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Category: applicant tracking system

A Tale of Two Screenshots

March 10, 2024 /

I remember when one of my sons was in his teens – he was utterly convinced that society was “smarter” because of our near unlimited access to information. As internet connectivity becomes more widespread and literally ANYONE can post content, I disagree.

In many ways, access to whatever passes for “information” these days may be making us dumber.

Why yes I DO recognize the irony of saying this when I am myself one of those people putting information on the internet every week.

Recently a LinkedIn pal shared a gem of a video produced by a well known job board. The video is VERY well produced, with smooth transitions from the beautiful actress reading a script (she did great BTW) to visuals explaining what was being said. Speaking of visuals, let’s take a look at THIS screenshot from the video:

Here we see various steps in the recruiting workflow. The voiceover states “the ATS comes between Candidates apply and Applicants are screened”.

Read that again.

The ATS comes between “CANDIDATES APPLY and APPLICANTS ARE SCREENED”.

Now you may be wondering what’s the problem! Isn’t that how it works? It’s what everyone complains about. It’s what job seekers have been told repeatedly. I mean, who do I think I am to come in with… wait…. THIS:

Sadly I’m NOT an actress nor do I have access to fancy production tools and editing. All I have is an iPhone and a whiteboard. Oh, and 25 years of hands on recruiting experience across multiple organizations including a few FAANG companies. I’ve lost track of how many ATSs I’ve logged into every day for the past two decades. Here is MY visual of what an ATS actually does. Notice we’re covering the same topics:

  • Job is created
  • Job is posted online
  • Candidates apply
  • Applicants are screened
  • Candidates are interviewed
  • Candidate is hired

You might be wondering “Ames, what’s the problem?” Simple – ALL of those things happen within the ATS. And then some.

The digital filing cabinet doesn’t “come between” 2 specific workflows. It CONTAINS those workflows. I’ve talked about this on LinkedIn already. I completely understand that job seekers care the MOST (as they should) about where THEY are in process, and the only thing they can actually control – the information they provide via the application/resume.

So why does it matter? Why spend an hour on a lovely Sunday grabbing the screenshots, writing the blog, and screaming about ATSs into the abyss?

Partially because I have an allergic reaction to misinformation. Mostly, because the nonsensical rhetoric around hiring and recruiting actually harms job seekers.

I dislike that. Quite a bit, as it turns out.

Friends, you can choose who to follow, listen to, believe, and take advice from. It’s absolutely NONE of my business how you structure your job search. The difference between me and a lot of people talking about ATSs (especially incorrectly) is they often have something to sell. To be completely fair, I work for a company that uses this particular job board, with some solid success! They’re great at their core business – why they’re so willing to invest in and run with this flat out WRONG information is beyond me – it makes them look… kinda dumb. Just sayin.

For me, when anyone (company or individual) doubles down on incorrect or harmful information, we’re past a single data point. We’re now spotting trends – whether it’s endlessly repeating one wrong concept or repeated violations of common sense. Those trends help me determine where and when to spend my emotional (and actual) currency. It’s certainly not going to be with people and companies who are willfully misleading job seekers.

Do with that information what you will – and for more on what ATSs ACTUALLY DO, check out the playlist HERE.

Should Recruiters Read Every Resume? Part 2 – How To Do It!

May 12, 2023 /

Once again, full disclosure – I do not speak for every recruiter who ever existed. While my personal philosophy is that every direct applicant deserves fair consideration, I am well aware that there are crappy recruiters out there – some of them have actually left the industry and become coaches or thought leaders who like to brag about how they did their jobs poorly…. but that’s none of my business.

So what can recruiters DO when they’re overwhelmed by applicants with no end in sight?

First of all, some insight into how I have managed this throughout my career.

Job seekers and recruiters alike must understand that not every open position is bombarded with applications. Some may get thousands overnight. Others a few hundred… over weeks. There are as many variables as there are positions and companies – which is to say a metric sh!t ton. Job seekers need not worry about this – recruiters most definitely should.

I’ve worked in a variety of large and small companies working on highly specialized niche roles and entry level, high volume roles. My process for both (and everything in-between) can vary greatly depending on my workload, available tools/processes, and support. In those smaller companies (and even large companies when working on highly specialized roles) I just reviewed them all.

All of them. With my eyes. Usually in 10 seconds or less.

