Getting Ready to Scale? A Leader’s Guide to Picking the Right ATS
About the Author
Daniel is a senior consultant at ModelExpand and a seasoned talent acquisition and people leader with deep expertise in scaling high-growth startups. They have successfully led and expanded People and TA functions at fast-growing companies like Alma and Policygenius, navigating the complexities of rapid workforce expansion while maintaining a strong culture and operational excellence.
Why Your ATS Matters When Scaling
As your company scales, hiring speed and efficiency become critical. The right ATS can automate processes, improve the candidate experience, and enable data-driven hiring decisions.
There has been a shift in the ATS landscape the past few years, where solutions have moved towards an all-in-one bundle versus having to integrate with other tools like scheduling or sourcing tools. Picking the right ATS matters even more as consolidation of tools increases.
In this article, we will go over how to choose the right ATS for your company and why it plays a critical role in your company’s strategy.
Step 1: Understand your Short Term & Long Term Hiring Goals
When you purchase an ATS, you want it to last for at least two to three years. ATSs are built for specific-sized companies with specific features, so it’s important to project your future hiring over a three-year window in terms of headcount and strategy.
Key Questions to Ask:
How many hires will we make (including attrition) in the next year, two years, and three years?
Where will that put the company headcount at those intervals?
Where are the biggest areas of improvement or change in your future hiring strategy (i.e., sourcing, interview plans, scheduling, automations, etc)?
What kind of interviewing and hiring will you be doing?
Is it mostly remote or in person?
Is it based in one office, multiple domestic offices, or multiple global offices?
Step 2: Develop an Evaluation Rubric and Begin Demoing ATS Solutions
Before you begin researching different solutions, build a rubric or matrix with the key areas that are important to your company. This will help give you a structured approach to decision-making and make conversations with vendors easier.
As you want to start demoing, you will notice most companies apply a SaaS sales process, which includes a quick 15-minute call with a business development representative, a 30-minute call with an Account Executive, and then an hour-long demo with the AE. For the final demo, include other stakeholders from the recruiting and people team as well as a hiring leader, if possible. I’d recommend reaching out to five to six ATS companies and doing final demos with the top two to three.
A scalable ATS rubric should have the following categories:
Costs
Base Cost: Most ATSs are priced by the number of employees. Others do it by the number of elevated users. Hint: Ask if their pricing model is based on salaried full-time employees or all employee classifications.
Implementation Cost: Some have an implementation fee that isn’t included in the base. On top of general implementation, some have a separate data migration fee from your previous ATS.
Implementation Timeline
Most companies implement in 6-8 weeks. This time can be shortened if you have an expert user who has used the ATS you chose before.
Technical Configuration
HRIS Integration: You’ll want to assess not just whether the ATS integrates with your HRIS, but how that integration works. Some integrations only sync basic fields, while others offer more robust and customizable options. Be sure to check with your HRIS provider—some charge additional fees for integrations. If a native integration isn’t available, third-party tools can often help build a custom connection.
Career Page Integration: Most ATSs have three to five options when it comes to your careers page, from an option hosted by the ATS to a custom Open API option that will need your engineering/IT team’s resources.
Background Check Integration: Ensure your provider offers seamless integration and that initiating background checks directly from your ATS is straightforward.
Features & Functionality
Overall Ease of Use: What does the user interface look like, and is it intuitive for recruiters and hiring managers to navigate?
Sourcing Tools: Consider the types of roles you’re hiring for and where those candidates typically come from. Then, assess whether the tool effectively supports those sourcing channels.
Scheduling: Self-scheduling links have become standard in most ATS platforms. What’s less common but increasingly valuable are tools that automate and suggest panel interview scheduling.
Workflows & Automations: Does the ATS support your current workflows—or the ones you’re aiming for—when it comes to steps such as approvals, offer letter generation, and job postings?
Interview Plans & Scorecards: How customizable are they and do they align with the structured interviewing approach you use or aim to adopt?
Metrics & Reporting: Look for customizable dashboards and reports. Some offer BI connectors if you want to involve your data analytics teams.
AI: AI-enabled ATS platforms are becoming the standard. When evaluating, consider both benefits (e.g, candidate matching, workflow automations) and ethical concerns (e.g., algorithm bias, transparency).
Step 3: Choose an ATS
You’ve completed the final demos with your top contenders—now it’s time to make your decision. To aid in your decision, ask your network for references from leaders who have used your finalists’ software before.
Look at your rubric and highlight in red, yellow, and green how each did for each section. Feel free to apply a numeric value as well. Take into account not only your feedback, but also feedback from others you included in the final demos. Which ATS has the most green or the highest scores? Did the final pricing (often withheld until the last demo) align with your budget expectations?
If your top choice fits within budget, even if it’s not the cheapest, go with it. The added functionality often justifies the incremental cost.
Invest in Hiring Success
An ATS isn’t just software or a tool, it’s a strategic investment in your company’s future. Choosing the right one ensures a growth journey, better hires, and a more efficient recruiting team.
Ready to find the best fit? Start mapping out your goals, building an evaluation rubric, and book some demos.
About ModelExpand
ModelExpand is a talent advisory firm that transforms your recruiting function into a strategic advantage. We work alongside your team to design and implement scalable infrastructure to help growing companies hire better, faster, and more inclusively. Contact us to learn more.
