By Jon Shields
New job openings are more accessible than ever online. That, combined with the
relative ease of submitting a job application online, has created a problem for job seekers and hiring companies alike.
Any given job opening can result in hundreds of incoming resumes, many of which are from unqualified job hunters who believe they’re playing a numbers game. “It’s worth a try,” they think. This flood of resumes buries qualified candidates and leaves recruiters unable to keep
up.
Instead of sorting through a stack of printed resumes or a cluttered inbox, recruiters at most companies (including 90% of Fortune 500) use applicant tracking systems, or ATS, to keep themselves as organized and efficient as possible. This software parses the content on incoming resumes and allows recruiters to search and filter the results. Some ATS even automatically rank and assign a score to applicants
based on how well their resume matches the job description.
While ATS software lightens the load for recruiters by shrinking the applicant pool and keeping things organized in a CRM-style pipeline, they still leave much to be desired. Most glaringly, many highly qualified candidates slip right through the cracks with zero consideration.
Why Do Top Candidates Get Lost in Applicant Tracking Systems?
When it comes to job applications, we would like to believe that the cream always rises to the top and the most qualified candidates always land interviews. With perfect and impartial ATS algorithms ranking candidates objectively, one could argue that this should be especially true when technology enters the
mix.
But while technology continues to advance, we’re not quite there yet. The ATS algorithms aren’t advanced enough to make nuanced judgements about candidates and the human recruiters pushing the buttons don’t have time to carefully read every incoming resume.
That means great candidates get ignored or rejected for reasons they might not realize. The ATS aren’t out to get you, they just aren’t yet good at what they do.
Job seekers need to work in sync with ATS to avoid falling through the cracks due to word choices, formatting decisions, or other seemingly innocuous choices.
READ MORE
