Job application process – ATSi Apply Consumer Guide

1. Job offer setup

A recruiter creates a job offer in the ATS and publishes it on one of the StepStone Group job boards. A job can be published on the job board in two ways: manually – using GUI of a job board back-office application or automatically via XmlFeed. In both cases, job details must be provided, such as its name, location, description etc. One of the required pieces of information is a link to the original job offer on the ATS. This link is what we call OriginalUrl. It is used in communication with an ATS to identify a job offer. Ideally, it should point directly to the form page on the ATS to minimize the number of steps required for a job seeker to apply. Alternatively, it could point to the job offer details page on the ATS.

2. Application submission

A job seeker finds a job offer and views its details that were posted on the job board in the offer setup described above. The job seeker decides to apply and clicks on an Apply button. A job board makes a call to ATSi to get the job’s screening questions and consents. ATSi dispatches a call to the ATS’s Job Details Service and returns the received result to the job board.

Based on the Job Details Service result the job board renders a job application form. The form contains all basic data required to apply, such as a name, email, CV, etc. and all screening questions and consents returned by the ATS.

The job seeker fills in the form and submits an application. Application data is passed to the ATS via ATSi using Apply Service. The data passed to the ATS can come from three sources in the following order:

directly from the filled-in job application form
from the job seeker’s profile
from the job seeker’s CV

If the application is valid and contains all the required data, the ATS responds with an application confirmation message and the job seeker is redirected to the application confirmation page.

If the offer is not integrated with ATSi, the application doesn’t contain all the required data or an error occurs, the job seeker will be redirected to the ATS to finish the application process. In such a case ATS should use Application Tracking Pixel to notify ATSi when an application has been successfully completed.

3. Application status update

Once an application has been submitted to the ATS, each time a recruiter changes an application status, e.g. from APPLIED to INTERVIEW, ATS sends out an application status update to ATSi using Application Status Service.