LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 800 million members as of 2022. With so many profiles on their platform, LinkedIn relies heavily on automation to screen and evaluate candidates who apply to jobs posted by companies. This automation comes in the form of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). An ATS is software that organizations use to manage the entire recruitment process, from posting jobs to source, screen, and evaluate applicants. But what specific ATS system does LinkedIn use for screening candidates who apply for jobs on their platform?
What is an ATS?
An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is recruitment software that organizations use to automate and manage the hiring process. Key features of an ATS include:
- Posting job openings online
- Receiving and organizing resumes and applications
- Screening and evaluating candidates using predefined criteria
- Scheduling interviews
- Sending rejection or offer emails
- Tracking metrics and analytics around the hiring process
The main benefits of an ATS are saving time and resources around recruitment and providing data insights to improve hiring outcomes. The automated screening and ranking of applicants is a key ATS capability.
LinkedIn’s Unique Hiring Ecosystem
As the world’s largest professional network, LinkedIn has developed a robust ecosystem for connecting talent and opportunities. Key components of this ecosystem include:
- Candidate profiles – Detailed resume-like profiles for over 800M professionals globally.
- Jobs platform – Over 30 million companies have active job listings on LinkedIn.
- Application process – Candidates can easily apply for jobs directly through LinkedIn with their profile.
- Recruiter profiles – 3M+ recruiters and talent professionals use LinkedIn for sourcing.
- Ads platform – Companies can actively target passive job seekers with highly customized ads.
This ecosystem generates an enormous volume of applicants for roles posted on LinkedIn. To handle this volume, LinkedIn needs a sophisticated ATS to screen candidates and surface the best fits for employers.
LinkedIn Recruiter ATS
The ATS system used by LinkedIn itself for screening job applicants on their platform is LinkedIn Recruiter. Key features of LinkedIn Recruiter include:
- Integration with LinkedIn profiles and Jobs platform for one-click applicant screening.
- Powerful search and filtering of candidates based on skills, experience, education and other criteria.
- AI-powered ranking and screening of applicants to automatically surface best fits.
- Tools to manageCandidate relationship management (CRM) capabilities for nurturing talent pipelines.
- Analytics on hiring performance including time-to-hire, source of hire, and other metrics.
- Integration with leading HCM/HRIS systems like SAP SuccessFactors, Workday, Oracle.
With deep access to candidate data on LinkedIn, the LinkedIn Recruiter ATS can provide robust applicant tracking tailored to the needs of employers who post jobs through LinkedIn.
Key Benefits of LinkedIn Recruiter
LinkedIn Recruiter delivers several advantages as the chosen ATS system within LinkedIn’s hiring ecosystem:
- Leverages LinkedIn profile data for rich candidate screening and matching.
- Powerful search and filtering based on skills, experience, education, and other profile info.
- Ranking algorithms customized to evaluate candidates in LinkedIn’s network.
- Streamlined application process with one-click applying via LinkedIn.
- Analytics measuring the effectiveness and ROI of hiring through LinkedIn.
By selecting its own in-house ATS tailored for its ecosystem, LinkedIn can provide recruiters and employers with a unified hiring experience and maximize the value of its platform.
LinkedIn Recruiter Plans and Pricing
LinkedIn Recruiter comes in several editions at different price points for small, mid-size, and enterprise companies.
LinkedIn Recruiter Lite – $99/month
LinkedIn Recruiter Lite has core ATS functionality focused on sourcing candidates, including:
- Talent pool organization and management.
- Search and filtering of LinkedIn profiles.
- InMail for messaging candidates.
- Hiring plan creation.
LinkedIn Recruiter Professional – $159/month
This mid-tier plan adds pipeline management and collaboration capabilities like:
- Track applicant status stages.
- Collaborate with hiring teams.
- Activity and relationship management.
- Customizable hiring workflows.
LinkedIn Recruiter Corporate – Custom Pricing
The enterprise plan includes everything in Pro plus advanced features like:
- Talent pool analytics.
- Custom branding.
- Bulk candidate management.
- Advanced API access.
- Single sign-on (SSO) integration.
Enterprise pricing is customized based on needs. Volume discounts are available for large deployments.
Implementation and Customer Support
As a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, LinkedIn Recruiter can be easily rolled out and adopted by organizations of all sizes. Standard implementations can be completed in just days or weeks. LinkedIn provides support during launch and ongoing access to customer success managers.
Key elements of the implementation and onboarding process include:
- Configuring job posts to enable one-click applying.
- Setting up customized workflows and hiring processes.
- Integrating other apps and HR systems using APIs.
- Training recruiters and hiring managers on using the ATS.
- Providing guides and support documentation.
Ongoing support is provided by LinkedIn’s customer success team and online resources like:
- Live chat, phone, email, and messaging access to support reps.
- Troubleshooting guides and help documentation.
- Access to LinkedIn Recruiter experts and advisors.
- Regular product updates and enhancements.
Conclusion
To summarize key points:
- ATS systems are critical for managing high recruiting volumes.
- LinkedIn uses its own LinkedIn Recruiter ATS tailored for its hiring ecosystem.
- Key benefits are leveraging LinkedIn’s candidate data and streamlined application workflows.
- Pricing ranges from $99 to customized enterprise plans.
- Implementation is quick and LinkedIn provides robust customer support.
With over 30 million company pages and 3 million active job listings, LinkedIn processes enormous applicant volume. By using LinkedIn Recruiter as its ATS, LinkedIn can screen candidates effectively and provide employers with an efficient hiring experience optimized for their professional network.
FAQ
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about LinkedIn’s ATS:
What data does LinkedIn Recruiter access from profiles?
LinkedIn Recruiter can leverage key profile data like skills, education, experience, accomplishments, recommendations, and other sections. This provides rich candidate information for screening and matching.
Does LinkedIn Recruiter integrate with other ATS systems?
Yes, LinkedIn Recruiter can integrate with many existing ATS and HR systems using APIs. This allows organizations to keep using other HR tools while leveraging Recruiter for sourcing and screening candidates from LinkedIn.
Can LinkedIn Recruiter be used to source candidates outside of LinkedIn?
Recruiter can source candidates from other sites by integrating external databases. But its primary focus is leveraging LinkedIn’s profile data for relevant matching and talent discovery.
What types of implementation and training support does LinkedIn offer?
LinkedIn provides dedicated Customer Success Managers who guide organizations through launch, configuration, integration, and training on Recruiter based on their needs.
How does LinkedIn Recruiter’s pricing compare to other ATS systems?
LinkedIn Recruiter is competitively priced with other ATS solutions. Exact comparisons depend on the features needed by each organization. But Recruiter offers high value given its tight integration with LinkedIn profiles and jobs.