Definition
Applicant tracking system (ATS) — An applicant tracking system, or ATS, is software that manages the full life of a job application: posting the role, collecting resumes, moving candidates through defined stages, and recording every note, rating, and status change along the way. Most systems organize candidates into a pipeline with stages such as new, screening, interview, offer, and hire, so a recruiter or hiring manager can see where every application sits at a glance instead of digging through separate inboxes. Beyond storage, an ATS typically posts a job to multiple boards at once, sends automatic status emails, schedules interviews, and exports candidate data for reporting. Some systems also screen or rank resumes automatically against a job's stated requirements, though that's a specific feature within an ATS, not what the term itself means. Companies of any size use one once volume outgrows a spreadsheet, since dozens of applications arriving for a single opening breaks a manual process fast.
An ATS sits at the center of a hiring team's daily work. Recruiters sort new applicants, hiring managers review who's moved to their stage, and interviewers leave notes tied to a specific candidate rather than a separate document. Reporting comes out of the same data: time to fill a role and where candidates drop out of the process.
The tradeoff shows up on the candidate side, where a system built mainly for internal organization can produce a slow, form-heavy application.
The Intervieux angle
Intervieux's built-in ATS uses 7 pipeline stages that employers can customize end to end, new through hired, with tags, priority flags, ratings, and rule-based automation that moves or flags a candidate the moment their interview finishes.
Frequently asked questions
Is an ATS the same thing as a job board?
No. A job board is where candidates find and apply to openings. An ATS is the internal system that manages what happens to an application after it's submitted, tracking a candidate through screening, interview, and offer stages.
Does an ATS decide who gets hired?
No. An ATS organizes and tracks applications; it doesn't make hiring decisions on its own. Some systems include automated rules or resume screening that flag candidates, but a person still makes the final call.
Why do companies switch from spreadsheets to an ATS?
A spreadsheet works for a handful of applicants, but it falls apart once dozens of people are applying to several open roles at once and multiple team members need to review the same candidate.
Related pages
See a pipeline built for real hiring
Intervieux's ATS pairs a customizable pipeline with live AI screening interviews, so candidates move through stages based on real interview data, not a resume alone.