We’ve all heard of the daunting “slush pile”– That Matterhorn mountain of resume submissions received by hiring managers and others empowered with setting up interviews and selecting candidates for coveted, open jobs.
In recent years, the slush pile has been, like so many other aspects of modern life, totally automated. And with each passing month, the role of technology in the job hiring process is only intensifying. Most large—and many small companies—now use applicant tracking systems (ATS) in their employment process. According to a CNBC report, 75% of resumes are never even seen by a real-life human being. Wow! As if the mountainous slush pile wasn’t daunting enough before! Now the Robot Army is in charge! Employers receive hundreds, if not thousands of applications, for highly sought-after job openings. You don’t want to be eliminated by some algorithm before you even have a chance to shine. Not cool.
There are ways, thankfully, to get your resume beyond the wall of AI and into the hands of an honest-to-goodness human being. We have some advice, some resume hacks, if you will; so don’t despair, earnest job-hunter! Here is how to go beyond the nearly-impenetrable Robot Army.
1. Meet the minimum qualifications for the job
If you don’t meet the minimum job qualifications, why waste your time? Use the specific qualification keywords in the job ad in your resume. If a job calls for “WordPress” or “Java,” or “verbal communication skills,” make sure these words are in your qualifications and not buried deep down in the resume, either. But be careful. Avoid keywords that are only specific to that company. You want to use occupationally universal verbiage. You can, and to a degree should, customize your resume, but it’s time-consuming! So use language and terminology that is universally understood.
2. Be Mindful of Formatting
Despite the seamless connectivity of so many software and platforms, simple documents that utilize fancy text and complicated formatting often get jumbled or reconfigured in the application process. So do resume templates. They are often formatically wonked when emailed. As a result? Your resume looks like a jumbled mess, even though it is not!
Pro-top: Make a PDF of your resume and submit THAT.
3. Break Up Your Resume into Concise Sections
Brevity is everything. Your resume should please the eye! You don’t want a dense, Tolstoy-esque novel. Think quick– punchy. This will make it so much easier for a human reader skimming through it (after it cleared the AI firewall) to quickly determine whether yours warrants further consideration. And it will help the algorithm track its way through the information as well. You got this! You can outsmart the computers!
4. Avoid Acronyms
Resist using acronyms unless they are 100% universally recognizable. If you trained as a CPA or worked as a CEO, or if you specialize in work in HR or for NATO, resist the urge. In blogging parlance, this is referred to as “audience awareness.” You must not assume the person reading your resume KNOWS the acronym you dropped. So spell it out first.
5. Don’t Apply for a Shedload of Positions at the Same Company
The ATS (Applicant Tracking System) knows all. It can decipher that you have applied for nine jobs at the same company. Either you are the ultimate jack-of-all-trades, or you are buck-shooting and the ‘bot identified it, called it out and illuminated you. Apply for the position you are most qualified for.
6. Keep it Simple
The ‘Bots don’t care about the fancy resume template you purchased online. It only scans for content that connects to the job. It’s awesome to purchase an aesthetically pleasing template online, but realize that the first wall of AI readers could care less. It’s all about clean, concise language, powerful, active verbs, and clarity. The succinctness of your brand is what matters. Design it beautifully. But, again, convert it to a PDF (or it will get visually scrambled) and sing your praises with brevity, punch, and mighty power.
7. Yep, to a Degree, It is Who you Know
You are a fledgling newbie with few contacts and that’s normal. But if you do have a connection to the company you are applying to, use it! By all means, name-drop! Any connection you have elevates you past the Robot Army and in the door
To ensure that your resume stands out above all the others and to make sure that it passes the bots and gets into the hands of humans, review these guidelines before clicking the submit button:
- Make sure that the minimum qualifications of the job are listed
- Use simple formatting that allows for organization and easy reading
- Divide your resume into concise sections
- Ensure that there are no acronyms
- Only apply for one position at the company
- Keep your resume clean and simple
- List anyone you know in the company
Please reach out to us if you have questions and to get help with your resume. We can go over what you currently have or create a new one for you
