
- Do you need different processes for countries, entities, or brands?
Selection style
- Fast, lean, two-interview processes?
- Or structured, multi-stage hiring with panels and assessments?
Candidate experience priorities
- Are you competing heavily on employer brand and experience?
- Or is your priority operational efficiency and speed?
Team structure & capability
- Lean TA team wearing multiple hats vs. large specialized team
- Are you a “loves configuring workflows” team or “just give us something simple that works”?
In a recent piece by HR.com - It says while most organizations have embraced recruitment tools, fewer than half of respondents believe that these systems deliver real value. Only 43% rate their technology stacks as “good” or “excellent,” exposing a persistent gap between adoption and meaningful impact.
ii. Dig Into Patterns & Edge Cases
Look at:
Seasonality
- Do you hire graduates once a year?
- Do sales or retail teams ramp at specific times?
Approval chains
- How many steps from “recommend to hire” to “offer signed”?
- Who needs visibility and who needs to approve?
Interview formats
- Panels, assessments, multi-country interviews, async video?
- Do you regularly schedule across time zones?
If your ATS doesn’t support how you already hire, you’ll end up forcing your process into the wrong shape—or reverting to spreadsheets and email.
STEP 2: Involve the Right Stakeholders at the Right Time
ATS implementations fail far more often because of people problems than tech problems.
i. Who Should Be Involved?
At a minimum:
- Talent / People / HR – daily owners and power users
- Hiring managers – heavy users, especially in growth teams
- IT / Security – integrations, data security, SSO, access control
- Finance / Procurement – budget, ROI, vendor risk
- Leadership – sign-off, strategic alignment
Optional but valuable:
- Employer brand / marketing – careers site, content, candidate experience
- Legal / Compliance – data retention, GDPR, local employment rules
ii. When to Bring Them In
Phase 1: Discovery
- 1:1 conversations to gather pain points and current-state reality
- Use this phase to refine your “hiring DNA” and must-have outcomes
Phase 2: Alignment
- Bring key stakeholders together
- Agree on priorities, trade-offs, and evaluation criteria
Phase 3: Evaluation
- Smaller, consistent group for demos, trials, and final scoring
- Too many voices at this stage = chaos and decision paralysis
STEP 3: Build Requirements That Reflect Reality (Not a Fantasy Feature List)
The most common ATS buying mistake?
Starting with a giant spreadsheet of features and asking vendors to tick boxes.
Instead, build a requirements framework aligned with your hiring DNA.
i. Must-Haves (Non-Negotiables)
If the ATS can’t do this reliably, it’s out.
Examples:
- Core candidate tracking and search that your team will actually use
- Integration with your HRIS (or at least a clear path and API)
- Basic workflows for your main hiring patterns
- Reporting your leadership will actually read
- Data security fundamentals (SSO, access control, audit trails)
ii. Should-Haves (Strong Preferences)
These unlock a lot of value but aren’t deal-breakers.
Examples:
- Strong automation for emails, reminders, and task workflows
- Advanced analytics and dashboards
- Hiring manager-friendly mobile experience
- Native video interviewing or smooth integration
iii. Could-Haves (Nice-to-Haves)
These are usually the flashy features that dominate demos:
- AI candidate matching and writing assistance
- Career site personalization
- Internal mobility dashboards
- Deep integration with niche tools
They’re not bad—but they’re not more important than basic, boring reliability.
STEP 4: How to Run ATS Demos That Actually Help You Decide
Most teams watch demos like a show: vendor talks, everyone nods, someone says “That looked impressive,” and three weeks later nobody remembers the details.
Flip that dynamic.
i. Before the Demo: Set the Agenda
Send vendors:
Your specific use cases, e.g.:
- “Show us how a hiring manager screens 60 software engineer applicants and schedules interviews in 3 time zones.”
- “Show us how we create a requisition, get it approved by finance, and post it across our priority channels.”
Your edge cases, e.g.:
- Candidates applying to multiple roles
- High-volume seasonal campaigns
- Re-opening roles or moving candidates between pipelines
Your integration needs, e.g.:
- “Show how candidate data flows to our HRIS after hire.”
