A simple applicant tracking system, without the enterprise overhead
Most people searching for a simple applicant tracking system have already tried a complicated one. The complexity is rarely in the concept, which is a board with candidates moving through stages. It is in the configuration, the permissions, the required fields, and the integrations you never asked for.
What an ATS is for
At its core, an applicant tracking system answers three questions: who applied, what stage are they at, and what did we conclude about them. Everything beyond that is convenience, and convenience is where products get bloated.
If your current process cannot answer those three questions in under a minute, you have a real problem. If it can, be sceptical about switching.
The features that matter, and the ones that do not
After watching small teams hire, the split is consistent.
- •Matters: a public application page per job, so candidates apply somewhere structured instead of by email.
- •Matters: notes attached to a candidate, so the interview conversation is not reconstructed from memory.
- •Matters: an export of the shortlist you can send to whoever makes the final call.
- •Rarely matters at this size: approval workflows, requisition management, careers-site builders, offer letter automation.
Where a simple ATS should still be strict
Simplicity in the interface should not mean carelessness with candidate data. You are storing CVs, which are personal data of people who are not your customers, in a context where they have rights over that data.
A simple tool should still handle retention limits, let you export or delete a candidate's data on request, and record who inside your company looked at what. Those are not enterprise features, they are the minimum for operating legally in Europe.
The honest comparison with a spreadsheet
A spreadsheet costs nothing and everybody knows how to use it. It also has no application page, no candidate data trail, and no way to keep CVs anywhere sensible.
The switch usually becomes worthwhile at the point where you are pasting CV links into cells and losing track of who already replied. If you are not there yet, you are not behind.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an ATS and CV screening software?
An ATS tracks candidates through stages. CV screening evaluates and ranks applications against the requirements of the role. Many products do only one well. Parthumanally starts from screening and includes the tracking that a small team actually uses.
How long does setup take?
Creating an organisation and publishing a first job takes minutes, and there is no configuration project before that. The demo lets you see the whole flow before creating anything.
Where is candidate data stored?
In the EU, with an audit trail of automated evaluations and access. Candidate data can be exported or deleted on request, which is a requirement under the GDPR rather than a feature.
Look at the whole flow first
Open the demo and walk through a job from application to shortlist. It takes about two minutes and needs no account.
See a demo