Recruiting Like It’s 1995: The Blockbuster Strategy in a Netflix World
You ever watch someone buy a $2,000 treadmill only to use it as a clothes rack? That’s how most recruiters treat their ATS.
Companies spend a fortune on these systems, convinced they’re building a goldmine of talent—only to let it sit there collecting digital dust while recruiters run to job boards faster than a dad who just heard a car alarm near his driveway.
Here’s the reality:
Your ATS isn’t the problem—the way you use it (or don’t) is.
Recruiters love spending money to post jobs instead of searching their own database.
Some of those job boards are owned by staffing companies—so you’re basically paying them to take your candidates or see your customers data and compete against you.
AI isn’t going to magically fix your data if your recruiters don’t update skills, job and contact info. .
Candidates are blocking you because you’re spamming them into oblivion.
But sure, let’s blame the ATS.
Let’s break it down.
#1: Your ATS Is a Tool, Not a Trash Can
A well-managed ATS is a recruiter’s best asset—it tracks talent, improves sourcing, and should, in theory, be the first place a recruiter looks before spending a dime elsewhere.
Instead, what happens?
Old resumes sit in the system like leftovers in the office fridge—no one’s sure if they’re still good, but no one wants to clean them out.
Duplicate records are everywhere because everyone just uploads a new resume instead of updating the profile or imports candidates over and over and over again.
Notes make no sense—“Great call! Follow up later.” Cool, Jim. When? Why? Was the candidate interested, or did they just want to get you off the phone?
If your ATS isn’t useful, it’s not because the software sucks. It’s because no one is maintaining the data.
If a recruiter can’t find someone in your ATS but that same candidate applies to a new posting on Indeed? That’s not an ATS problem—that’s a lazy talent acquisition problem.
#2: Job Boards—The Expensive Black Hole You Keep Feeding
Recruiters LOVE to pay to post jobs. It’s like their version of retail therapy.
But here’s the kicker: Some of the biggest job boards are owned by staffing companies.
Let’s do the math:
You pay to post a job.
A candidate applies through that job board.
The job board stores their information.
The staffing company that owns the job board now has your candidate in their system, too.
You’re literally funding your competition. It’s like giving your ex the Netflix password while you’re trying to move on.
Meanwhile, your own ATS has thousands of candidates—but instead of searching, recruiters would rather keep throwing money at job boards, then complain about recruiting costs.
#3: Why Candidates Are Blocking You
There’s a reason your ATS data looks impressive on paper but gets you nowhere in real life. It’s because half the candidates in there have blocked your company’s emails and texts.
True story—I worked with a staffing firm that had a database of hundreds of thousands of candidates. But when I checked?
They had been BLOCKED, over 24 months, by as many candidates as they PAID the year before.
Why? Because at some point, someone thought automation was the answer to everything and unleashed a tidal wave of:
Mass emails: “We have the perfect job for you!” (sent every two days, regardless of whether the job was actually relevant).
Text blasts: “Are you interested in work? Reply YES.” (with zero context or job details).
Follow-up ghosting: Because automation sent the messages, but nobody actually followed up when people replied.
Eventually, candidates got sick of it. They blocked the company. They marked emails as spam. They unsubscribed.
Your ATS didn’t fail you—you just used it like a digital megaphone instead of a relationship-building tool.
#4: AI Won’t Fix This Mess for You
Ah, yes, the latest recruiting excuse: “AI is going to solve all our hiring problems.”
I love technology as much as the next guy, but here’s the deal:
AI pulls from your ATS data. If your ATS is full of garbage, duplicates, outdated records, limited skills, AI is just going to make bad matches faster.
AI isn’t a replacement for good sourcing skills. If recruiters don’t use Boolean search, pipeline effectively, or update profiles, AI can’t do it for them.
AI generally pulls info from a job description and lets be honest, a good portion of recruiters are not trained to be adept at writing good, clear, concise and appealing job postings, especially ones that AI can use for effective matching.
AI needs to be mapped….and many of your resources and tribal knowledge…well…they didn’t make the last 3 “re-orgs”
AI isn’t magic. It’s a tool. And if you don’t maintain the foundation, the whole thing collapses.
Waiting for AI to solve your recruiting issues is like assuming a self-driving car will get you to work on time when you haven’t even put in the destination.
#5: Google Sheets—The Ultimate ATS for Recruiters Who Refuse to Change
Since recruiters don’t trust the ATS, they reinvent the wheel every damn day with Google Sheets.
Color-coded cells, because that’s easier than tagging candidates properly in the ATS.
Pivot tables, because who needs built-in reporting?
Manually updating candidate information (which is somehow less work than just using the ATS correctly?).
The funniest part? I have NEVER seen a sourcing presentation where someone ran a Boolean string and said, “Now, let’s go into our Google Sheet and find talent.”
Yet somehow, recruiters would rather rely on DIY spreadsheets than a six-figure ATS that was built for this exact purpose.
So, What’s the Fix?
Here’s the deal—I’m not against ATS systems. In fact, I think they’re one of the most valuable tools in recruiting—when used correctly.
The problem isn’t the software. It’s the habits, the process, and the lack of discipline.
If you want your ATS to actually work for you:
Train recruiters to use it properly (because guessing doesn’t cut it).
Audit and clean your data (because bad data leads to bad hires).
Use automation wisely (because spam destroys credibility).
Stop throwing money at job boards that are designed to compete with you.
Because the next time you sit in front of a client and proudly announce, “We have 50,000 candidates in our ATS!”…
And they see a job posting go up 10 minutes after signing the contract…
They’ll know exactly how much you actually use that database.
And it won’t be a good look.
Final Thought: Your ATS Isn’t the Problem—Your Strategy Is
An ATS should be your competitive advantage. If it’s not? That’s not a tech issue—it’s a you issue.
So before you:
Pay job boards for the same candidates you already have,
Blame AI for your recruiting struggles,
Or treat your ATS like a junk drawer,
Ask yourself: Am I actually using this system to its full potential? Do I have the training to TRULY help get my recruiters BACK to sourcing and recruiting?
If not—let’s talk. Because fixing your ATS strategy is a lot cheaper than making Indeed richer.