You’re the PERFECT candidate for a job. You follow the directions to the letter in order to submit your application and resume for the role. You get a ding letter 15 minutes after you complete it. Why?
Applicant Tracking Systems are set up to centralize all responses to an opening and narrow the candidate pool into something more manageable for HR. If you believe you are a great fit for the job, don’t let an automatically generated rejection letter stop you. Here are some things to know about what you’re dealing with.
- Most of these are set up to sort by keywords. Candidates are usually lumped into categories such as eligible, ineligible, or decisional. The category tends to be determined by the percentage of words or phrases your resume hits that the company has entered as criteria.
ADVICE: Read the job posting carefully, look on the company website and do your research. Use as many of the exact same words or phrases that they use on the listing and within their site.
- Many times the posting is set up for a particular applicant. When a company has a great candidate that they know they want to hire, they still have to put up a posting for that applicant to complete in order to be compliant with corporate procedure. But doing this means it is seen by others (like you). What does this mean to you? There is a very high likelihood in this case that no one is even seeing your resume. You will automatically receive a rejection letter because the system is set up to reject everyone else but the person the posting was created for.
ADVICE: If you really want to work there and believe you are a good fit, Fed Ex your resume to a hiring manager in your area or a top person at the company. HR is only following the instructions of the hiring manager on that particular position, but it doesn’t mean you won’t catch the eye for that job or a different opening you haven’t seen if you try a different route. Start with the top down. If the President wants you in for an interview it really doesn’t matter what the ATS or HR group thinks, you are going to get an interview.
-Although this is technology and technology is limited in what it can do (the old garbage in, garbage out scenario) you still need to use it. If a listing or posting tells you to complete an application online, do it. The company has a protocol they follow and you have to play along.
ADVICE: Don’t get too creative in an effort to bypass the system. You may feel you’re getting further in the short term but ultimately, you’re going to end up there. You might as well cooperate right out of the gate. That being said, don’t let it end with your online submission. Use all the creativity you can to get in the door after you’ve complied with their wishes.
- Applicant Tracking Systems are a necessary tool for HR but the bottom line is it is still more who you know than what you know that’s going to get you a job.
THE BEST ADVICE: Network. Try to know people in the organization, try to get introduced to the right people, call the hiring managers or decision makers in your department, be personal, and stand out! It is far easier to get a blessing and then deal with the ATS, than it is to get dinged by the ATS and then try to point out how perfect you are for the job to a stranger who hears the same from many other candidates.
