How to handle high application volumes with an ATS

High volume hiring has shifted shape over the last few years.

Application volumes for entry level and frontline roles have increased steadily, driven by mobile job search, one-click apply, aggregated job boards and, more recently, the growing use of AI tools by candidates. It is now common for a single vacancy to attract hundreds of applications, and in some sectors thousands.

For most talent teams, the challenge is no longer how to attract candidates. It is how to handle volume without overwhelming recruiters, introducing bias, or sacrificing hiring quality.

This is where Applicant Tracking Systems play a central role. It is also where their limitations become visible.

Application volumes are rising, and AI is accelerating the trend

Across entry level, frontline and early careers hiring, applications per role have increased year on year.

Industry benchmarks suggest that many large employers now receive two to three times more applications per role than they did five to seven years ago. In customer service, warehouse and retail hiring, it is not unusual to see application volumes increase further during periods of economic uncertainty.

AI has amplified this trend. Candidates are increasingly using tools to generate CVs, tailor applications and apply at speed across multiple roles. This has lowered the effort required to apply and increased the number of speculative or poorly informed applications entering hiring funnels.

The result is a widening gap between the number of applications received and the number that can realistically be reviewed with care.

What ATS platforms do well in high volume hiring

Modern ATS platforms are essential infrastructure for high volume recruitment.

They provide structure and control across large candidate pipelines and enable teams to manage scale without losing visibility. In particular, ATS platforms are strong at:

• Centralising applicant data in one system
• Managing candidate stages and workflows
• Automating communications at scale
• Posting jobs across multiple job boards
• Supporting compliance, audit trails and reporting
• Coordinating offers and onboarding handovers

For high volume teams, an ATS acts as the operating system of recruitment. Without it, even moderate levels of volume quickly become unmanageable.

Where ATS based screening reaches its limits

Where ATS platforms struggle is in creating meaningful signal early in the hiring process.

Most early stage decisions rely on a combination of CVs, basic eligibility questions and recruiter prioritisation. These tools help manage volume, but they were not designed to evaluate job readiness in entry level roles.

As volumes increase, teams often see the same patterns repeat:

• Large numbers of technically eligible candidates with limited understanding of the role
• Recruiter time spent reviewing applications that later disengage
• Interviews and assessment days filled with candidates who decline or drop out
• Early attrition driven by expectation gaps rather than capability

These outcomes are not caused by poor technology. They are the result of limited job relevant signal early in the funnel.

Why not just rely on ATS CV screening for high volume hiring?

ATS CV screening is useful for organising applications, but it is a weak filter for high volume decision making. Keyword matching largely reflects how a CV is written, not how someone will perform in the role. As AI makes it easier for candidates to tailor CVs at scale, keyword based screening increasingly ranks application quality rather than job readiness. For entry level and frontline roles, this leads to large numbers of well worded CVs progressing, followed by drop out, no shows and early leavers. CV screening helps manage volume, but on its own it does not reduce wasted effort or improve hiring outcomes.

Why assessments help when they are designed for volume

Assessments are one of the few scalable ways to make early stage decisions based on something other than a CV.

When they are built around the real job, pre hire assessments let candidates show how they handle the situations they will actually face, such as prioritising tasks, dealing with ambiguity, following instructions, or communicating under pressure. They also set expectations properly, so candidates understand the work before they invest time in interviews or assessment days.

This matters more now because application volumes are rising and AI is accelerating the pace. Candidates can apply faster and to more roles than ever. Without an early stage assessment that reflects the job, recruiters end up spending time on candidates who were never going to convert, never going to show up, or were always going to leave early.

If you want it even sharper, here’s a shorter version:

Pre hire assessments are one of the most practical ways to reduce wasted effort in high volume hiring. They replace early stage guesswork with job relevant evidence and clearer candidate expectations, which is exactly what you need when application volumes are inflated by AI.

“Get your online assessment right and it does loads of the recruitment heavy lifting.” – Chris Platts, ThriveMap CEO

The role of Realistic Job Assessments in high volume hiring

Realistic Job Assessments are ideal for early stage use in high volume recruitment.

They simulate the tasks, decisions and pressures candidates will encounter on the job. This allows hiring teams to assess job relevant behaviours at scale while giving candidates a clear picture of what they are opting into.

In practice, this means fewer poorly-matched candidates progressing — not because they were rejected, but because they chose not to continue.

As volumes rise, this form of informed self selection becomes one of the most effective ways to reduce downstream workload without compromising fairness.

Image: Example best practice high volume hiring workflow with ATS & pre hire assessment integration, for more download high volume recruitment playbook. https://thrivemap.io/high-volume-recruitment-strategy-playbook/

How Realistic Job Assessments fit into ATS workflows

When integrated into an ATS, Realistic Job Assessments sit naturally within existing hiring processes.

Common setups include:

• Automatic assessment invitations triggered at application or shortly after
• Assessment scores and reports visible on the candidate record
• Filtering and shortlisting based on job relevant data
• Candidate withdrawals reflected directly in the ATS
• Reduced interview and assessment day volumes

This allows recruiters to focus their time where human judgement adds the most value, rather than managing volume alone.

Watch more industry-specific best practice example recruitment workflows

Why ThriveMap works particularly well at scale

ThriveMap’s Realistic Job Assessments are built specifically for entry-level roles where expectation gaps are costly.

Each assessment is bespoke to the role, grounded in job analysis and validated against real performance data, reducing the candidate expectation gap by 55%.

A practical guide: The High Volume Recruiting Playbook

High application volumes are now a permanent feature of entry level hiring. ATS platforms remain essential for managing scale, but they are not designed to assess job readiness on their own. As AI continues to increase application volume, early stage assessment design becomes more important, not less.

To help teams navigate this, ThriveMap has created the High Volume Recruiting Playbook. It provides step by step guidance for building scalable, fair hiring workflows across warehouse, call centre, retail, hospitality and early careers roles, with a clear focus on execution rather than theory.

The most resilient hiring teams combine structured ATS workflows with realistic, job relevant assessments early in the process. That is how volume is handled without sacrificing fairness, quality or recruiter capacity.

👉 Explore the High Volume Recruiting Playbook for role specific workflows, tools and practical examples.