Here’s how that works: I dedicate the first hour or so of my day to cleaning up my applicant buckets. I literally block DAILY TIME to do exactly this part of my job – and it’s ultimately about 10-20% of my work week. I go into each requisition, review the basic qualifications and any notes I have so I am clear on my criteria, and do a quick pass. I can quickly move applicants to either clear yes or clear no piles. Yesses I come back for a more thorough review – nos I can get through in 10 seconds or less per resume. Here’s how. By doing this every single day, I’m usually able to keep up with applicant volume, which tends to slow down after a few days anyway.

But what about high volume roles?

Here are TWO specific, real world examples I lived at Google and Microsoft. Note this is based on my actual experience when working there – things may have changed, so verify with current recruiters if you’re curious.

High Volume Evergreen Reqs

Google posts “evergreen” roles – meaning positions that are intended to be a single entry point for multiple positions across various locations. I would work with my hiring managers to open internal roles, with specific criteria for our team. These reqs would be tied to an evergreen posting, and a Channels Specialist would review all those (millions) of incoming resumes then match them up to internal roles. Literally an entire team of screeners whose job was to review ALL incoming applications.

Boolean String Search

At Microsoft, we would do what we called a “boolean pull” – This was in an archaic old homegrown ATS called “e-rec” (we lovingly referred to as e-WRECK) – based on the needs of the role, I would hand my recruiting coordinator a basic boolean string, and they would run a search on everyone who met the criteria I set up. Those folks were pushed to “recruiter review” and I would look at the ones that were most likely qualified. Based on the results, I may still spot check the applications that weren’t pulled through, but it was very much directed by me as the lead recruiter – no bots! Shortly before I left Microsoft, we moved to iCIMS – once that ATS was in place we had KNOCKOUT QUESTIONS!! Woot!! These would be written by me, and I would configure the settings to disposition anyone who answered “no” to compliant, relevant, yes/no questions specific to the role I posted. While I could still spot check “rejected” applicants, I would normally find a good shortlist in the applicants that made it past this first screen.

Knockout Questions

I’ve already mentioned these, but they are a great and fair mechanism to help job seekers opt out. I realize that folks are going to insist on shooting their shot, and again – you’ve got the job search ammo to share? Knock yourself out. If you don’t meet the qualifications (or say no to those required questions) – we’re not going beyond your submittal. And lying on those questions? Well, those notes will live in the ATS long after you’ve and the recruiter have moved on… for me, not worth the risk.

So what’s a recruiter to do?

Inspect your req load

Do you have multiple positions for the same kind of talent? WHY are you posting the same position over and over again?? Look into a pooling or parent req which can compliantly be the “funnel” for multiple hiring reqs. By having a single entry point for applicants, you’re not bouncing around from role to role trying to catch up and undoubtedly reviewing duplicate submittals.

Set time constraints and realistic goals

Sorry recruiters, managing incoming applicants IS a critical part of your job. If you don’t want to do it? Don’t post roles. Go throw them in the hidden job market and give the rest of us a break. Carve out daily time (ideally) to heads down focus on clearing out your applicant buckets. This is time well spent – I promise.

Leverage compliant filters or knockout questions

There’s nothing inherently WRONG with these mechanisms, as long as applicants are getting fair consideration. See if your ATS is set up to allow for these options. It’s also ok to spot check your results to ensure not not missing great talent.

Remove postings

I mean it. If your roles are overwhelmed with applicants, take them down. TODAY. Get through the pipeline you have, and if you still haven’t hired (or built enough of a short list) you can post again. It’s absolutely ok to empty your cup before fill it up again.

Recruiters – if you’re still not sure how to dig out from your overwhelming workload, let’s set up some time! If you’re open to a coaching session with me, I will gladly talk through your concerns and see if we can get you some support or at the very least, some requests you can make of your leadership to solve these recruiter woes.

This week’s video available HERE.

Should Recruiters Read Every Resume? Part 1 – What Job Seekers Should Know

May 5, 2023 /

Ok so I may have made a strongly worded post about recruiters reviewing every resume.

Some of y’all were not pleased 😆

SO – I decided to tackle this topic once and for all! SHOULD recruiters read every resume? Eh…. maybe a skim. Brief review. But at the very least…

FAIR CONSIDERATION.

