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Thursday, 2 July 2015
Beat the resume Robot
Ever since the Internet made applying for a job as easy as uploading
or e-mailing a résumé, hiring managers and HR personnel have had to
contend with volumes of applicants for jobs. To help them screen all the
résumés, they've turned to recruiting software and applicant tracking
systems that filter candidates' résumés based on how well they match the
job description. In fact, by 2004, 90 percent of the top 500 U.S.
employers were using recruiting software, according to Human Resources Leader.
Applicant tracking and recruiting systems originally relied on
keyword-matching algorithms to identify candidates with the right skills
and experience for a position—and to rule out unqualified candidates.
Job seekers who were unaware of these systems but otherwise qualified
for the job sometimes got eliminated before human eyes even perused
their résumés because they didn't know how to gear their résumés to
these systems. Meanwhile, tech-savvy job seekers quickly learned to game
them.
Don't count on your 'plain vanilla' resume to get you noticed - your resume needs a personal flavor to Read Now
[ For résumé-writing tips, see How to Craft the Perfect IT Resume and IT Resumes: 4 Disastrous Mistakes to Avoid. ]
Even though the systems have grown in technical sophistication (they now
do more than simple keyword matching and some use artificial
intelligence), job seekers' concerns about being erroneously ruled out
by them haven't abated, say career coaches and résumé writers. Their
worries are heightened by the fact that when they submit a résumé to a
prospective employer, they rarely hear back one way or the other, says
Louise Kursmark, an executive résumé writer, career consultant and
author of several books on career management. [ How to find out if hiring managers are cruising you online. ]
To better the odds of hiring managers seeing—and responding to—your
résumé, career experts offer the following 10 tips for standing out and
getting past the electronic gate-keepers. 1. Apply for jobs for which you're qualified.
When you're unemployed, it's tempting to apply for any and all jobs in
your field, regardless of whether you meet the exact requirements. You
may think playing the numbers game will increase your odds of getting a
response, but a more targeted approach may in fact yield better results,
says Kursmark.
Because so many highly qualified professionals are looking for jobs,
competition is fierce, and employers are being very selective about the
candidates they bring in for job interviews. Applying for positions in
which your skills and qualifications most closely match those in the job
description will increase your odds of getting through the system. 2. Know what keywords to include in your résumé and cover letter.
Whether you're a project manager, .NET developer, DBA or CIO, Kursmark
recommends reading every job ad related to your profession to get a
sense of the key skills and capabilities organizations consistently
seek. Even if you don't plan to apply for these jobs, scanning the ads
will increase your awareness of the most commonly used industry-standard
terms and keywords that you should build into your résumé. NEXT: Don't let your location hold you back! 3. Learn how to pack your résumé with keywords—legitimately.
Because recruiting software and applicant tracking systems still use
keyword-matching algorithms as one way to identify potentially qualified
candidates, you want to ensure your résumé includes appropriate
keywords.
Katy Piotrowski, a career counselor and author of the Career Cowards
book series, says that some job seekers have incorporated keywords into
their résumés by copying the job description from the ad, pasting it
into their résumé in a tiny font and coloring the text white so that it
goes undetected by human eyes but still gets noticed by applicant
tracking systems. Piotrowski doesn't recommend this disingenuous
technique. [ Don't let the appearance of job hopping on your resume sink your chances of landing interviews. ]
To legitimately get keywords into your résumé, she and Kursmark suggest
adding a paragraph near the top of the first page labeled "Strengths" or
"Core Competencies." This paragraph should summarize your key skills
and areas of expertise. The core competencies you list in this paragraph
should match the requirements laid out in the job description.
Piotrowski and Kursmark recommend copying the job description into your
résumé and then adapting it by adding or subtracting keywords so that it
matches you to a T. Kursmark says this is a standard and accepted way
to get keywords into your résumé without looking like you're trying to
game the system. Just make sure the paragraph doesn't run much longer
than 12 terms, she adds. Otherwise, it can start to look ridiculous. 4. Vary your terminology.
Recruiting software and applicant tracking systems are now sophisticated
enough to understand that variations on certain words, such as Bachelor
of Science, BS and B.S. or programmer, software developer and software
engineer, mean the same thing. For that reason, it's unlikely that
you'll get screened out if you use the word "programmer" exclusively
throughout your résumé for a software developer job. Nevertheless, it
doesn't hurt to vary the terms you use in your résumé, says Kursmark.
