Avoid these 4 rookie mistakes when buying an ATS

Buying an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) should make life easier. But too often, it becomes the very thing that turns recruitment into a tangle of admin, guesswork, and mounting costs. It might sparkle in the sales demo, only to discover six months later you’re drowning in middleware, fighting integrations, sending support tickets into the void… and wondering why shortlisting feels harder than ever.

Selecting an ATS requires more than browsing feature lists or getting dazzled by AI demos. Dig into real workflows and imagine what happens six months down the line when you need to update a process, integrate a new tool, or encounter an applicant with an AI‑style résumé.

Avoid these mistakes by:

1. Understanding administrative burden and workflow impact

2. Factoring in integration complexity and hidden costs

3. Holding AI tools to realistic expectations and your own judgment first

4. Get clarity on support

Used thoughtfully, an ATS can improve hiring efficiency. But used without awareness, it risks adding complexity, cost, and confusion which is the exact opposite of what it’s supposed to fix.

Before you lock in a long-term contract, take a moment to think. Here are the 4 rookie mistakes HR managers make when choosing an ATS and how to dodge them like a hiring pro.

Mistake #1: Falling for features instead of fixing your workflow

Shiny buttons don’t equal smooth hiring.

A feature-packed ATS might look powerful, but if it complicates your daily work or forces your team into rigid workflows, it’s a false win. From clunky UI to never-ending click trails, these systems often add friction rather than remove it.

The result? An overwhelmed team. Slower time-to-hire. And a tool nobody wants to use.

Watch for these red flags:

• Added administrative steps and pages that slow everyone down

• Forced Workflows that create bottlenecks making for poor user experience

• Manual approvals that pile up instead of speeding things along

• Feature overload that distracts from actual applicant evaluation

• Disconnected systems patched together with sticky tape (aka: middleware)

Tip: If your ATS creates more admin than your inbox, it’s not a solution, it’s a saboteur.

Mistake #2: Ignoring integration chaos (aka the middleware money pit)

Your tech stack shouldn’t need a translator.

Here’s the trap: You sign on for an “affordable” ATS… only to find it doesn’t talk to your onboarding system, your HRIS, your video interviewing platform, or even your job boards. Suddenly, you’re forking out for middleware tools just to get data from A to B—and worse, you're stuck paying extra every time something changes.

What started as a smart investment becomes a bottomless pit of patchwork fixes.

Beware the silent budget killers:

• Middleware required just to make basic systems talk

• Hidden set-up and “custom mapping” fees

• Constant reconfiguration costs every time your process shifts

• Access control issues that force you to over-share or manually intervene

• Reporting gaps that require even more manual data wrangling

Tip: If your ATS needs a translator and a therapist to work with your other tools, it’s time to reconsider.

Related article: Seamless integration: Why Krispy Kreme Australia loves Expr3ss!

Mistake #3: Thinking AI will save you (spoiler: it might just multiply the guesswork)

AI is cool but it’s not a mind-reader.

The allure of AI-powered ranking, scoring, and shortlisting is strong. Much of it is still experimental.  But if your inputs are flawed (think: AI-generated resumes filled with buzzwords), then your outputs are just... faster guesses. You risk missing the real gems and leaning on logic that’s based on past bias or plain bad data.

Instead of helping you hire better, the ATS becomes a black box that multiplies and reinforces guesswork.

Here’s how AI can lead you astray:

• Resume fatigue masked as “intelligent ranking”

• Rankings based on keyword stuffing, not candidate quality

• Poor handling of AI-generated or non-traditional CVs

• Bias baked in from legacy hiring patterns

• Overconfidence in automation where human judgement is critical

Tip: If the AI “shortlists” a candidate because they used the word “synergy” 14 times, it might be time to take back control.

Related article: Can AI read people better than you?

Mistake #4: Expecting real customer support (and getting ghosted instead)

You bought the platform, where’s the people?

This one hits hard. During the sales process, you’re promised “real people, real support, real fast.” What will you actually get? A ticketing system, automated replies, and days of silence. Or worse, no response at all. When a system that’s supposed to save time breaks down and support goes MIA, the stress multiplies.

HR teams don’t have time to chase fixes, especially when hiring is on the line.

Common customer service complaints:

• No phone support as promised, just email tickets or bots

• Delays in resolving technical issues

• Getting bounced between departments

• Support that only helps during offshore time zones

• No proactive outreach, especially when things go wrong

Tip: If your “dedicated support” disappears after you sign the contract, you didn’t buy a partner… you bought a problem.

Final Thought: Hire smart, not hard. The goal of an ATS is to make hiring smarter and simpler, not more complicated, confusing, or costly.

Before you commit:

• Map your actual workflow

• Get real about integration needs

• Test AI logic with real, messy resumes

• Grill them on actual support delivery (not just promises)

• Ask for pricing on future tweaks, not just what’s in the demo

You’re not just buying software, you’re investing in the future of how your team finds great people to help your business grow.  Don’t let rookie mistakes turn your ATS into another HR horror story.  Because your sanity is too valuable to sacrifice to bad tech.