Now what does “fair consideration” look like? Honestly it can be different based on so many factors. What kinds of tools the recruiter has access to. Volume of roles and applications. Workload. Business needs. So. Many. Variables.

Next week we’ll tackle some of these in Part 2 focused on recruiters, but for this week, let’s talk about what job seekers should know.

Anecdotal data from years in the industry and talking to MANY recruiters has taught me that the number of “qualified” applicants is much smaller than the number of ACTUAL applicants. Most sources report somewhere between 10-25% on average are candidates that we can actually move forward with. One. In. Ten. At best? Maybe one in FOUR. Now you may ask yourself “gee if the odds are that bad, why bother looking at all??” Here’s why:

Several years ago I was working on a highly specialized role. This person was going to stand up a body of work that had literally never been done in this org before. The industry was one that had a high number of contractors, and so finding folks who would even consider full time (vs consulting) was already a challenge. Throw in a few other non-negotiables involving government contracts and I had myself a purple squirrel hunt.

At the time, I had an employee who was in charge of reviewing the resumes. Every week I would ask for a pipeline status, and every week it was “I’m searching – here’s a list of prospects” When asked about direct applicants, I was told there weren’t any good ones, and we’d never find someone who directly applied. After a painful offer decline and a few other near misses, I decided to check for myself.

Y’all. Why did I open my ATS to find 279 unveiwed applicants??

So I did what any annoyed recruiting leader would do. I poured myself a drink, turned on some reality TV, and got to work after hours. It took me about 2 hours, but I reviewed them all. Every single one. Yes, there were lots of immediate no’s. But there were also 10 highly qualified and INTERESTED applicants. That’s right – approximately 3% of the resumes I reviewed were worth forwarding to the hiring manager.

The HM decided to interview the top 5 (further scrutiny based on Preferred Qualifications) and we did final rounds with 4 of them. Thankfully we hired one of those applicants.

A stellar hire I would have completely missed had I not done my damn job and reviewed folks who had clearly indicated their interest in our role.

THAT is just one example of why I don’t sleep on applicants. Ever. Too much gold to be mined in that ATS y’all!

So what does this mean for job seekers? Two big things:

Let go of what you cannot confirm

You have no way of knowing how many applicants actually applied. Furthermore, you can’t know how many of those are even qualified. So don’t let high “applicant” counts on LinkedIn scare you away. That’s not even accurate data – let alone the smaller percentage of folks who can even be considered!

You ALSO have no way of knowing how the recruiter on the other end does their job. Do they rely on knockout questions? Do they trust their ranking system, or do they do a keyword search? Unless a recruiter tells you specifically this or that is how they operate? Don’t assume.

Let go of what you cannot control

There may be 100 other well qualified applicants. Can you do anything about it? The recruiter might suck at their job and leave your application to the whims of a shitty boolean string. Can you fix it? Nope. So why sweat it?

What you CAN control, is the information you put in front of the hiring team. Ideally your resume leave no doubt that you meet the qualifications and then some. If you run into clear “yes/no” required questions, there’s a very good possibility those are knockout questions – saying “no” may be a one way ticket to rejectionville. It MIGHT make sense to spend that precious job search energy on roles you’re fully qualified for.

You can ALSO engage with recruiters at your favorite companies on LinkedIn and other forms of social media. Unsure of how Company A does this or that? ASK SOMEONE! Don’t take bullshit “guidance” from cotton candy career coaches – go straight to the source and get the truth.

Not every recruiter has the bandwidth to reply to every message, but reading up on their careers pages, talking to friends/colleagues who work at those companies and following the hiring authorities on social media will get you a lot further than stressing over what you can’t confirm – or control.

Check out this week’s video HERE

I Tested Resume Scanners So You Don’t Have To

February 10, 2023 /

I had a sneaking suspicion these sites were not all they claim. I have definitely had the privilege of being referred to MOST roles I’ve had in my career (recruiting can be funny like that) but I STILL needed to have a viable, story telling resume that left no doubt I was worth at least an interview.

Reminder – the purpose of the resume is to GET YOU AN INTERVIEW – that’s all.

Alrighty. I tried TWO popular resume scanners, and here are my results.

First up, landing a job at Google.

