# SortTheStack > SortTheStack is AI resume screening and shortlisting software. SortTheStack evaluates every applicant against the requirements you approve, surfaces the evidence, and helps your team decide who moves forward. It is not an applicant tracking system (ATS) and does not need one. - No ATS required. Every recommendation shows its evidence. You make the decision. - The product is not self-serve yet. Access is through the waitlist, which opens in batches. - SortTheStack is operated by Leaftail Inc., reachable at support@sortthestack.com. - Each guide below links to a plain Markdown copy of the article. ## Product - [Product](https://sortthestack.com/product): How SortTheStack screens applicants: set the criteria for the role, upload the batch, and get a prioritised shortlist with the evidence behind each one. - [Pricing](https://sortthestack.com/pricing): SortTheStack is priced by open jobs, not seats. The first pile is free, a single job is $149 one time, and subscriptions start at $49 a month. - [About](https://sortthestack.com/about): Why SortTheStack exists: a standalone answer to applicant overload, built for the screening problem rather than as another applicant tracking system. - [Waitlist](https://sortthestack.com/waitlist): Join the waitlist for early access. Access opens in batches. - [Demo](https://sortthestack.com/demo): Bring a real batch of applications from a real role and we will screen it with you against your own criteria. - [Contact](https://sortthestack.com/contact): Questions about screening a specific pile of applicants, pricing, security, or whether SortTheStack is the right fit. ## Use cases - [Agency recruiting](https://sortthestack.com/use-cases/agency-recruiting): Protect your margin. Stop spending billable hours rejecting applicants who were never going to fit the brief. - [Applicant overload](https://sortthestack.com/use-cases/applicant-overload): For the moment a single role goes from 50 applicants to 900 and first-pass review stops being possible. - [High-volume hiring](https://sortthestack.com/use-cases/high-volume-hiring): Screen hundreds or thousands of applicants for a single role without adding recruiting headcount to cope with the volume. - [Screening without an ATS](https://sortthestack.com/use-cases/screening-without-an-ats): Run screening out of the inbox, spreadsheet, and job board you already use. No applicant tracking system required. - [Small teams and hiring managers](https://sortthestack.com/use-cases/small-team-recruiting): For founders, department heads, and small teams who hire alongside their actual job and suddenly have hundreds of resumes to read. ## Guides - [What counts as evidence that a candidate can do the job?](https://sortthestack.com/blog/evidence-a-candidate-can-do-the-job.md): Not everything in an application is evidence. A five-level ladder, from doing the work in front of you to describing yourself, with what the research says about each, a worked example, and how to judge what a candidate would bring. - [Hiring for your team: find the gap before you write the job](https://sortthestack.com/blog/hiring-for-your-team.md): Before you hire, work out whether your team needs more of what it already does, something nobody does, or a backup for something only one person does. A team map, what the research on team composition does and doesn't say, and how to turn the gap into requirements. - [How to shortlist candidates: a practical guide with a worked example](https://sortthestack.com/blog/how-to-shortlist-candidates.md): A shortlist decides where your interview time goes. How to size it, who is eligible, how to rank within it, how to check the near misses, and how to write it up so someone else can check your reasoning. - [How to write a candidate recommendation a hiring manager can actually use](https://sortthestack.com/blog/how-to-write-a-candidate-recommendation.md): Most candidate write-ups repeat the resume and add adjectives. A structure that leads with the recommendation, shows the evidence against each requirement, states the gaps honestly and leaves out what shouldn't be there, with a worked example. - [How to write a job description that attracts the right candidates](https://sortthestack.com/blog/how-to-write-a-job-description.md): A good job description says what the job is for, what the person will do, the few things they must already be able to do, what it pays and how you'll decide. A structure, a worked example, and the mistakes that cost you applicants. - [Who should make the final hiring decision, and how?](https://sortthestack.com/blog/making-the-final-hiring-decision.md): One named person should make the call, after everyone has rated the finalists independently against the same criteria. Who decides, who advises, why ratings come before discussion, and what to do with two great finalists or none. - [What happens after you apply for a job? Inside the applicant review process](https://sortthestack.com/blog/what-happens-after-you-apply.md): Where