PART 1 OF 2

Last week I participated in a LinkedIn Live session title “Behind the Curtain: Demystifying the Applicant Tracking System (ATS)”. The host, Donna Serdula and I previously discussed this topic and agreed that job seekers would be helped if they understood what goes on in the recruiting department after they apply for a job. And we were right. There were so many interesting questions from participants that I thought a summary would make a great blog post. If you’re interested in watching the entire 60-minute event, click here.

The Problem with Applying for Jobs

To demystify something there has to be a mystery in the first place. For job seekers, that mystery is a lack of information during the application process. In fact, the most common response from a company after applying to a role is no response at all. Another frustration is that, when there is a response, it tends to be an emotionless form letter that leaves candidates frustrated. This lack of information can cause candidates to create their own theories about what is happening (Ever heard, “The system kicked out my resume without anyone ever looking at it!”).

Why Does This Problem Keep Happening?

While there could be many factors that cause a lack of communication to the candidate, here are three common issues:

• Timing – Corporate recruiters follow certain rules when working with hiring managers. If recruiters submit a group of candidates to the hiring manager, they often let the process play out before submitting any additional ones. Why? If the goal is to fill the role as quickly as possible, continuing to submit additional candidates will only slow down the process. If the person to be hired is in the first group of submissions, the process moves smoothly and the position is filled in a timely manner. This could possibly leave lots of candidates in the pool who never got their application reviewed.
• Volume – If there are an overwhelming number of people applying to openings (and this is more common now that candidates can use AI to apply to hundreds of openings easily), the recruiter has to figure out a way to find a workable group of resumes to review. They may have created assessment questions for candidates to answer when they apply. The answers to these questions help rank the group so the recruiter knows who to review first. They may also use AI to help search and rank the group. Or, they may just review resumes manually until they get a working number (Usually in the 3-5 range) that they submit to the hiring manager for review.
• Fit – It’s a fact that a large majority of resumes do get reviewed and those people are just not a good fit for the role. There is good reason to pursue feedback on why there isn’t a good fit, but job seekers need to be comfortable with the understanding that this is indeed true.

In a Robert Half survey, 78% of workers answered yes to this question: “Would you still apply to a job if you didn’t meet all of the qualifications on the job description?

In the first two scenarios above, there are a lot of resumes that don’t get reviewed. And often recruiters let those resumes sit until they have clousure and are sure they won’t need to go back in the pool for additional candidates. This is why candidates experience the “Black Hole” (no one has looked at your background but also hasn’t totally eliminated you from consideration) or receive the “Form Letter” (when a recruiter is eliminating large quantities of candidates by using templates generated by the ATS).

While this can be a frustrating process for the candidate, until the system changes for the better it’s up to job seekers to do what they can to increase their chances.

Next week, we’ll move beyond the demystifying piece and I’ll discuss specific strategies to help get resumes in the hands of recruiters and reviewed by hiring managers.

If you would like to discover more about this topic, read “How to Make an ATS-Friendly Resume” by Kellie Hanna.

ES Talent Solutions provides consulting services to corporations and candidates alike. Email the team to learn how we can help you at contact@estalentsolutions.com.