Recruiting In Yoga Pants

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Tag: resumes

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.

Resume & Job Search Advice – Who Do You Trust?

March 10, 2023 /

This can be tricky.

I’ll be the first to admit that it can be very difficult to know who to believe. A common complaint from job seekers is there is no single “right” way to do… well… any of this.

Let’s take resumes for example. This recruiter said 1 page only. That recruiter says PDF only. And another random recruiter is picky about font size.

Sigh. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

Here’s the thing though – there is no universal standard to MOST of this. I’d like to think we can all agree that clean, concise, and clear accomplishments are key. So what’s a job seeker to do?

Relevant Advice

Let’s face it – not all advice on the internet is meant for you. And that’s ok! Even in my recruiting world, I’m pivoting from engineering to high volume production hiring. The advice I give MY candidates will shift greatly – because it’s a very different skill set with a different set of expectations, resume guidance, and interview best practices. Make sure you’re asking questions (and following the guidance of) people who actually KNOW what you’re trying to learn – and can help you get there.

Trusted Sources

Before you take advice from ANYONE, you should vet them! If we’re talking resume advice, recruiters are often a great source for feedback because they are ultimately your audience. Don’t you want to know what the person responsible for reading your resume wants to see? Career coaches and resume writers can also be great – but are they familiar with your particular industry, seniority, and skill set? Like recruiters, coaches and writers can be generalists too – but are they knowledgable about the companies and industries you want to work in? Do they have the trust of recruiters and hiring leaders? Are they trusted or even recommended by recruiters (check out my list here).

Ultimately, you have the responsibility and opportunity to decide what’s best for you. YES, there’s lot of advice out there – and lots of self-proclaimed experts that have perfected the manipulation game and only want to get their hands on your hard earned money. Some services (if it’s affordable for you) can be worth every penny. Sometimes you just need to focus on QUALITY advice, and stop trying to listen to everyone.

For more on this topic, watch 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.

Do I NEED A Resume Template?

September 2, 2022 /

Let’s start by understanding the purpose of a resume. To land an interview. That’s it. Templates have been around for a long time (at least since word processing software has been a thing) and some are rather… creative. I’ve seen all kinds of graphics, videos, nonsensical rankings, lots of noise and unnecessary fluff that can actually detract from the resume’s main purpose.

But do you NEED a template? This is incredibly subjective and depends on your personal level of comfort in creating a doc. Some folks may stare at a blank page and not know where to begin. Others get completely thrown by having too much structure.

I’m DEFINITELY in the latter camp.

My writing and content creation style follows 3 simple steps: Write – Edit – Format

✍️ Write
Just start typing! Here is where I pull up a blank doc and just start data dumping everything I can remember about my job duties and accomplishments. Don’t worry about misspellings, or bad grammar. We’ll get to that. Right now, we’re just WRITING. Get all that info out and onto the page.

✍️ Edit
Remember that bad grammar and spelling we ignored? Now go fix it. Make adjustments to the content and review the specifics. Focus on measurable achievements, checking for numbers, percentages, or any other “proof” of the amazing work you’ve done. We can almost see the finish line!

✍️ Format
Once your content is where you want it, now you make it pretty. This is where you can adjust your font size, add bullet points, bold or italics – anything that makes your resume easy to read. This may also be a good time to grab a template you like and either mimic it, or copy / paste your revised content into the format you prefer.

It is ALWAYS helpful to sanity check your final version with recruiters and business leaders in your industry who can speak to any nuances preferred (or required!) such as portfolio links, documentation. Make sure you’re not missing anything specific to the kind of work you want to do that folks will expect to see on a resume.

If you’re completely baffled by this whole process and are looking for paid, professional help check out my list of resume writers and coaches HERE.

Check out this week’s AMA video on this topic HERE.

Lying Liars and the Truth About Your Job Search

February 7, 2021 /

Y’ALL.

I am so fit to be tied right now.

My friends know I have this funny hobby of raging against bad ATS advice (lies) on social media. Today I was tagged in just such a post. I won’t link it here (and frankly, there are SO MANY to choose from) but this one hit me especially stupid because the poster claimed to have WORKED IN ATSs FOR 14 YEARS.

If that’s true, you know better.

I looked at the person’s background – some HR stuff, so yeah, maybe part of SELECTING an ATS, or asking for certain features. If this person is ACTUALLY MAKING THE CLAIM that the ATS does… well, let’s just look shall we? Here’s what the poster had to say –

You are applying through the ATS which is going to screen your resume “out”.

90% of jobseekers resumes are not ATS Friendly hence not getting interviews.

False. In other words, you’re lying.

Let’s break it down, shall we?

The ATS is going to “screen you out”
The ATS does NOTHING ZIP ZILCH NADA without a human telling it to. While some systems use “knock out” questions MOST recruiters (and believe me, I’ve asked HUNDREDS) still review resumes one by one. Search strings and filters can only go so far, and most ATSs are simply NOT that advanced.

90% of job seeker resumes are not “ATS friendly”
This is so utterly meaningless I don’t even know where to start. I personally see resumes as ATTACHMENTS. It’s worked this way in Taleo, both business and enterprise editions. I’ve seen it in iCIMS. I’ve also seen this in homegrown systems used by Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. “ATS friendly” is such a ridiculously stupid statement it cracks my brain.

The only thing that comes even REMOTELY CLOSE to explaining this, is the problem with parsing. When you upload your resume, the ATS “should” recognize certain words (like your name) and put them in the name field. This doesn’t always happen. If you have charts and pictures and colors, the ATS can be confused and ask you to reenter all your info. This has NOTHING to do with how a recruiter sees your resume. Again, it’s an ATTACHMENT. In all it’s colorful, charts and pictures glory. Now if those resumes are RECRUITER friendly is a whole other topic – the point being, the recruiter STILL SEES IT.

But Amy, why do you care?

Great question. I ask myself all the time why I bother. Thought leaders gotta think, I suppose. Think of ways to manipulate desperate job seekers with their made up statistics and scare tactics, it seems. The bottom line for me – I care too much about my industry to stay quiet. And I work too hard to bust recruiting myths to sit quietly when people say things that are verifiably not true. Ultimately, this doesn’t hurt ME – the next time I’m looking for a role, I know better to fall for this kind of nonsense. I live and breathe recruiting – but so many others DON’T.

I also reached out to the original poster, only to find my comment DELETED and I was BLOCKED. So much for transparency, eh? Makes you wonder what they’re afraid of. Truth, is my guess.

I’ve talked elsewhere about how recruiters view resumes. The MOST important thing a job seeker can do to improve their chances is to make it clear on the resume how you fit the role you’re applying to. That’s it.

No magic format. No secret template. No bots to beat.

If you’re a job seeker struggling with getting your resume noticed, start with my All About Resumes playlist. Most questions will hopefully be answered there, but between the blog and the channel, I try to provide actual, real world guidance that you can use in your job search IMMEDIATELY – no strings attached. I also wrote a post breaking down your job search into 5 easy steps – check that out HERE. And don’t forget The Truth About The ATS playlist too.

Good luck out there, and don’t let the bastards get you down.

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