your application goes, who or what reads it, what they're looking for, why you often hear nothing, and what you can actually do about it. Written by a company that makes screening software, for the people on the other side. - [What is candidate screening? Methods, mistakes and what the research says](https://sortthestack.com/blog/what-is-candidate-screening.md): Candidate screening is the step between receiving applications and interviewing. The main methods, what each tells you, how well they predict performance, the common mistakes, and the legal line every method has to stay behind. - [Employee turnover rate: what it means and how to calculate it](https://sortthestack.com/blog/employee-turnover-rate.md): What turnover rate means, the standard formula, a worked example for a small team, the official U.S. rates to compare against, and why one departure can make your number look alarming. - [Offer letter examples: three templates and what every offer should include](https://sortthestack.com/blog/offer-letter-examples.md): Three offer letter examples you can adapt, for a salaried role, an hourly role and a conditional offer, with what every offer should include and the written-notice rules in Ontario, New York and California. - [What is an ATS? Applicant tracking systems explained](https://sortthestack.com/blog/what-is-an-applicant-tracking-system.md): What an applicant tracking system is, what it does with a resume, whether it really rejects applicants automatically, and how it differs from a screening tool or HR software. - [What is talent acquisition? A plain-English guide for small businesses](https://sortthestack.com/blog/what-is-talent-acquisition.md): What talent acquisition means, how it differs from recruiting and from HR, the stages it covers, and what it looks like in a small business where the owner does all of it. - [AI interviewers: what the evidence shows, and what to check before using one](https://sortthestack.com/blog/ai-interviewers.md): AI voice and video interviewers are spreading fast. The best field evidence so far found they made interviews more consistent and led to more hires who stayed, in one specific setting. What that does and doesn't tell you, the rules that apply, and questions to ask any vendor. - [Applicant tracking spreadsheet: a free template for small teams](https://sortthestack.com/blog/applicant-tracking-spreadsheet.md): A spreadsheet is a perfectly good applicant tracker for a small team hiring a few people a year, if it's set up properly. A free template with stages, follow-up dates and record-keeping built in, and how to tell when you've outgrown it. - [Not finding qualified candidates? Check these five things before you look elsewhere](https://sortthestack.com/blog/finding-qualified-candidates.md): When applicants keep missing the mark, the problem is often the posting or the screen rather than the market. A diagnostic for small employers, what the research says about referrals, and where else to look. - [Gen Z, job hopping, career gaps and culture fit: what the evidence supports](https://sortthestack.com/blog/gen-z-job-hopping-culture-fit.md): Four common hiring assumptions, checked against the research. Generational labels don't describe individuals, gaps and short tenures are questions rather than verdicts, and culture fit easily becomes hiring people like yourself. What to do instead. - [Cost per hire, time to hire and quality of hire: three numbers worth tracking](https://sortthestack.com/blog/hiring-metrics.md): How a small business can measure what a hire costs, how long it takes and whether it worked, with standard definitions, a worked example, a free calculator spreadsheet, and why the popular "a bad hire costs 30% of salary" figure can't be traced. - [How to compare job candidates side by side](https://sortthestack.com/blog/how-to-compare-candidates.md): Comparing finalists on overall impressions favours whoever was most recent or most confident. A method for comparing candidates requirement by requirement, handling different backgrounds and ties, plus a free comparison matrix. - [AI-written applications: how to screen when every resume reads well](https://sortthestack.com/blog/ai-written-applications.md): Generative AI has made polished applications cheap, so good writing no longer tells you much. What the research shows, how to tell polish from fabrication, and a proportionate way to check the claims that matter. - [Ghost jobs: why applicants doubt your posting, and how to show it's real](https://sortthestack.com/blog/ghost-jobs.md): Applicants increasingly suspect job postings are fake or already filled. What ghost jobs are, what the evidence on them actually shows, the rules now arriving, and six things an employer can do to make a real posting believable. - [What a job posting must disclose in 2026: pay, AI use and whether the job is real](https://sortthestack.com/blog/job-posting-disclosure-rules.md): Ontario now requires