Now I knew a lot of recruiters at Google but none of them referred me. I had applied at some point in the past, I can’t even remember when – and they contacted me! Now did they contact me directly from my application or did they find me in a search? I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter, because THEY made contact with ME – based on (I can only assume) the information they had in their database – which is the resume I gave them at some point.

See for yourself how I got a “low match” for the job I was ultimately hired for:

Low match?? Let’s find out WHY!
Surely I did better on Hard skills though…?
Plot twist, I did not do better. Let me guess… if I PAY I’ll get the greyed out skills I missed?
Soft skills – in all my career I’ve never searched for “passion” as a keyword. Ever. Never ever.
I did not “bring” it. I’ve brought shame on my whole family.
Oh… I’ve got some negative words for you.
We’ll never know because I refuse to pay for this. Sad face.

Somehow I got an interview ANYWAY in spite of my terrible “low match” resume. When it was time to explore something new, I was referred by a pal to my current role – so many of you may think “oh it doesn’t count! You were REFERRED!” well friends, let me remind you that my RESUME still had to show I was a fit for the job. We don’t do “courtesy interviews” – ain’t nobody got time for that. Here’s what happened when I tried the resume I sent against the role I was ultimately hired for on a different scanning site:

Ok ok – slightly better than half. I’ve beaten my previous high scores on multiple sites!
Word doc, actually. And this feels like points for putting your name on your paper in grade school….
LOL @ education. No it doesn’t, and more importantly, NO I DON’T.
File under “obvious keywords for a recruiter” – hit the only ones that matter
If only I said “Management” one more time…
Y’all… this can’t be serious. I definitely referenced working with business leaders like “VPs and Directors”
Did “proactively” and “proactive” cancel each other out here? WHAT IS HAPPENING?
I’m all about measurable results. I am skeptical.

SO WHAT’S A JOB SEEKER TO DO??

I will NOT discourage you from using one of these sites. You’ll notice I didn’t name names or link back – because I won’t ENDORSE them either. If you find value in this exercise, please knock yourself out. There are limited free versions that my help you – kinda like a placebo effect. Heck you can even spend money on it if you really want to. I waste money on frivolous shit all the time – no judgement here.

Bottom line – these sites are ok at taking a guess at important keywords and telling you if you have them or not – and that’s about it. These don’t compare you to any other applicants. No spell check, no feedback on the story telling aspect or narrative… just…. words. Matching. Or not.

I recognize that for ME – having the privilege of knowing really really well how resumes are read (and by whom) it’s easy for me to skip sites like this. If you really feel stuck and your resume is just not getting it done, try a scan. See if you pick up any glaring inaccuracies or misses. Better yet – find a recruiter in your field, trusted colleague or even potential hiring manager who will read your resume and give you straight feedback. There are FREE resume review sites on both LinkedIn and Facebook – I’m a moderator for both. Staffed by volunteer recruiters, you can get honest feedback with NO strings attached from a real live human who reviews resumes for a living.

Check out the accompanying video over on my YouTube channel HERE.

Good luck out there y’all.

Recruiter Accountability! Candidate Edition

October 21, 2022 /

Who’s holding the recruiters accountable?

Everybody. Freaking everybody.

In the first of a 3 part video series, we’re going to dig into how recruiters are held accountable to (and by) CANDIDATES. Please understand we are talking about ACTIVE CANDIDATES here. Recruiters do NOT owe emotional labor to people who are not actively engaged with their clients/active requisitions. We DO owe accountability / closure to anyone we HAVE engaged with, even if it’s a simple “no longer under consideration” email after an application or a phone call after an interview.

So how does that work exactly?

ATS Reminders and SLAs

Many companies have rules around how quickly we need to respond or close out on active candidates. Some systems will have reminders, and some teams pull weekly status reports to make sure activity is progressing. We recruiters have to answer for any missed connections or lack of closure.

Candidate Contact Points

Now this may be an “Amy” thing – but something I have consistently done is made sure my candidates have my personal cell phone number so they can call or text me any time. Now the downside is that eleventy billion people have my number and I have an embarrassing number of unread texts / voicemails but I’m trying y’all!

Surveys

Not every company does this, but many have a post interview survey! This can be a free form text field, or perhaps “rate this process” on a scale of 1-5. Those surveys go to recruiting leadership AND they do get read and discussed! I’ve absolutely had to explain negative feedback or follow up on mistakes I’ve made (I told y’all I wasn’t perfect).

