ATS vs. Behavioral Assessment: What Resume Screening Does and Doesn't Measure

Talent management teams have a variety of tools to use when it’s time to hire new employees. Many organizations turn to their applicant tracking system (ATS) to assist them in managing candidates as they enter and exit the hiring funnel. One particularly important feature of the ATS is resume screening. Behavioral assessments serve as valuable tools when hiring. Assessments are used in a specific stage of the hiring process — after the initial resume screen happens.

What Is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)?

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a software application used by employers and recruitment teams to manage and streamline the hiring process. It helps organizations organize job applications, track candidates, screen résumés, schedule interviews, and manage communication with applicants throughout the recruitment process. An ATS serves as a centralized database where recruiters can store, access and evaluate candidate information efficiently.

How ATS Resume Screening Works

• Keywords — ATS are often designed with a keyword matching feature. This feature helps recruiters streamline the hiring process. They can set up keywords for a specific position. The ATS then reviews resumes, highlighting the candidates who have used the same keywords.
• Skills and qualifications — During the recruiting process, the hiring team specifies the exact skills and qualifications they are seeking from applicants. These skills may be technical, such as an advanced Microsoft Excel user. The skills could also be soft, such as problem-solver.
• Education and experience — The ATS can also be set to search for details that match the required education and experience for a position. These requirements could include a bachelor’s degree and/or five years of experience.
• Job requirements — Beyond the need for a specific period of previous experience ATS resume screening can be set to identify unique experience, such as sales forecasting.
• Application information — Every ATS must collect specific information from the application. Required data often includes personal information, skills, experience, and certifications.

What an ATS Can Help Recruiters Identify?

When an ATS system is properly calibrated, reporting features provide intelligence on multiple aspects of candidates for an open position.

• Relevant qualifications — Recruiters can see all candidates who have relevant qualifications for a position.
• Required skills — Candidates who possess the required skills such as the ability to write Python code are easily identifiable.
• Experience — Talent management teams typically follow the hiring manager’s guidance when it comes to years of required experience when screening candidates. They can set the ATS to search for this stated requirement.
• Resume matches — When a candidate matches a sufficient number of the required categories, the ATS sorts them into a resume match folder for further consideration.
• Candidate application data — ATS stores information about each candidate in an easy-to-use way. Recruiters can determine which candidates live in the local market, for example.

What Is a Behavioral Assessment?

A behavioral assessment is a scientifically validated tool used primarily during the hiring process. Talent management teams use these assessments to objectively evaluate an individual's natural workplace tendencies, communication style, decision-making preferences, and teamwork approach.

What Behavioral Assessments Measure

• Communication preferences — These communication styles are often aligned with the DISC assessment model developed by William Moulton Marston.
• Work styles —Managers want to know how candidates work. The style factors include their level of drive, curiosity and optimism, as well as their level of coachability.
• Decision-making tendencies —If a candidate makes decisions that are highly risky, they may not fit in an organization. Similarly, taking too long to act in an emergency could also be a detractor in some positions.
• Responses to workplace situations —Assessments reveal whether an individual easily adapts to a big change or whether they will struggle to contain their emotions.
• Interpersonal behaviors — When hiring, managers look for candidates who work well with others, especially when it comes to listening, responsiveness, sociability, and social awareness.

ATS vs. Behavioral Assessment: What Does Each Measure?

Factor	ATS	Behavioral Assessment
Primary Focus	Organize information about candidates	Identify candidates’ likely workplace behavior
Main Data Source	Provided by the applicant	Candidates’ answers to an objective assessment
Identifies	Candidates who meet stated job requirements	Which candidates will fit best with the position and work environment
Common Use	Screen out candidates who do not meet requirements	Reducing hiring bias by standardizing evaluation criteria
Best Used For	Manager candidate flow from the start to end of hiring process	Matching a candidate’s behavior and problem-solving style to a specific job

Why Resume Screening Does Not Tell the Whole Story

Resume screening is a proven technique for identifying candidates who appear qualified for an open position. The ATS technology screens candidates on their skills, experience and education. Resume data is based on what the candidate chooses to reveal. Without further testing, talent management teams can’t be sure if the candidate possesses the specific skill level required to do the job. Further, resume data does not indicate the level of a candidate’s soft skills.

Resumes Show Experience, Not Every Behavior

Solid resumes list a candidate’s experience. And they may include previous job titles, along with a description of duties. But this information does not reveal workplace behavior such as communication or collaboration styles. The hiring team needs to consider behavioral styles before they make an offer to their top candidate.

