Okeydokey my supersonic crop of unsettlingly attractive people pirates....
Heres three low-tech fixes that immediately improve your ATS outputs, and none of them require new features, integrations, or contracts.
Let’s get....right into it.
Document Your Operating Model
Your ATS can only track what it’s told to track. If there’s no consistent process behind it, you’re just logging chaos. A year after you bought the shiny new ATS, youlld have nothing tyou can show leadership. which makes you look like a right royal berk. (That's "like a total bozo" to my American friends)
- Define each interview stage and what qualifies a candidate to move forward. Set SLAs for things like feedback, scheduling, and review cycles. Make sure everyone’s using the same definitions: is “Interview 1” a screen? A panel? A skills test?
Luke Nugget : Create a 1-pager with your funnel definitions and share it in every kickoff.
Write Better Interview Instructions
Most interview stages in ATSs are just blank boxes. You’re asking your team to assess candidates without giving them any tools.
- After every kickoff, write a short guide per interview stage: what to ask, what to look for, what good looks like. If your ATS allows it (like Ashby), embed these instructions in the interview stage itself. Don’t have that feature? Send it manually 24 hours before the interview. It takes 10 minutes.
Luke Nugget : Use ChatGPT to create the first draft from your kickoff doc. Then just tweak and paste. I actually vibe coded an app that takes you from key responsibilities to full review guidelines in 5 min. its easy, but manually time consuming, so automate it.
Track Inputs, Not Just Outputs
Time-to-fill and offer-acceptance rate are great, but they are lagging indicators. Start tracking the controllable actions earlier in the funnel.
- How many hours did we spend sourcing this week? What percentage of scorecards are submitted within SLA? How long is the average time in stage per interviewer?
Luke Nugget: Use a time budget (e.g. 1hr/day sourcing, 30 mins/day app review) and treat it like a performance guardrail, not micromanagement.
So...
If your ATS isn’t delivering value, the solution probably isn’t another tool.
It’s governance, clarity, and consistent best practices. You don’t need a new system, you need to squeeze every drop out of the one you already have.
And 90% of that is not about software, it’s about process. And you control that.
That’s it for today.
Three fixes. Zero software.
Luke Update
Arrived in San Fransisco and immediately went to meet some Ashby folk at Oracle Park for a spot of baseball.
I'll be meeting as many people as humanly possible until Friday so if you are in the bay area and want to catch up, give me a shout.
Well... that's issue forty five! If you have any questions about it, or any feedback on this issue of The Data Driven Recruiter, grab me on LinkedIn for a chat.
I'll see you next week!