- Good vendors will customize demos. Weak ones will ignore your brief and run their standard deck.
ii. During the Demo: What to Watch For
Look at:
- Number of clicks per common task
- Whether hiring managers could realistically use it without a 3-hour training
- How easy it is to see:
- What’s urgent
- Where candidates are stuck
- What’s overdue
Create a simple scorecard for everyone attending:
- Ease of use (1–5)
- Fit for our real processes (1–5)
- Candidate experience (1–5)
- Reporting & visibility (1–5)
- Overall confidence / gut feel (1–5)
STEP 5: What to Do After ATS Demos
Demos are marketing. They are not real life.
i. Hands-On Testing (If You Can Get It)
Ask for:
- Sandbox access or
- Trial access with your team
Have recruiters, hiring managers, and HR ops try:
- Creating a job
- Moving candidates through your real stages
- Sending messages
- Logging interview feedback
From the candidate side, apply to a test job and pay attention to:
- Time to complete
- Clarity
- Mobile experience
Then run separate debriefs:
- Recruiters: What made your life easier/harder?
- Hiring managers: Could you find what you needed without help?
- IT: Any red flags around integrations, security, or support?
STEP 6: Vendor Red Flags & Green Lights
i. Red Flags 🚩
- Slow, vague, or evasive communication
If they’re unresponsive now, they’ll be worse after you sign.
- Hidden costs
Extra fees for basic reporting, integrations, or support tiers.
- Rigid workflows
If every “Can we…?” is answered with “No, but you can change your process,” expect pain.
- Outdated UI and no visible roadmap
Clunky design often means slow development and poor adoption.
- Security/compliance hand-waving
If they can’t explain data storage, access controls, and compliance clearly, walk away.
- Overpromising without proof
“We can do that with a bit of customization” but never show it.
ii. Green Lights ✅
- Fast, clear, honest communication
They answer directly—even when the answer is “no, but here’s a workaround.”
- Structured onboarding & customer success
Implementation plans, training paths, and clear post-go-live support.
- Configurable (not chaotic) flexibility
Your workflows map naturally; you don’t need to rebuild everything from scratch.
- Active roadmap & frequent meaningful releases
They can show recent improvements and upcoming priorities.
- Strong references & reviews
Especially from companies similar to you in size, industry, or hiring model.
- Users actually like using it
Your pilot group is excited, not exhausted.
STEP 7: Final Checks Before You Sign
Before signing an ATS contract, sanity-check:
- Requirements alignment
Does this system solve the problems you identified early on?
- Stakeholder buy-in
Are key users supportive, or quietly skeptical?
- Total cost of ownership
Include: licenses, implementation, training, integrations, change management, and internal time.
- Implementation readiness
Do you have a realistic timeline, owner, and resources?
- Data & contract details
- Data ownership and export options
- SLAs and uptime commitments
- Term length and exit clauses
- Success metrics
Define targets like:
- Reduce time-to-hire by X%
- Increase hiring manager satisfaction
- Improve candidate conversion from application → interview
How TFY AI-Powered ATS Fits Into Your ATS Decision
Your ATS is one critical piece of a larger talent and workforce stack. It needs to work alongside the tools that power:
- Onboarding
- Contractor management
- Payroll and payments
- Compliance and documentation
- Global hiring and mobility
At TFY, we help People and Talent teams think beyond “Which ATS has the longest feature list?” and focus instead on:
- Tech that fits your hiring DNA
- A stack that supports employees and contractors end-to-end
- Compliance-aware workflows as you scale into new markets
- Practical, phased implementations your team can actually adopt
The right ATS should make it easier to plug into systems like TFY—so your recruitment, onboarding, and workforce management feel connected, not stitched together.
FAQs:
What is an ATS (Applicant Tracking System)?
An ATS is software that helps organizations manage job postings, applications, candidate communications, and hiring workflows in one place.
How do I choose the right ATS?
Start by defining your hiring DNA, mapping stakeholders, and building requirements based on real problems—not feature wishlists. Then shortlist vendors, run focused demos, test hands-on, and evaluate vendor fit and support.
What features are must-haves in an ATS?
Reliable candidate tracking, configurable pipelines, robust search, basic automations, reporting, and secure integrations with your HR stack.
How long does it take to implement an ATS?
Depending on company size and complexity, anywhere from a few weeks to several months—especially if you’re migrating data and integrating multiple systems.
Is there such a thing as the “best” ATS?
No universal best. There’s only the best fit for your size, hiring model, tech stack, and culture.
Book a demo to experience TFY's ai-powered ats.