Applicant tracking system
Applicant tracking system for small business
An applicant tracking system for small business takes a hire from the first request for headcount to a signed offer without a spreadsheet in between. ExecCortex does it in the Hiring area of Human Resources Management.
What an applicant tracking system for small business should do
An applicant tracking system for small business keeps every applicant, every opening and every decision in one place, so nobody loses a good CV in an inbox and nobody has to ask who approved the hire. A small team needs the same order as a large one, just without the ceremony.
In ExecCortex hiring is a group inside Human Resources Management: Job Openings, Candidates, Interviews, Offers and the Talent Pool. Because it is part of the HR app, the person you hire is already in the system when they start, and the people who can see candidates are controlled by the same roles as the rest of HR.
From headcount request to offer
Requisitions
The ask before any advert exists: how many heads, for which team, wanted by when and why. Approving records who decided; rejecting needs a reason.
Openings
One approved request can carry several openings, each with its own pipeline and closing date. Link the opening to its request so the approval is traceable.
Your own pipeline
Add the stages you actually use, such as applied, screening, interview and offer. Renaming a stage leaves everybody where they are.
Publish and share
Save first, then Publish. Every published opening gets its own apply link to paste into an email, a job board or an agency brief.
Interviews
Book a round, paste the meeting link and invite the panel. Each interviewer gets their own secret link and code and sees only their own scorecard.
Offers
Raise an offer against an application with the role, pay, start date and when it lapses. Every state after that is somebody’s act, recorded with their name.
Candidates, the talent pool and privacy
The Candidates list has one row per application: somebody who applied to three jobs is three rows, because you shortlist, interview and reject a person for a role. The filters across the top are All, Shortlisted, Interviewing, Rejected and Hired, and their numbers count the whole workspace.
Somebody with nothing in progress lives on the Talent Pool with their CV and notes intact. Move to talent pool withdraws their open applications and deletes nothing, so putting them forward for the next opening picks the same record back up.
Notes from HR are internal and appear on no link of any kind. A confidential opening appears on no careers board; its apply link is the only way in. Do not contact is an instruction, and candidate consents are recorded separately.
How hiring works in ExecCortex
1.File the request
Open Job Openings, go to the Requisitions tab and file the headcount request with a reason the approver can read.
2.Get it decided
Approve and Reject appear only while a decision is open. The decision is recorded with who made it.
3.Write and publish the opening
On the Openings tab, write the advert, add pipeline stages, save, then press Publish to create the apply link.
4.Work the candidates
Applications land on Candidates. Star the ones to shortlist, move people through stages once you filter to one opening, and book interview rounds from the row menu.
5.Make the offer
On Offers, raise it against the application. An offer can come from any finished round, or with no interview at all for a referral you already trust.
6.Onboard
When they accept, the Lifecycle group takes over with Onboarding.
Every screen is explained in detail in the Human Resources Management guide.
What it does not do
- It does not post adverts to job boards for you. You copy the apply link and paste it wherever you advertise.
- It does not screen or rank people automatically. Shortlisting, stages and outcomes are decisions a person records.
- It shows nothing about anybody’s background and never will. Checks you run elsewhere stay elsewhere.
What it costs
Every workspace starts on the free plan, with no card required. Each app is then priced per workspace and switched on by itself, and capacity packs raise one limit at a time without moving you to a bigger plan. Prices below are read live from the platform.
See every price and capacity pack or read more about Human Resource Management.
Related: Employee management software, Employee database software, or every use case.
Applicant tracking system: common questions
What is an applicant tracking system?
It is software that holds job openings, applicants and hiring decisions in one place, so each candidate’s progress and each decision is on record.
Is it worth it for a small business?
Yes, once more than one person is involved in hiring. It keeps CVs out of personal inboxes, keeps scorecards honest and records who approved each hire.
Can candidates apply without an account?
Yes. Every published opening has its own apply link that anybody can use.
Can interviewers see each other’s scores?
You choose what each interviewer sees. Each one gets their own link and code, and a submitted scorecard is locked.
What happens to good candidates we did not hire?
They stay on the Talent Pool with their CV and notes, ready to be put forward for the next opening.
Give your team one place to work
Create a workspace, invite your team and import your first leads, all on the free plan.
- Free plan, no card
- Ready in a few minutes
- Cancel from inside the product