How to Beat the Bots

Held Hostage at Malfunction Junction

(Or How I Learned to Beat the Bots)! 

I have been in the Career Management industry in one capacity or another for over 20 years. In that time, I have had the fortunate opportunity to speak with thousands upon thousands of highly skilled job-seeking professionals.

When we arrive at the discussion as how the jobseeker is searching, a very unscientific observation and conservative guess by me, is that about 75% of jobseekers are utilizing job boards as their primary or secondary vehicle of search. Then and there the comments of frustration resonate rather loudly… I have heard this frustration thousands of times in my consult with a jobseeker. This is the opportunity for me to educate that individual about the realities of job boards, LI Jobs, and company website applications.

Many a person has heard (and many have not) of ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) but does NOT have a full realization of this platform and how it performs. I call ATS – The ROBOT Re-Enforcement arm for companies accepting resumes. ATS platforms are designed to make Hiring Manager’s lives easier – not yours. The ATS combs through resumes, favoring only those written with its robot sensibilities in mind. So, for example:

• If the skill representation on the resume does not match up to 75% of the skills listed in the job posting, there is a high probability the resume will be disqualified upon submission.
• If there is not a parsing of keyword phraseology that is industry specific to the role being applied for, there is a high probability the resume will be disqualified upon submission.
• If the resume is going back farther than 20 years, and 20 years seems to be the new line of demarcation, to disqualify a resume based on the “unspoken” word of ageism.
• If the date(s) on college degrees is showing from the 1980’s, early to mid-1990’s, the resume will probably be disqualified. The Bots are reading these dates and surmising the age of the applicant.

95% of large corporations use ATS as part of their recruitment process. On average, a corporate job posting receives 250 applications, and of those 250 applicants, 4-6 will be contacted for an interview. It is an industry observation that over 75% of resumes will never be seen by human eyes. Yes, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the “enemy of the state” when it comes to job search. I call this process “Malfunction Junction.” Technology is making job searches both easier and harder. Understanding the use of ATS is crucial for job search success.

I am reading a book written by James Clear called – Atomic Habits. BTW, this is my second reading of this book. He makes the comment that a person’s outcomes are a lagging measure of habits. Your lack of success with job boards is a measure of your systems. In job search, it isn’t always the goal, it is the system designed to gain control of positive outcomes.

Our Team of Content Creators at Executive Career Partners specializes in the creation of resumes for job board pursuits that have a “high match” rate with the ATS platforms, and remember a solo resume approach to the market is not productive. There needs to be a strategy given how transferable skills can be communicated via a strong branding approach. Please note that it isn’t always the most qualified candidate that receives the offer, it is the one that is “perceived” to be best candidate that does.

If you are tired of swimming upstream in your approach to the “advertised” job market, growing increasing frustrated with the ‘spray-n-pray’ method of approach to the job market, constantly experiencing very little or no traction or reaction through your solo efforts, and if your in need of “Hope to Cope” with regard to your struggle with AI Platforms, ECP is ready and poised to assist you navigating this highly complex Job Market. Do not allow a lack of results to affect your confidence or dissuade your intentions regarding the location of your new opportunities.

We are now in “Primetime” with regard to the National and International Job Markets…hiring this time of the year is at a higher trajectory. It is estimated that 73,000,000 people are in job search mode during “Primetime.” How do you stand out from the masses? Contact us today and let’s begin the journey to your next career destination!