Periodically
one hears about the ‘groundswell’ growth of ATS usage by hiring companies and
recruiters. To be sure, more and more
companies are purchasing ATS software to cut the cost of human labor. Are they really
getting savings from it? Probably some are and some aren’t. You can join
LinkedIn forums where you will see ATS users asking other users what they know
about XYZ Company because they need to change ATS providers; theirs is not
working for them.
For
job seekers, like it or not ATS is here to stay. And like it or not ATS
software is not designed to make it easier for job seekers! They may want you
to believe it is easier, but it simply is not!
So how
do resume writers deal with it? Some focus purely on key words and phrases that
parsing software is looking for. I focus not only on the key words and phrases,
but on the parsing software flaws that prevent a resume from being parsed
properly. A job seeker may get rejected for something that has nothing to do with
his or her qualifications! Some resumes contain attributes that prevent them
from being parsed properly - sometimes the parser can’t even find the
candidates name!
I have created an extensive checklist of ATS flaws I’ve learned about
in the past several years. When I assist candidates with their resumes I take a conservative approach in making certain that I apply every bit of this acquired knowledge to their resume. Am I sure
I’ve covered everything that can possibly go wrong? NO! Because new ATS companies are constantly emerging. Each new company does things a little differently which sometimes spawns new issues. ATS software companies
will not tell me or anyone else what they cannot handle in a resume. That would be
negative marketing. So they say nothing. This is why I take a conservative
approach to make certain every resume I create is what I call ‘ATS-ready’. That is, it will
meet every criteria I know about. In addition to the text of the resume, I deal
with resume attributes involving format, word processing tools and features, various
methods of resume submission and much more.
Unfortunately,
I know of no research project that has developed credible statistics regarding
what percentage of companies that use ATS or what percent of errors ATS parsing
causes. But I do know there is a proliferation of providers. It's unlikely this would be the case if the market and usage were not growing rapidly. Probably most ATS marketing departments have some of the growth data, but they
are not sharing it. Job seekers can be certain there’s a high
probability that their resumes will have to pass through ATS systems so I continue my quest to learn more about ATS flaws. It appears to be an ‘evergreen’
project. If you hear about one, please let me know!
I'm happy to help anyone wishing to make their resume ATS-ready. Simply request resume service from my website.
I'm happy to help anyone wishing to make their resume ATS-ready. Simply request resume service from my website.
Visit
http://www.hoochresumes.com for more
job search help. Or email me at kl@hoochresumes.com.