Human Touch Helps Resumes Get Noticed
Nothing about the job hunt is the same as it was a couple of decades ago.
But the business of actually getting a job… not so much.
To understand why, it helps to understand the mechanics of today’s Web-based job hunt.
One big trend: the “Applicant Tracking System” or “ATS” – software that lets everyone at a firm track applicants,
From initial contact, to scheduling interviews and reviewing feedback, it puts the information at everyone’s fingertips explains Dan Arkind, CEO of JobScore, an ATS provider.
Currently, nearly all large firms use an ATS, and they are also being quickly adopted by smaller companies, with a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management in 2016 showing 25 percent of its member firms, many mid-sized, using an ATS.
When clicking on a posting, “If you’re led to a page branded with either a logo of an ATS vendor or the URL appears different from the Website, they’re using an ATS,” says Michael Krikheli, co-founder of ZipJob.
With an ATS, all resumes are automatically sorted, with the software rejecting some candidates based on criteria that must be on a resume, like five years experience or a college degree.
The right qualifications get your resume through, but sending it in a .doc or .docx file does, too, says Krikheli, since some systems have difficulty reading other file types.
Still, to really stand out, says Arkind, the labor-intensive methods used in pre-internet days, like carefully crafting a cover-letter offering convincing evidence you’re right for the job, and calling anyone you know at the company who can recommend you, help get the interview.
“Most [applicants] are unqualified,” Arkind says. They think that spending hours on job boards and responding to many postings will eventually land them a job, he explains.
While automation helps firms organize responses, it’s still the qualified candidate who uses a personal touch that gets hired.