Large
companies like Google, Amazon & Facebook are increasingly adopting
ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) to screen or shortlist resumes. Current
usage is nearing 60% for larger firms. First, some general tips:
1) Resume must be digitally ATS-compliant (I give a basic explanation below).
2) Resume must be fully responsive to the job announcement (if applicable) or the job title that is sought, as opposed to submitting a generic document not focused on the specific opportunity you are seeking.
3) Resume should ideally be of high quality, state-of-the-art, accomplishment-based, and free of typos or amateurish stylistic, visual, or content elements.
4) Unless you are credentialed, trained, or experienced in a select need category (some engineering, medical, or technical fields) or are Superman-Superwoman (top of class at Ivy-league institution who invented life-saving technology, founded a revolutionary start-up, or rose from abject poverty to achieve stellar heights), merely responding to a job announcement with a decent resume is often a crapshoot, at best. You must diligently research the company, the names of the decision-makers, and the industry, and then begin any and all possible back-channel networking... getting someone in the organization to believe in you and support your candidacy.
Now about ATS... This is a talent management HR software system designed to help larger companies and agencies deal with the thousands of resumes they receive for posted jobs. The U.S. government requires detailed reporting for legal compliance in the event of lawsuits, and HR needs a system to electronically select only those resumes that most closely meet their needs.
Specific causes for rejection include:
1) Lack of desired keywords or unresponsiveness to job announcement
2) Improper formatting or phraseology inconsistent with ATS
3) Older file formats, incompatible fonts, tables, columns, or graphics
In addition to the red flags mentioned above, crafting a resume that will successfully navigate its way through an ATS system can be accomplished by carefully reviewing the job announcement for keywords, creating a Word Cloud (www.wordle.net) for phrases, industry taxonomy, and terminology, and carefully addressing all items in the announcement.
1) Resume must be digitally ATS-compliant (I give a basic explanation below).
2) Resume must be fully responsive to the job announcement (if applicable) or the job title that is sought, as opposed to submitting a generic document not focused on the specific opportunity you are seeking.
3) Resume should ideally be of high quality, state-of-the-art, accomplishment-based, and free of typos or amateurish stylistic, visual, or content elements.
4) Unless you are credentialed, trained, or experienced in a select need category (some engineering, medical, or technical fields) or are Superman-Superwoman (top of class at Ivy-league institution who invented life-saving technology, founded a revolutionary start-up, or rose from abject poverty to achieve stellar heights), merely responding to a job announcement with a decent resume is often a crapshoot, at best. You must diligently research the company, the names of the decision-makers, and the industry, and then begin any and all possible back-channel networking... getting someone in the organization to believe in you and support your candidacy.
Now about ATS... This is a talent management HR software system designed to help larger companies and agencies deal with the thousands of resumes they receive for posted jobs. The U.S. government requires detailed reporting for legal compliance in the event of lawsuits, and HR needs a system to electronically select only those resumes that most closely meet their needs.
Specific causes for rejection include:
1) Lack of desired keywords or unresponsiveness to job announcement
2) Improper formatting or phraseology inconsistent with ATS
3) Older file formats, incompatible fonts, tables, columns, or graphics
In addition to the red flags mentioned above, crafting a resume that will successfully navigate its way through an ATS system can be accomplished by carefully reviewing the job announcement for keywords, creating a Word Cloud (www.wordle.net) for phrases, industry taxonomy, and terminology, and carefully addressing all items in the announcement.
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