Any time we’re dealing with people (recruiters, candidates, hiring managers alike) there’s always a possibility of making mistakes. The most important thing we can do is try our best, get it “right” more often than not, and be willing to admit when we’ve screwed up / try to make it right if possible.

What would you add to help with accountability?

Applying Through 3rd Party Sites!

October 14, 2022 /

We love an easy button don’t we?

Applying through a one-click / easy apply / mass application type site may SEEM like a good idea, but what happens on the backend of that process?

So for me, I’m ALWAYS going to go straight to the company’s careers page. Sorry LinkedIn – love ya but not going to apply through ya. I want to go STRAIGHT to the hiring company, carefully upload my information, make sure my resume parsed correctly. You’re going to see EXACTLY what I want you to see from me and I’m taking NO chances!

But I am crazy suspicious like that. If you’re not, and you want to take your chances with one of these sites, read on!

I investigated LinkedIn, Zip Recruiter, and Indeed to better understand HOW those applications are managed. The results, NOT surprising in the least! In fact, these sites operate exactly how I had hoped.

All three sites allow the job poster (typically a recruiter) to set up specific criteria in order to be moved through the process. This can your typical Yes/No decision tree type questions, or even assessments! Based on the job seeker’s response to those questions, an applicant can be “automatically” dispositioned. So what does THAT mean?!

For Indeed, your application is “Rejected”. In Zip Recruiter, it’s “Hidden”. LinkedIn? You’ve been “Archived”.

Do you know what all three of those statuses have in common?

The list of applicants is still READILY AVAILABLE AND VIEWABLE to the employer! Many recruiters will go back into those lists and double check candidates for mistakes or even fit for other roles.

Just like we do in traditional ATSs. It’s even possible to “unhide” or whatever to bring that candidate back to the main workflow.

These sites can be particularly useful for small companies that can’t afford a big box ATS, or don’t hire often enough to set up their own. Once again, the SYSTEM being used to TRACK APPLICANTS functions exactly as expected. It’s a digital filing cabinet, following the instructions given to it by the user – typically a recruiter.

Don’t let yourself get weirded out or scared by these scam artists masquerading as “job search coaches”. You don’t need to pull the tiny white font crap, no need to “bypass” applications, or throw yourself on the mercy of your network. Targeted, relevant applications coupled with strategic networking is your best bet.

For more on this topic, watch the video HERE

Automation In Recruiting??

September 16, 2022 /

Yes, dear readers. Even I, Bot Slayer of Recruiting, believes in automation done right.

Automation can be such a time saver when implemented correctly. Repetitive tasks like note taking, or scheduling can be automated (or at least made easier) with technology. Where I’ve personally seen the biggest impact is through SOURCING.

Shout out to my friends at HireEZ! I use this AI sourcing tool ALL THE TIME. In fact, I don’t go to a new hiring manager meeting without labor market insights. I encourage my sourcers to use the AI sourcing function. It’s been an absolute game changer for me over the last 10 years or so I’ve used it. There are other similar tools out there so this isn’t necessarily a plug for one particular system, but I do love it and encourage you to check them out!

Like any form of automation, the tools are only as good as the recruiter using them. We can screw up badly if we have the wrong inputs. It’s a fact. THAT is how you get mismatched outreach, or delivery driver roles texted to you at 6 am. Someone used their “automation” badly.

Very, very badly.

As always, holding the end users (in this case, recruiters) accountable is a GOOD thing – automation is only as positive or negative as the person wielding it. Keep that in mind and ASK the recruiters representing the companies you want to work for.

Remember what happens when you ASSUME. Get the facts straight from the source instead.

What Is An ATS?

August 8, 2022 /

There is so much confusion about ATSs. Every single day recruiters try to explain the inner workings, with varying degrees of success. As one of those, I’m so tired of repeating myself! Instead, I’m writing this handy little cheat sheet so I have something to sprinkle all over the internet like common sense confetti whenever this issue comes up.

ATS? It’s in the name.

ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System. It’s a System that Tracks Applicants. That’s it. That’s the acronym. Not “automated”, not “ATS system”, or any of the other wild definitions people come up with. Applicant. Tracking. System.

THE ATS?