Similar Qualifications Can Hide Different Work Styles

Two candidates may appear to have the same qualifications such as five years of experience as a sales rep. But one candidate may prefer to work independently instead of with a team. Or a candidate may thrive only in a workplace where decision-making happens quickly. A simple resume review will not highlight these differences.

Keywords Do Not Capture Behavioral Tendencies

Resume screening through an ATS can quickly rank candidates according to who matches the required qualifications based on keywords. But keywords cannot highlight differences between candidates’ behavioral tendencies. 

Candidate Information Goes Beyond Resume Content

Behavioral assessments are a key part of the hiring process. At least 29% of senior-decision makers intend to pay for assessments for hiring new employees, according to our research. Company leaders understand that hiring decisions based solely on technical skills and experience is risky. They understand the cost of a bad hire. They want more insights into candidates’ behavioral tendencies and workplace preferences. Understanding those details can lead to better hiring decisions and lower turnover.

What Behavioral Assessments Add to the Hiring Process

Behavioral assessments add unique data points that are helpful when reviewing candidates’ credentials. The information from assessments expands the knowledge that comes from a review of qualifications, interviews and reference checks.

Understand Communication Styles

Through structured question and answer sets, behavioral assessments allow the talent management team to understand how each candidate communicates. Some candidates prefer a direct style that involves stating opinions and respectfully disagreeing. Avoiding confrontation and using polite phrasing are features of people who use indirect communication.

Identify Work Style Tendencies

When each candidate answers the same set of questions, the talent management team can identify work styles. Depending on the setting, people may use a logical or analytical work style. Or they may tap into their visionary and creative inspirations to accomplish a task.

Explore Team Interaction Preferences

In addition to work style, behavioral assessments provide insights into how candidates will work with other team members. When a candidate clearly prefers to lead every team, they make not be the best fit for a specific position.

Support Structured Candidate Evaluation

Through the use of consistent structured questions and associated answers, hiring teams find it easier to compare top candidates. They can determine who to hire for their open position.

Inform Interview Questions

The results of behavioral assessments can guide the hiring team during the interview process. When they notice specific patterns in the assessment results, they can ask questions to gain great understanding.

ATS and Behavioral Assessment: Why Use Both?

Both ATS and behavioral assessments should be used in the recruiting process. ATS technology assists teams in managing the hiring process from start to finish. In cases where teams are hiring hundreds of employees a year, ATS technology ensures that candidates don’t fall through the cracks.

Behavioral assessments are valuable after the initial resume screen is completed by the ATS. Candidates who are a good match for the position take behavioral assessments to provide additional objective data to recruiters.

Use ATS for Initial Screening

ATS technology excels when recruiters must review inputs from every candidate who applied for an open position. With the right keyword structure, the ATS can quickly identify who meets the qualifications for the position.

Use Behavioral Assessments for Additional Insight

Behavioral assessments add insight to the resume data. Candidates will position themselves in the best possible way through resume data. Behavioral assessments objectively reveal information about a candidate’s workplace behavior and work style.

Combine Assessment Results With Interviews

Assessment results should be used to form interview questions. Hiring managers can review areas of workplace behavior that concern them. They may worry that a candidate won’t participate as a member of the team. During the interview they can ask in-depth questions based on their concerns.

Evaluate Candidates Holistically

The hiring process requires the talent management team to use all resources available. This means gathering and storing candidate data such as qualifications, experience, assessment results, interviews, and role requirements into an easy-to-use querying and reporting system.

When Should Employers Use a Behavioral Assessment?

The best time to ask candidates to take a behavioral assessment is after the initial resume screening is done by the ATS. The assessment should be customized to the job the candidate is applying for. And the hiring team should let the candidate know how long the assessment will take and that there are no right or wrong answers to ease any concerns.

After Initial Qualification Screening

Hiring teams gain an advantage when they ask candidates to take behavioral assessments after the initial qualification screening. First, if they pay an assessment provider on a per-candidate basis they can keep costs down. Second, they can limit the amount of assessment data they’ll need to review.

Before or During Structured Interviews

Some hiring teams choose to ask candidates to take assessments before the structured interview process begins. This process means interviewers will have objective information about the candidates available.

For Roles With Strong Team or Communication Requirements

Some organizations may decide to use behavioral assessments only when a position requires strong teamwork or heavy communication. In those roles, hiring teams should understand how candidates will behave in the workplace and how they will interact with others on the team.

