Inside Secrets for Beating Applicant Tracking Systems

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5 Insider Secrets for Beating Applicant Tracking Systems CIO.com

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Everyone

Good article.

I'm sure most people here have received at least 1 e-mail from some recruiter that looked something like this:

"Good morning,

I have an urgent requirement with a client for an IT person, I found your resume in your database and thought you might be a good match for this position.

If you're interested, please send me a copy of your resume."

If you've ever wondered why they ask for your resume, even though they already have it in their database... this article tells you exactly why.

Excellent1

Interesting link, thanks for sharing. Makes an interesting challenge of the conventional wisdom on resume length. Most of us know it's about buzzword usage, but I didn't realize how prevalent these systems are.

Everyone

Excellent1 wrote: »

Interesting link, thanks for sharing. Makes an interesting challenge of the conventional wisdom on resume length. Most of us know it's about buzzword usage, but I didn't realize how prevalent these systems are.

You still want to follow that wisdom on resume length when you are sending your resume to an actual real human being, OR posting on a job site like CareerBuilder, Dice, Monster, etc. It's only when uploading to these applicant tracking systems like Taleo, which is one of the bigger ones out there, that things get a little different.

ptilsen

This also explains why many companies and recruiters more or less require you to recreate your resume either in text format or using their guided system. It's much easier than writing software to parse every potential resume structure.

All that said, I feel like I've had decent luck with these systems using my Word resume, which is based off of some serious formatting using tables with grid lines made invisible.

With these tracking systems here to stay, it seems to me the lesson is that we should really try to keep our resumes formatted in fairly standard, predictable styles.

Edit: I agree that length still matters. Yes, systems won't care about Word page length, but people do. I can't tell you how many qualified candidates (people more qualified than myself, at least in terms of technical skill) I've thrown out because they went more than two pages. I had a resume for a candidate who was grossly overqualified, if anything, but with his nine-page resume it was impossible to take him seriously.

Excellent1

Everyone wrote: »

You still want to follow that wisdom on resume length when you are sending your resume to an actual real human being, OR posting on a job site like CareerBuilder, Dice, Monster, etc. It's only when uploading to these applicant tracking systems like Taleo, which is one of the bigger ones out there, that things get a little different.

I would agree. That said, however, actually getting through the tracking systems TO a human being seems to be the point of the article. I'm certainly not advocating a 27 page buzzword dissertation in the place of a resume, but many people prune to the point of potentially selling themselves short. In any case, it was an interesting read.

NOLAJ

ptilsen wrote: »

I can't tell you how many qualified candidates (people more qualified than myself, at least in terms of technical skill) I've thrown out because they went more than two pages. I had a resume for a candidate who was grossly overqualified, if anything, but with his nine-page resume it was impossible to take him seriously.

LMAO 9 pages? I literally LOL'd.

Zartanasaurus

NOLAJ wrote: »

LMAO 9 pages? I literally LOL'd.

He had a really long name.

NetworkingStudent

I can’t image having a 9 page resume… WHY?
I think one page resume is plenty and 2 if you have a lot of experience. I don’t see any point in beating the application system, either you have the experience, or you don’t.

The hardest applications I had to fill out where for school districts, or companies that would ask IT questions such as……….Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult technical decision..

Or What has been your biggest accomplishment in IT? And why?

I have seen applications with 5 or 10 of these types of questions of them.

themagicone

So they look for keywords? Well I'll just copy the job description into my resume like 20-30 times. That should do it.

LinuxRacr

One thin I noticed right away is that it recommended against using tables, yet I see many people recommending them for formatting....

ptilsen

LinuxRacr wrote: »

One thin I noticed right away is that it recommended against using tables, yet I see many people recommending them for formatting....

Tables can make a resume look awesome. I would say as long as things are still in the right order, tables won't break it. My resume uses a table like this:

__________________
Employer ......| Date|
Location .......|.......|
__________________
Job Title | Bullet......|
............| Bullet......|
............| Bullet......|
__________________
Employer ......| Date|
Location........|.......|
__________________
Job Title | Bullet......|
............| Bullet......|
............| Bullet......|
__________________

It let's me keep things nice and neat, and I've not had many problems with these systems, because everything is in the expected order (Employer, date, location, title, description). It's certainly possible I missed out on interviews because of those tables, but I've never had serious problems finding a job, so I think it's okay. The ordering matters more than the tables, from what I've seen.

MentholMoose

Why do you need tables to do any of that? My resume is similar and it is entirely done with indenting.

ptilsen

MentholMoose wrote: »

Why do you need tables to do any of that? My resume is similar and it is entirely done with indenting.

Tables are a bit easier IMO, but no, you don't need them by any means.

MentholMoose

ptilsen wrote: »

Tables are a bit easier IMO, but no, you don't need them by any means.

It's true you can easily do format with tables. Now I wonder what an employer would think if you sent them a resume in Excel format?

djfunz

Nice article. Thanks for posting it.

I'm guilty of sending PDF's, and using tables and graphics. Oh and mine says "experience" not "work experience". Guess it's time to create a new version for these electronic grading/filtering systems.

ptilsen

MentholMoose wrote: »

It's true you can easily do format with tables. Now I wonder what an employer would think if you sent them a resume in Excel format?

I, for one, would burst out laughing.