Well, which one? Seriously there are over 200 companies who currently have some kind of ATS on the market. Some are highly customizable and targeted to large companies, like Taleo Enterprise Edition. Others are free for smaller start ups or sole proprietors, like Breezy HR. The specific ATS a company may use is based on lots of variables, including cost, number of users, and features. The way an ATS is CONFIGURED can also vary widely – I’ve personally used a few of the same systems at different companies and had to learn all over because the implementation was so different.

So What’s An ATS For Anyway?

Exactly what it sounds like! A system to track applicants. Seems simple enough, but many ATSs do that and more – before we get into details, let’s review the general life cycle of hiring:

Role Created –> Inbound Applicants/Sourced Candidates –> Interviews –> Offers Created/Extended/Accepted or Declined

I recently created a 5 video playlist that explains these steps in further detail – what many job seekers find most surprising is how much “OTHER” stuff we do in our ATSs, that is above and beyond reviewing resumes. Check it out HERE.


At each step of the process, the ATS is used to document everything. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of the actions recruiters might take any given day:

Open new requisitions. These are the job postings that are published on a company career page, and possibly other places too. Many companies integrate with LinkedIn, or Indeed, or other web scrapers that might re-share a job post. Opening new roles may be complex themselves – with multiple approvers, checks and balances for compliance, and other steps before it even makes it to the internet. All activity tied to that requisition is easily viewed/filtered for reporting purposes. With few exceptions, hiring doesn’t happen without a verified business need / approved headcount / open role (so much for the old hidden job market, huh?)

Review incoming applicants. This is the step that gets talked about the most. Interestingly, it’s the part I spend the least amount of time doing when I’m in the ATS. This IS an important step of course, but far from the ONLY purpose of the ATS. Reviewing applicants is usually highly manual, with recruiters quickly reviewing large number of resumes or applications at once against certain criteria (usually Basic Qualifications). Successful applicants are usually forwarded to a business reviewer (typically the Hiring Manager or a delegate) for a second look. SOME systems will utilize “knock out” questions – these are typically “yes/no” decision tree type questions, tied to basic qualifications. For example, an application question could be “are you eligible to work in the US without sponsorship?” If you answer NO, you will be automatically dispositioned from the position. Basically that means you’re now in “rejected” status. Fun fact, most ATSs (all I’ve used) have a status, and it’s “rejected”. You’re still attached to the requisition. You never LEAVE the requisition. You are there, forever, in “rejected” status.

Add sourced candidates. Sometimes this happens in a CRM that “talks” to the ATS. Some systems (especially for compliance purposes) require a prospect to apply. Recruiters can send that invite to apply directly from their CRM/ATS to help streamline the process of getting their candidate attached to the requisition for hiring manager review and future activity

The interview process. Recruiters request review. Hiring managers request an interview. Coordinators schedule interviews and create feedback links. ALL of this typically happens within the ATS. Some notes are automatic: “submitted to Joe Smith for resume review” Others are typed out: “called CANDIDATE to discuss interview prep materials and confirmed schedule. Also discussed comp expectations of $X, candidate anticipating competing offer by date”. These entries are typically time/date stamped which is very helpful when reviewing previous history for a candidate.

Offers. Offers are created, extended and recorded in the ATS. Negotiations, approvals, all the back and forth that happens during offers is typically done in this system. It creates not only the required paper trail, but also generates the official documents that can then be emailed or delivered via a dedicated candidate portal.

General Documentation / Search. Y’all. Every time I have a conversation with a prospective candidate I should be writing it down. I’m not always great at this, but the expectation / general rules around this is DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. We have a saying in recruiting – if it’s not in the ATS, it didn’t happen. Track. It. All. Smart recruiters will also START new searches in our database – previous candidates, silver medalists on similar roles, former referrals… ATSs are a literal goldmine of passive talent that at some point, were interested in your company. Why would you NOT search for and try to reengage those folks?

But What About…?

Knockout questions! Yes – SOME systems are enabled with a yes/no decision tree, as I mentioned above.

Ranking! Sure, some ATSs will apply a “match” score – typically a percentage. I have personally used ONE version of ONE ATS that had this ranking (Taleo) and it was awful. 100% matches were basically keyword stuffed nightmares and we regularly hired 20-40% matches because we would actually review the resumes to decide for ourselves. Absolute trash and I hate these. If there’s a good one out there, I haven’t used it.

