Hiring
What Is an Applicant Tracking System?
An applicant tracking system, called aday takip sistemi in Turkish, keeps every application on one record from job post to offer. A spreadsheet stores a row. An ATS binds the card, the note and the next step. Otto reads. The choice stays with you.
An applicant tracking system is built for the moment resumes pile up in the inbox after you post a role. ATS is the English name. Aday takip sistemi is the Turkish search.
The Basics
An applicant tracking system, ATS for short, is software that collects, organises and runs job applications in one place. Instead of resumes scattered across email threads and sheets, each candidate lives on one searchable card. That card does not vanish until the process closes.
Think of it as hiring's operating system. From the moment someone applies to the day they sign an offer, the applicant tracking system records where they are, who reviewed them and what comes next. Otto reads that record and ranks it. The stamp stays with a person.
How It Works
When you publish a role, the ATS gives you a careers page and an application form. Every submission flows straight into the system, where it is parsed, tagged, and slotted into a hiring pipeline, usually stages like Applied, Screening, Interview, and Offer.
From there, your team works the pipeline. You move candidates between stages, leave notes, schedule interviews, and send emails without leaving the tool. Everyone sees the same up-to-date picture, so nobody emails a candidate who was rejected last week.
Core Features
Most systems share a common toolkit: a job board and careers page, resume parsing that pulls out names, skills, and experience, a visual pipeline to track progress, and templates for interview scorecards and rejection emails.
Modern platforms add more on top, from automated screening and calendar-synced scheduling to the increasingly common AI that summarizes resumes or surfaces the strongest candidates first. The goal is always the same: less admin, more time talking to people.
Who Needs One
Any team hiring more than a handful of people a year benefits from an ATS. The break-even point comes faster than most founders expect, usually around the second or third open role, when the spreadsheet starts to crack.
You don't need a recruiting department to justify one. Small businesses, startups, and even single-founder companies use lightweight systems to look professional to candidates and avoid losing great applicants to disorganization.
Choosing One
Start with how you actually hire. If you run a few roles at a time, prioritize a clean pipeline, a good careers page, and email that doesn't fight you. Avoid enterprise suites built for hundreds of recruiters. They cost more in setup time than they save.
Look for honest pricing, a fast import, and AI features that assist rather than replace your judgment. The best ATS disappears into the background and simply makes sure no candidate slips through the cracks.
Related software
If you are comparing what an HR suite actually does, start with human resources software.
Common Questions
ATS stands for applicant tracking system, and in Turkish the same product is searched as aday takip sistemi. It is software that stores job applications and moves candidates through a hiring process from apply to offer. A candidate tracking system is one record from job post to offer. Otto reads and ranks the resume. Putting a candidate into the process is a person's decision.
Most teams need one once they hire for a second or third role at the same time. Even a simple candidate tracking system stops lost resumes, keeps the team aligned and makes a small company look organised to applicants. Otto reads. A person decides who moves forward.
A CRM manages customer relationships and sales. An ATS manages job candidates and the hiring process. Some recruiting tools blend the two, but the core job of an ATS is hiring, not selling.
Yes. Resume parsing extracts structured details such as name, contact info, skills, and work history, so applicants are searchable and comparable. AI-powered systems can also summarize and rank candidates.
Pricing ranges from free tiers for very small teams to hundreds of dollars a month for enterprise suites. Small businesses can usually find capable, modern tools for a modest monthly fee.
See it for real
An ATS,without the busywork.
Otto HR gives you a careers page, a read on every resume, and candidate tracking in one process. Walk the sample-data demo company. The decision stays with you at every step.