pay, AI use and vacancy status in most job postings, and several U.S. states require pay ranges and AI notices. What the rules say, who they cover, and a posting checklist you can use anywhere. - [Must-have vs nice-to-have: how to write job requirements that find the right people](https://sortthestack.com/blog/must-have-vs-nice-to-have.md): Most job postings list too many must-haves, and many of them are proxies that screen out people who could do the job. A four-question test for every requirement, a worked before-and-after, and a free worksheet. - [Seasonal and hourly hiring: how to hire fast without hiring badly](https://sortthestack.com/blog/seasonal-hiring.md): A practical plan for hiring seasonal and frontline staff in volume, from a realistic timeline and honest knockout questions to a ten-minute structured phone screen, the youth-employment hour limits to check, and a printable plan. - [Skills-based hiring: why dropping the degree requirement is not enough](https://sortthestack.com/blog/skills-based-hiring.md): Many employers dropped degree requirements and kept hiring the same people. What skills-based hiring actually requires, what the evidence says about work samples and job knowledge tests, and a planner for building a short work sample. - [Can AI help you identify the best applicants?](https://sortthestack.com/blog/can-ai-identify-the-best-applicants.md): AI can do much of the reading in resume screening. It cannot tell you who will perform best, and it can carry bias. What it does well, what it can't do, the documented risks, and a test you can run on any tool before trusting it. - [Candidate scorecard: a free template and how to use it](https://sortthestack.com/blog/candidate-scorecard-template.md): A candidate scorecard turns impressions into a decision you can explain. Download a free template, see a filled-in example, and learn how to weight, combine and use the ratings. - [Do you actually need an applicant tracking system?](https://sortthestack.com/blog/do-you-need-an-applicant-tracking-system.md): An applicant tracking system solves some hiring problems well and others barely at all. Work out which problem you have, with a decision table, verified prices, and the cases where buying one is clearly right. - [How to choose hiring software for a small business](https://sortthestack.com/blog/how-to-choose-hiring-software.md): Choose the kind of hiring software before the product. A decision guide by situation, the questions that matter, verified prices for nine products, and how to run a trial that tells you something. - [How to hire the best candidate: a practical guide for small businesses](https://sortthestack.com/blog/how-to-hire-the-best-candidate.md): A complete, evidence-based hiring process a small team can run without an HR department, from writing requirements to making the offer, with links to a detailed guide for each step. - [How to screen a large pile of resumes without missing good candidates](https://sortthestack.com/blog/how-to-screen-a-pile-of-resumes.md): A step-by-step method for reviewing 100 or more applications fairly and in a reasonable amount of time, with a worked example, a time budget, and the one step most screening skips. - [Structured interviews: what the research says and how to run one](https://sortthestack.com/blog/structured-interviews.md): Structured interviews are the best-supported way to interview candidates, and a small team can build one in an afternoon. What structure means, why it works, and a worked example with questions and rating anchors. - [What actually predicts job performance? What the 2022 re-analysis changed](https://sortthestack.com/blog/what-predicts-job-performance.md): The hiring research most people quote was overstated. A 2022 re-analysis re-ranked the methods, put structured interviews first, and found years of experience barely predicts anything. Here is what that means for a small team. - [What is AI resume screening, and what should it actually do?](https://sortthestack.com/blog/what-is-ai-resume-screening.md): A plain explanation of AI resume screening software, what it is good at, where it fails, and the questions worth asking before you trust one with a batch of applicants. ## Policies - [Security](https://sortthestack.com/security): How SortTheStack handles candidate data: what is processed and stored, retention and deletion, access control, AI models and sub-processors. - [Privacy policy](https://sortthestack.com/legal/privacy): How SortTheStack collects, uses, shares and deletes the personal information of website visitors, customers and the job applicants they screen. - [Terms of service](https://sortthestack.com/legal/terms): The terms that govern use of SortTheStack: accounts, your data, acceptable use, billing, liability and termination. - [Editorial standards](https://sortthestack.com/editorial): Who writes SortTheStack's articles, how we use AI, how we source evidence and compare products, and how to report an error.