There is an awful lot of noise out there about:
-
‘Beating the ATS filter’
-
Auto-filtering systems
-
Needing to wordstuff your CV to ‘make it through’ the filter
-
Being ‘automatically’ rejected by ‘THE MACHINES’
Etc
And this is a topic I get asked about a lot so thought I’d take this time to set the record straight
IT DOESN’T HAPPEN!
Perhaps I’m just old-school in the the way I do recruitment but I read EVERY SINGLE CV – More than that though, in all my years doing recruitment, I have never once used nor seen anyone else use nor even heard of any clients using any kind of automatic CV review system – I don’t even know if they exist (I mean, technically it’s probably possible however I’ve just not seen any evidence of it) – If you use one, let me know, I’d love to discuss the why & how with you!!!
If you apply for a job (or a recruiter submits you for a job) there’s a very strong chance that a person (a REAL person) will look at your CV
Now obviously if your CV is on a database (e.g. an agency recruitment company database or an online CV repository) then of course people will be searching those databases for CVs based on keywords and in having your CV on those databases it makes sense to be ‘searchable’…..BUT if you’ve accurately:
-
Described what you do
-
Included your job title
-
Spoken about the actual tasks you’ve performed
then it stands to reason that your CV will be located by someone:
-
doing a search
-
for the skills you have
-
to do a role which requires those skills
I’ve always advocated using as many tools and techniques as possible for landing a new job so submit your CV to those databases & register with those recruitment firms – someone may just find you for the job of your dreams
BUT you also need to do everything else possible including:
-
Applying direct
-
Getting to know GOOD recruiters who operate in your space
-
Networking within your chosen industry
-
Researching your market
-
Knowing your network
(I will cover the specifics of exactly how to optimise every one of these areas and many more in other content pieces but in the meantime just get in touch if you need help with any of these areas)
AND HAVING THE BEST POSSIBLE CV
In terms of auto-filtering / ATS beating etc it’s useful to consider ‘why’
Why would a company pay an internal recruitment team (or an agency) to then have them NOT review the applications that were submitted?
What would be the benefit of implementing such a system?
Time?
Unlikely
Time is very low down on the list of most companies’ priority, especially when considered against hiring good quality people – I’ve never once spoken to a hiring manager who said ‘I don’t care who it is, just get them here now’….
Quality?
Doesn’t stand up to scrutiny
Who would set up the system?
Who would build the filters?
Who would have the confidence to turn away potentially great applicants on the basis of these filters?
If you asked ANY hiring manager (or recruiter for that matter) if they wanted to make hiring decisions based on the number of times an applicant wrote a certain job title or phrase on their CV, you would get precisely ZERO takers
That’s why recruiters do what they do (aside from making money of course!) – that’s why companies pay them to read CVs, that’s why internal recruiters are used – because they are professionals at reading a CV and extracting the ACTUAL CONTENT & CONTEXT
Of course there are recruiters and hiring managers out there who ‘scan’ or ‘skim’ CVs looking for keywords but again I’ve never ONCE in almost 20 years, heard of it being done automatically by a system for applicants to a job
If your CV does land in front of a ‘skimmer’ then it’s going to be the quality, accessibility and relevance of your information that will get you REJECTED or ACCEPTED – nothing more, nothing less
THE SYSTEMS YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT ARE PEOPLE
THOSE PEOPLE WANT TO HIRE OTHER PEOPLE
THE FILTERS YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT ARE THOSE PEOPLE
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO ‘BEAT’ THE ‘SYSTEM’ THEN YOUR BEST CHANCE IS TO WRITE THE VERY BEST CV YOU POSSIBLY CAN, BE SYSTEMATIC IN YOUR JOB SEARCH AND KEEP ON GOING…..