"For example, if you put the term 'supply chain management' into your
résumé, you might also include 'managing a supply chain' or 'supply
chain logistics'," says Kursmark. "Include other terms that mean the
same thing so that regardless of how an employer searches for a
particular keyword, your résumé shows up. Mentioning it more than once
also shows your depth of experience." 5. Don't let your location hold you back.
Another way applicant tracking systems screen candidates is on the basis
of their location. Hiring managers can program these systems so that
they only select candidates who live within, say, a 20 mile radius of
the job.
"Employers use area codes and zip codes to screen people in because they prefer not to relocate people," says Kursmark.
If you're considering a job in a different state, Kursmark suggests
getting a phone number local to the employer's area via Skype so that
you don't get screened out.
"If you're looking nationally, it doesn't make sense to get 50 phone
numbers," she says. "Get two or three pre-paid cell phones and use those
for your job search. That can be an efficient—albeit expensive—way to
put yourself in that location." [ For more job search tips, see CIO.com's IT Job Search Bible. ] NEXT: Follow-up with a hard copy and a phone call. 6. Don't use any fancy formatting or fonts.
Depending on the recruiting software an employer may be using, its
system might scan your résumé into a back-end database. To ease
scanning, format your résumé as simply as possible, say Martin Buckland,
principal of Elite Résumés, a résumé writing service, and Praj Patel,
executive vice president of Talent Technology, which makes recruiting
software. Don't include graphics, pictures or tables, says Patel,
because they won't scan. For the same reason, Buckland says to limit the
amount of bold, italics and underlining, and to use a single font that
scans easily, such as Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, Century,
Century Gothic, Bookman, Garamond or Trebuchet.
7. Emphasize relevant accomplishments.
If an applicant tracking system flags your résumé for the hiring
manager, the hiring manager isn't going to spend much more than 10
seconds sizing it up, says Piotrowski. During that 10 seconds, the
hiring manager is looking to see if your work experience relates to the
job she's trying to fill, she adds. If your résumé doesn't communicate
your accomplishments that are relevant to the job you're applying for,
the hiring manager will quickly move on to the next résumé. So
prominently displaying the accomplishments an employer seeks is
critical, says Piotrowski. 8. Mail a hard copy of your résumé.
After you've submitted your résumé electronically, Piotrowski advises
job seekers to send a hard copy of their résumé to prospective employers
with a note saying that this is their second submission and that
they're very interested in the job. She says this makes job seekers
stand out.
"When I talk to HR managers or hiring coordinators about having
candidates do this, they say it's great because they rarely see paper
and because it's nice to get something tangible," Piotrowski says,
adding that a client successfully scored two interviews after following
up on three electronic submissions with paper copies.
If you don't know the name of the employer (as is sometimes the case
when you're applying for a job through a recruiter), Piotrowski says you
might be able to find out the name of the company if you know the
industry and location. For example, she says, if you know the employer
is a widget manufacturer in Cleveland, you can enter those terms in a
search engine and you'll likely get a list of companies that make
widgets in Cleveland.
"In addition to sending your résumé to HR, I recommend researching the
name of the person you would report to and sending a hard copy of your
résumé directly to them," says Piotrowski. "It's not hard to get that
information. You might be able to find it on the Internet or by calling
the company and asking who's in charge of the IT function." 9. Follow-up with a phone call.
Another way job seekers can distinguish themselves is by calling
employers to confirm that they've received the job seekers' résumé and
cover letter, says Piotrowski.
"Most hiring coordinators are happy to take a minute to look in their
database to see if your materials were received," she says. "When they
do, they have a chance to look at your materials. I also recommend you
ask about the next step in the process and if it would make sense to set
up an interview while you've got them on the phone."
Though HR people can be tough to get on the phone, job seekers shouldn't
worry about appearing pushy by calling them. "My experience is that
only 10 to 20 percent of job seekers do any follow-up," says Piotrowski.
"There may be more people now who are calling employers and asking if
they received their résumé, but if you don't follow-up, you really limit
your chances of being noticed. It's better to come across as a slightly
squeaky wheel who's interested in the position. If you want an
interview, you have to push yourself." 10. Don't spend all your time on your résumé or trying to game the system.
Kursmark warns job seekers against getting hung up on their résumés and
trying to match their qualifications with a job description. "Even if
[you think] you're a perfect match, there's a very good chance you'll
never hear back from the majority of employers, and you'll become very
discouraged after putting so much effort into your résumé," she says. "Networking is still the best use of your time." Follow Meridith Levinson on Twitter at@meridith.
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