3 am rejections! Too fast, random, or middle of the night updates are almost always a result of one of two things – knockout questions, OR a role that is no longer accepting applications. Ideally a role is REMOVED from the career site when it’s got an offer extended or even accepted. But systems fail, or recruiters forget to hit a button – things happen and while it sucks for the job seeker, it’s hardly “proof” of a bot. Some systems are set up to send a disposition email 12 hours after being rejected, so maybe the recruiter reviewed yours at 3 pm! OR, maybe they’re actually working at 3 am. In another time zone. Perhaps they’re simply a night owl – I’ve definitely pulled some weird hours during the only quiet time I have to get things done!

But my friend/career coach/resume writer/LinkedIn influencer said! Sure they did! And I bet they believe it. I don’t necessarily think anyone is INTENTIONALLY lying about how ATSs work to make a buck… well maybe a couple of people I won’t name here. But generally speaking, I think the folks spreading this misinformation actually believe it – which is kind of heart breaking when there’s so much actual data to the contrary. My best advice to any job seeker who is worried about finding “the truth”, is to go straight to the source. I talk a bit about questions you can ask in this LinkedIn post. Don’t even listen to ME – listen to the recruiters at the companies you want to work at! They know best.

Additional Resources

Many recruiters have talked about this topic until we’re blue in the face. Some of my fave links (including my own!) included here:

Marc Cenedella / Nate Smith, CEO of Lever – Secrets Of The ATS is an in-depth conversation between Marc (CEO of The Ladders) and Nate where they discuss some of the common fallacies around ATSs. Lever is a very popular and well-liked by recruiters system.

Dominic Joyce, Founder of CV Upgrade – Dominic has a great video that walks through step by step how a recruiter navigates their ATS platform. At 5 minutes long, it’s a quick yet thorough tour through a commonly used ATS. Check it out HERE

Kristen Fife, Senior Technical Recruiter – Kristen is a well respected and tenured recruiter in the Seattle market who’s been in the industry since we were accepting paper applications. Her article on the ATS, Keywords, and Knockout Questions is a deep dive into common processes in US companies. Find it HERE

Christine Assaf, Human Resources Consultant – Christine wrote one of the best pieces I’ve ever read on the “75% of resumes aren’t seen by a human” myth. Essentially, there is no actual PROOF that this is accurate – yet people share it constantly like we’ve actually seen this happen in the wild… Reader, we have not. Check out her AMAZING breakdown HERE

Yvonne Robinson-Jackson, Executive Career Coach – In this nearly hour long video, Yvonne does a DEEEEEP dive into the ATS. Check out this video for more insights into the backend of these various tools/processes, including some screenshots from Bullhorn, a common system. Find it HERE

Amy Miller, hey that’s me! 🙂 – honestly y’all I’m so tired of talking about this. That’s why I wrote this post, and am putting all my content in one place!! Starting with The Truth About The ATS Playlist – 11 videos where I break down different topics covering everything from applications to boolean searches.

There are lots of amazing professionals out there sharing their knowledge – I’ll update this post regularly with new links/content as I come across it.

Ok Fine. But Why Do You Care, Amy?

Y’all I wish I didn’t some days 😉 It is exhausting having this conversation over and over again – BUT – I started this blog and channel BECAUSE I want better for those who need support. I had to learn so many things about my career and job search the hard way. Now that I am in a position to share my expertise, I will shout it as long and loud as possible so other job seekers don’t struggle through the same uncertainties and frustration I did. I have helped thousands of job seekers through one on one coaching and more recently, scaling my YouTube channel and blog – this is the same advice I have given my adult children, who have successfully navigated their own early career challenges.

If you’re reading this, I want the same success for you. There are many things job seekers should spend time on when seeking their next role – worrying about the imaginary ATS bot isn’t one of them.

But wait – THERE’S MORE

Here’s the dirty little secret. I want y’all to have the cheat codes because ultimately it makes my job easier.

There. I said it.

If you understand how recruiting actually happens, you’ll create the resume / application content that makes it easy for me to move you through the process. If you follow my guidance on interview prep, your odds are significantly higher that you’ll get an offer. If you take my advice on negotiating and understand how compensation works, you’re more likely to accept my (really good) offer without a bunch of exhausting back and forth that actually starts pissing off the hiring managers (hint, they get mad at both of us).