When Hiring Managers Need Additional Behavioral Context

Hiring managers may decide to use behavioral assessments on a case-by-case basis. When they have two candidates who seem identical in terms of experience and hard skills, they can use behavioral assessment data to determine which individual possesses the soft skills needed by the organization.

How TeamTrait^TM Uses BehavioralAssessments

TeamTrait’s comprehensive pre-hire psychometric platform includes a focus on behavioral assessments. These assessments help talent management professionals understand candidates’ workplace behavior, communication preferences, and role-relevant work styles. These assessments work best when they are used alongside other hiring tools.

Understand Candidate Behavioral Styles

When hiring teams rely solely on resumes and interview data, they are allowing the candidate to control information. A behavioral assessment yields data that reveals how candidates will likely interact with others in the workplace.

Add Behavioral Context to Candidate Profiles

As the ATS compiles data about each candidate, hiring teams may be missing important information. Specifically, they should have an in-depth understanding of how candidates behave, with respect to the job and to their co-workers. Behavioral assessments provide that context.

Support Structured Interviews

The results of behavioral assessments can provide good data for structured interviews. When candidates reply to structured interview questions similarly, a behavioral assessment report can emphasize the differences between them. 

Support Team and Role Understanding

Behavioral assessments can be customized to the job that the talent management team is trying to fill. With assessment customization, interviewers gain greater insight into candidates and into which individual is the best fit. 

Inform Employee Development

Behavioral assessments also serve as an employee development roadmap. A new hire might not need any skills training in a sales role. However, they may need coaching on how to interact with their co-workers and other people in the organization.

What Behavioral Assessments Can Add to the Hiring Process

Behavioral assessments, when properly customized, show objective data points about candidates for open positions. Here are a few of the most important data points.

Additional Behavioral Insight

Objective data from behavioral assessments expands the information available about candidates. Hiring managers can understand how a candidate is likely to work with others and how they will react to feedback.

More Structured Interview Preparation

The hiring team can update their structured interview questions based on the results of a behavioral assessment.

Greater Candidate Self-Awareness

When hiring managers share behavioral assessment data with candidates, they have an opportunity to increase self-awareness. They can ask candidates their opinions about the assessment results which can lead to a broader discussion about the company’s culture and the department’s team.

Additional Context for Team Interaction

Every team has a culture. When a person enters or leaves a team, the dynamics change. Understanding how a specific candidate will impact team culture and workflow is critical.

A More Complete Candidate Profile

Because a behavioral assessment is objective, the results balance the candidate-supplied information during the hiring process. All the information combines to give the managers a more complete profile.

Best Practices for Using ATS and Behavioral Assessments

Define Job-Relevant Criteria

When recruiting for a new employee, it’s critical to review the job description to ensure that the ATS will be screening candidates on job-relevant criteria. Failing to establish baselines means good candidates would be overlooked.

Use Multiple Sources of Candidate Information

Resumes and applications serve as the primary sources of candidate-supplied information. For a more holistic view of candidates, especially with respect to workplace behavior, hiring teams should use behavioral assessments and structured interview questions.

Avoid Treating Assessment Results as the Sole Hiring Factor

While behavioral assessments provide detailed information, they cannot evaluate other key details. They should be used along with resumes, applications and structured interviews.

Keep Assessments Relevant to the Role

Behavioral assessments will have more meaning and accuracy when they are customized to the specific job. With a platform like TeamTrait, the hiring team can be certain they are asking questions that align with the responsibilities of the position.

Apply Consistent Evaluation Standards

To ensure that the best candidate is hired, the organization should commit to using consistent evaluation standards. Doing so removes personal bias from the system and reduces organizational turmoil and costs over time.

Protect Candidate Data and Privacy

The talent management team should take extra steps to maintain the integrity of their hiring process. This includes protecting candidate data and privacy. Candidates applying for jobs want to be certain that their current employer will not learn they are seeking a new position.

ATS vs. Behavioral Assessment: Key Takeaways

ATS tools help recruiters manage applications and identify candidates based on qualifications and resume information.

Behavioral assessments provide additional insight into workplace behaviors and preferences.

Neither tool provides a complete picture of a candidate on its own. Combining structured screening, behavioral insights, and interviews can give recruiters broader information for candidate evaluation.

Final Thoughts: Look Beyond the Resume

Resumes provide valuable information about qualifications and experience. And ATS platforms can be customized to help the hiring team identify which candidates should move further into the hiring funnel. However, behavioral assessments can add another layer of insight into how candidates may approach communication, teamwork and workplace situations. For best results, teams should use ATS, behavioral assessments and structured interviews as complementary components of their hiring process.

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