ATS requirements checklist and RFP template

An ATS requirements checklist turns hiring problems into testable product needs. A useful RFP then asks every vendor to explain, demonstrate, and price those needs in the same format, making it easier to compare workflow fit, technical risk, implementation effort, and total cost.

I recommend keeping the document focused. Mark true launch requirements clearly and move future ideas into a separate section, or every platform will appear equally suitable on paper.

Key takeaways

• Build requirements from real recruiting work, not a generic feature list.
  For a current comparison, see this guide to AI-powered applicant tracking systems.
• Label each requirement as required, preferred, or out of scope.
• Ask vendors to state if a capability is native, configured, integrated, planned, or unavailable.
• Include candidate experience, permissions, data handling, AI oversight, reporting, implementation, and cost.
• Use demonstrations and contract documents to verify written responses.
• Score all shortlisted systems with the same scenarios and weighting.

What should an ATS requirements checklist include?

An ATS requirements checklist should cover jobs, candidates, evaluation, communication, collaboration, reporting, integrations, security, privacy, AI, implementation, support, and pricing. Each line should describe an action or outcome that the buying team can verify.

Jobs and requisitions

• Create jobs from approved templates.
• Route requisitions through configurable approvals.
• Support departments, locations, employment types, and internal codes.
• Publish internal and external vacancies.
• Track job owners, openings, target dates, and status.
• Maintain an approval and edit history.

Careers page and job distribution

• Publish jobs to a branded, mobile-friendly careers page.
  When the role is ready, you can post a job for free to start reaching candidates.
• Add jobs to an existing website through a widget or integration.
• Distribute openings to the job boards the company uses.
• Preserve source data through application and hire.
• Support structured job fields such as location, workplace type, and compensation.

Candidate management

• Capture applications and recruiter-added candidates.
• Store resumes, answers, notes, messages, and activity history.
• Parse resumes while preserving the original document.
• Search, filter, tag, merge, and rediscover candidates.
• Support custom fields and pipelines by role or business unit.
• Record rejection, withdrawal, hire, and other disposition reasons.

Interviews and collaboration

• Sync with required calendars and video meeting tools.
  Use an interview question generator to prepare role-specific questions before the conversation.
• Offer candidate self-scheduling where appropriate.
• Handle time zones, rescheduling, reminders, and panel interviews.
• Use structured scorecards tied to job criteria.
• Let managers comment, mention colleagues, and complete assigned reviews.
• Control which notes and evaluations each user can see.

Communication and candidate experience

• Send individual and bulk email from approved templates.
• Record candidate-facing communication on the profile.
• Trigger reviewed messages from stage changes.
• Support accessible applications on mobile and desktop.
• Provide clear confirmation, scheduling, withdrawal, and privacy interactions.

Reports and administration

• Report on time to hire, time to fill, source, funnel conversion, offers, and open jobs.
• Filter reports by date, department, location, recruiter, and role.
• Export underlying data in a usable format.
• Configure roles, permissions, templates, fields, and notifications without vendor help.
• Keep an activity record for important administrative and candidate actions.

Integrations and data

• Connect with required HRIS, payroll, onboarding, assessment, background check, calendar, and identity tools.
• Document available fields, sync direction, frequency, and error handling.
• Provide an API or webhooks if internal development requires them.
• Import historical candidate and job records.
• Export company data at contract end.

Security, privacy, and AI

• Support two-factor authentication and appropriate access controls.
• Document encryption, hosting, backups, incident response, and subprocessors.
• Configure retention, deletion, and candidate data requests.
• Explain what data each AI feature uses and produces.
• Show reasons behind screening or matching recommendations.
• Require human review for consequential actions where company policy demands it.

How should you prioritize ATS requirements?

Give every requirement a priority and an owner. I use "required at launch," "preferred," and "future" because those labels force useful tradeoffs without creating a false sense that every feature carries the same weight.

Avoid relying on promised features for a launch requirement. Contract for what exists and has been demonstrated.

Copyable ATS RFP template

Use the following structure as a starting point and remove sections that do not apply.

01Company and project overview

• Company size, locations, and hiring model
• Annual hiring volume and typical open jobs
• Current tools and reason for change
• Project owner and evaluation team
• Target selection, implementation, and launch dates

02Response instructions

Ask vendors to answer each requirement with one status: native, configurable, third-party integration, custom work, planned, or unavailable. Require notes on limitations, required plan, added cost, and supporting documentation.

03Functional requirements

Paste the relevant checklist items above into a numbered table with columns for priority, vendor status, explanation, and demo reference. Include your real stages, boards, reports, templates, languages, locations, and user groups.

04Technical and data requirements

Request architecture details, browser and mobile support, identity options, integrations, API documentation, webhooks, import and export formats, data ownership, hosting regions, uptime terms, and support for test environments.

05Security and privacy

Request security documentation, access controls, encryption details, subprocessors, incident terms, retention controls, audit history, backup practices, and answers to your legal or security questionnaire.

06AI functionality

For every AI feature, ask for its purpose, inputs, outputs, explanation method, user controls, data handling, testing process, and options to disable it. Ask the vendor to demonstrate errors and correction paths alongside successful examples.

07Implementation and support

Request a proposed plan covering configuration, migration, integrations, testing, training, launch support, ongoing service channels, response times, customer responsibilities, and named dependencies.
A job description generator can turn responsibilities and requirements into a clear first draft.

08Pricing and contract

Ask for a three-year cost using the same user, job, employee, location, integration, and support assumptions for every vendor. Request implementation fees, add-ons, usage charges, renewal terms, minimum commitment, data return, and termination assistance.

09Demonstration scenarios

Require vendors to complete the same practical tasks: publish a job, process an application, correct parsed data, request manager feedback, schedule an interview, compare scorecards, record a decision, transfer a hire, and build a source report.

10References

Ask for customers with a similar size, location footprint, hiring model, and integration setup. Questions should cover implementation effort, manager adoption, support quality, reporting limits, and unexpected costs.

How should you score ATS RFP responses?

Score verified fit, not the confidence of the vendor's writing. Weight workflow and usability heavily, then include integrations, governance, implementation, support, and total cost according to your risks.

Document evidence beside each score. A live demonstration or tested sandbox deserves more confidence than a roadmap statement.

Recooty covers job distribution to more than 250 boards, a no-code careers page, pipelines, scorecards, scheduling, talent pools, analytics, more than 100 integrations, two-factor authentication, GDPR support, and custom user access. Use the ATS selection guide to compare these capabilities with your requirements.

Frequently asked questions about ATS requirements