I started blogging and eventually creating videos because I really DID (and do!) want to be the recruiter I needed when I was younger and didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I have to admit though… all these years later… it just makes damn good business sense.

How To Beat The ATS (and get immediately rejected!)

October 12, 2020 /

What’s old is new again, y’all!

That tired, old “tiny white font” hack is back on the internet, this time in the form of a TikTok video. Now I don’t actually HAVE TikTok, so we’ll have to settle for a link to where I was recently subjected to this horror – someone’s LinkedIn post.

edit: I now have TikTok. My kids are embarrassed beyond belief. Here’s my response.

The general idea is that you can trick “the bots” (yeah, the ATS bots that don’t exist. I know. Stay with me here) by adding the Job Description to your RESUME in TINY WHITE FONT! White, so it’s not visible. Tiny, so you don’t have a weird bunch of “empty” space. The goal here is to pack your resume FULL of the necessary keywords so you get past the (imaginary) bot. I mean, how could you NOT be a perfect fit for the job, when you’re resume is basically the job description??

If you suspend all logic, you have to admit there’s a certain kind of magic to this. Sort of like the same kind of wonder little kids have when their parents convince them Santa Claus is real. I mean, there’s just enough evidence (the presents, the cookies consumed, the reindeer hoof prints) to PROVE that THIS IS REAL.

Except the parents who are buying the gifts, eating the cookies, and making hoof impressions know better.

The big difference here though, is there’s no harm in believing in some fat guy in a red suit. Using the aforementioned trickery in your job search though, can actually cost you. Let’s dive into a few possible scenarios, AKA things I’ve personally seen happen as a recruiter –

1. A real person looks at your resume. Assuming your resume is not a fit otherwise (minus the white font trickery), we never know you even tried that, and just reject. Because… you don’t meet the basic qualifications. This is literally the first and most important rule. Good news, we don’t know you tried to scam us. Bad news, you never got past the first screen anyway.

2. A real person looks at your resume. There’s some interesting / relevant experience, but the recruiter doesn’t see a particular technology that they know the hiring manager is looking for. So a little CTRL-F – word shows up… GASP! In TINY. WHITE. FONT. Reject. Congratulations, you’ve just convinced the recruiter that you’re probably shady and we have other candidates to look at. Next.

3. A real person looks at your resume. You clearly meet the basic qualifications, and get passed on to the hiring manager. If you’re lucky, the tiny white font trick goes unnoticed, and you move through the recruiting process.

4. A real person looks at your resume. Not a fit for the role you applied to, but you stay in the database. Some time later, the same recruiter (or even a different recruiter) runs a search, and guess who’s resume shows up? Boolean search shows the relevant terms highlighted in… wait – what’s this? TINY WHITE FONT? Ugh. Reject. The recruiter moves on to other candidates.

Bonus Point – the recruiter is so annoyed they put a note in the database that you came up in a search using a tired old “hack”. Future recruiters steer clear. I’ve absolutely seen this happen at a small, privately held company as well as in agency. If you still don’t believe me that this is old news, check out this article from 2010. It’s as bad an idea now as it was then.

Now many people will argue with me that there’s NO WAY a real person looked at their resumes. Sometimes, that’s absolutely correct. Knock out questions, roles being closed/internal transfers pending, maybe we already have a large number of prospects… bulk dispositions CAN happen, though I would not say it’s “the norm” and not nearly as common as folks may think. Even when it DOES happen, guess what? A PERSON made that decision. And set up the ATS to do it. My coffee maker may turn itself on at 6 am every day, but only because I told it to.

There is a common misconception that if you only have enough keywords packed into your resume, you’re going to get past the gatekeepers (robotic or otherwise). Ok… and then what? I’m even willing to play along that all recruiters are just out here playing buzzword bingo and submitting unqualified candidates based on a keyword match. How far does that actually get you? Do you think you’ll even get an interview if you truly don’t possess the qualifications for the role?

Visible Confusion | Know Your Meme

Sorry y’all – not how it works. You’re going to have to be able to perform the job. If you CAN perform the job, taking time to actually illustrate that in your resume from the start is always going to be the smart play here. Anything else is just sleight of hand, kind of like sneaking presents from Santa under the tree.

Eventually, kids grow up and know better. Let’s hope job seekers will follow suit.

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