ATS Requirements: What Should You Look For?
A good requirements list is short, specific to how you hire, and clear about what's a must-have. Use this as a starting point, then cut and add to fit your organization.
Where these examples come from
The quoted examples come from two public tenders with detailed requirements: the Coal Authority, a UK public body, and Loudoun County, a US county government. They show how real buyers worded their needs. They aren't a complete list, and two buyers don't show what's typical.
For applicants
- Apply online, with the form filled from an uploaded resume where possible.
How Loudoun County, Virginia put it
"a system that allows applicants to apply online for job vacancies by completing an application through the use of resume parsing and/or using screen by screen prompts to advance through the system to build a completed application."
Source: Loudoun County RFP: Applicant Tracking System, RFQ 534782; Loudoun County bid posting: Applicant Tracking System, RFQ 534782
- Tell candidates the outcome of their application.
How the Coal Authority (UK) put it
"Update and inform candidates of the outcome of their application"
Source: Contracts Finder award notice: Provision of Applicant Tracking System (The Coal Authority)
For hiring managers
- Request a new hire and get it approved inside the system.
How the Coal Authority (UK) put it
"Enable hiring managers to raise a job requisition and for the relevant approval to be given"
Source: Contracts Finder award notice: Provision of Applicant Tracking System (The Coal Authority)
- Let hiring managers complete candidate selection in the system.
How the Coal Authority (UK) put it
"Enable hiring managers to complete candidate selection"
Source: Contracts Finder award notice: Provision of Applicant Tracking System (The Coal Authority)
Fairness and reporting
- Hide names and personal details from CVs during screening.
How the Coal Authority (UK) put it
"Anonymise all candidate CVs to remove bias during selection processes"
Source: Contracts Finder award notice: Provision of Applicant Tracking System (The Coal Authority)
- Report on equality and diversity, including where candidates drop out.
How the Coal Authority (UK) put it
"Provide management data and reporting including capturing equality and diversity data so that the Authority can see where candidates drop out of the process and identify any links to under-represented groups"
Source: Contracts Finder award notice: Provision of Applicant Tracking System (The Coal Authority)
- Report on the hiring measures your HR team tracks.
How Loudoun County, Virginia put it
"the system must also have a robust reporting feature to report on key DHR metrics."
Source: Loudoun County RFP: Applicant Tracking System, RFQ 534782; Loudoun County bid posting: Applicant Tracking System, RFQ 534782
Where candidates come from
- Track where each applicant came from.
How the Coal Authority (UK) put it
"Enable the recruitment team to manage applicants from multiple sources (and identify those sources for reporting purposes)"
Source: Contracts Finder award notice: Provision of Applicant Tracking System (The Coal Authority)
- Let recruitment agencies submit candidates directly.
How the Coal Authority (UK) put it
"Allow recruitment companies to submit candidates via the ATS"
Source: Contracts Finder award notice: Provision of Applicant Tracking System (The Coal Authority)
Connections to other systems
- Pass new hires to your HR system so nobody types them in twice.
How the Coal Authority (UK) put it
"Integrate with iTrent to transfer successful candidates into the HR system, providing a seamless transition from applicant to employee."
Source: Contracts Finder award notice: Provision of Applicant Tracking System (The Coal Authority)
- Feed your own new-hire paperwork automatically.
How Loudoun County, Virginia put it
"The system must be accessible from the County website and must be able to interface, through Web Application Programming Interface (Web APIs) with the County’s existing custom new hire Employee Action Form."
Source: Loudoun County RFP: Applicant Tracking System, RFQ 534782; Loudoun County bid posting: Applicant Tracking System, RFQ 534782
The City of Pasadena also said it wanted its new system to connect with its human resources/payroll system and background check services.
Sign-in and security
- Single sign-on, so staff use their normal work login.
How Loudoun County, Virginia put it
"single sign-on (SSO) that must be SAML 2.0 compliant, to enable policy and role definition with-in any SaaS, PaaS and IaaS environments. The vendor of any cloud service must be compatible with these controls."
Source: Loudoun County RFP: Applicant Tracking System, RFQ 534782; Loudoun County bid posting: Applicant Tracking System, RFQ 534782
- A second step at login, such as a code by email or text.
How Loudoun County, Virginia put it
"At a minimum, Authorized users of any proposed cloud service must be identified by a User ID and Password combination as well as multifactor authentication (MFA) via the use of email, or via text to a county provided cell phone."
Source: Loudoun County RFP: Applicant Tracking System, RFQ 534782; Loudoun County bid posting: Applicant Tracking System, RFQ 534782
- An independent security audit (SOC 2) — ask the vendor for the report.
How Loudoun County, Virginia put it
"Any cloud service must be SOC 2 compliant."
Source: Loudoun County RFP: Applicant Tracking System, RFQ 534782; Loudoun County bid posting: Applicant Tracking System, RFQ 534782
Accessibility
- Meets the accessibility rules you're bound by.
How the Coal Authority (UK) put it
"Be accessible and compliant with government accessibility requirements"
Source: Contracts Finder award notice: Provision of Applicant Tracking System (The Coal Authority)
Questions to add for your organization
- How many jobs, applications and hires will the system handle in a year?
- Who will run the system day to day, and who sets it up?
- What records from your current system need to move, and in what form?
- Which of your current tools should it replace, and which should it connect to?
- Should onboarding new starters be part of the same purchase?
- Are there legal or reporting rules specific to your sector or country?
Several buyers we looked at bought onboarding along with the ATS, including Luton Borough Council and the London Borough of Hackney in the UK, and Pasadena sought it in the US. Hackney described its onboarding module like this:
"Employee Onboarding Module: An integrated tool to automate and digitise new hire integration, including capturing pre-employment documentation (e.g., contracts, right-to-work checks) and orchestrating internal setup (e.g., IT access, payroll)."
Source: Applicant Tracking System — London Borough of Hackney award notice; AT1486 - HR Recruitment and Applicant Tracking System — award notice
Turn requirements into a scorecard
Once the list is agreed, use it to score each product the same way. See how buyers weighted their evaluations, and how to read ATS prices.