Why ATS Candidate Records Get Messy
If your ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is full of ghost candidates and half-empty records, you’re not alone.
Over time, candidate profiles get outdated, resumes go stale, and critical context lives in notes no one can find-or really, fully grasp it’s importance. On top of that, details like contact data, availability, certifications, and preferences don’t always make it into structured fields.
Recruiters simply don’t have time to do manual data entry after every screen or interview.
The impact? You re-source people you’ve already met. You re-screen profiles missing just one detail. You repost roles with a qualified pipeline already sitting inside your system, including passive talent you’ve already engaged but can’t easily surface.
Recruiting becomes slower and more expensive all because the data is incomplete.
What Is AI-Powered ATS Data Enrichment?
ATS data enrichment is the process of transforming resumes, conversations, and other interactions into structured, searchable candidate data, automatically in ATS platforms. Instead of copy-pasting details or backfilling fields, an ATS automation tool, like an integrated AI recruiter, fills in the gaps from every conversation or input.
How Candidate Records Get Enriched with AI
At a high-level, AI can clean and complete candidate records without slowing down your team. Here’s how it works in real-world recruiting workflows:
It picks up what recruiters miss
- Every time a candidate shares something-whether in a resume, a text message, a phone interview, or a form response-AI recruitment software collects those details in the background.
It turns loose input into structured data
- Conversations are messy and all over the place. People also don’t speak in bullet points. AI takes those freeform answers and organizes them into clean categories like skills, certifications, preferences, or job history for you. What used to live in a call transcript or email thread now lives in the right place inside your ATS.
It adds context instead of overwriting
- AI doesn’t replace what’s already there, it builds on it. So if a candidate updates their availability or gains new experience, your record improves without losing anything.
It keeps your system up to date
- As soon as something new is learned, the candidate profile gets updated. The next time you search your ATS, you’ll be working with fresh, complete profiles.
How ATS Enrichment Works with HeyMilo
Here’s what the process looks like in practice:
Step 1: Information is gathered automatically
HeyMilo syncs data from resume reviews, pre-screens, and live interviews. The system can write back the interview insights into profiles and custom fields in your ATS without extra steps from recruiters. (Below is an example of a completed engagement and screening flow with HeyMilo synced to Ashby)
Step 2: Key signals are extracted and scored
Our AI ATS agent identifies high-value traits like job fit, certifications, intent, wage expectations, location preferences, and more.
Step 3: Tags and fields are enriched
Based on what it finds, HeyMilo can additionally generates tags and fill out fields in your ATS:
e.g., “Willing to Work Nights,” “Valid RN License,” or “Spanish Speaking”
This includes syncing into structured notes, job history fields, and other custom data points you care about.
Instead of just putting a score or a link, these enrichments make sure the insights generated by AI + gathered from various sources about the candidate are in a useful format.
Step 4: Clean profiles appear in your ATS
Everything updates directly in your system without delay. You get rich candidate records that are consistent, searchable, and ready to submit.
It ensures that any new interaction updates the record, and that you’re never stuck working from a version that’s months out of date.
What This Actually Unlocks for Recruiters
You’re not enriching data for the sake of clean records. You’re enriching for:
✅ Faster rediscovery: Find qualified candidates already in your system without repeating screens; source from your ATS with confidence
✅ Cleaner submittals: Submit better profiles faster with full job history, verified tags, and consistent formatting
✅ Increased recruiter productivity & less admin: No more backfilling notes, editing resumes, or re-screening from scratch
✅ Candidate Experience: Deliver a better candidate experience by not repeating what you already know
✅ Stronger profiles over time: Every candidate interaction makes your database more powerful
✅ Reduced job board spend: Use your ATS as a sourcing engine instead of constantly paying to re-source
Candidate Sourcing with Enriched Data
Once candidate information is enriched, you can stop treating your ATS like a filing cabinet and start using it like a sourcing tool.
And with HeyMilo’s sourcing dashboard, you’ll additionally have access to:
- Better candidate management: Run targeted searches across your ATS using structured tags, locations, or licenses
- Talent rediscovery: Pull qualified past applicants or previous screens into new workflows
- Additional sourcing software (beyond in-ats): Combine internal and external sourcing with one invite flow
No more redoing outreach or wondering if a profile is still current. If they’re in your system, they’re ready.
How to Set Up ATS Enrichment with HeyMilo
HeyMilo’s AI ATS software integrates with systems like Greenhouse, Ceipal, Manatal, Avionté, Bullhorn, iCIMS, JobDiva, Lever, Workday, and more.
You can:
- Sync enriched data from interviews, resumes, and flows into the right parts of your ATS
- Map custom tags and fields across your org
- Configure enrichment for specific job types
- Use templates to normalize structure across roles
Every HeyMilo interaction feeds back into your ATS as structured data you can filter, analyze, and act on.
FAQ: ATS Enrichment, Answered
What is ATS data enrichment with AI?
It’s the process of adding structure, depth, and updated signals to candidate records automatically.
What kind of data gets enriched?
Contact info, job history, screening answers, certifications, preferences, and tags. It is based on what you care about most.
Is this just resume parsing?
No. Parsing reads resumes once. HeyMilo listens continuously. It enriches based on interviews, notes, and sourcing-not just PDFs.
Can I control what fields get updated?
Yes. You can customize templates and control what data flows into which fields.
Final Word
Your best candidates may already be in your ATS. It’s crucial to keep their profiles clean, complete, and up to date so you can find them in time.
AI-powered enrichment with HeyMilo becomes an opportunity to strengthen your database and talent pipeline. It helps makes your data more usable, your submittals more credible, and your recruiters more productive.
Want to see how HeyMilo helps global teams clean, structure, scale candidate records, and make better hiring decisions with agentic AI?
Explore ATS data enrichment for talent acquisition with HeyMilo today! You’ll see just how easy it is to implement with your current tech stacks.
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