What REALLY happens behind the scenes when you apply for a job online?
By: Grant Parker
Tags: Job Hunting, Job Interview, Recruitment, Job Search, Apply For Jobs Online

As someone who has sat in your shoes as a senior candidate many times, looking for a job, and as a former ‘Head of Talent Acquisition’ for an international company; I felt it my duty to paint an honest picture of what happens to your job application behind the scenes from the moment you hit the ‘Send’ button…

You have spent several hours rewriting your CV, updating your LinkedIn profile and the last hour diligently drafting a cover letter and frustratingly filling out pages of ‘required fields’ for a direct job application online. You may have an MBA from Harvard and a first from Oxford but weeks later you are still left wondering; “Did my application for the role in which I know I am perfectly suited for just vanish into a black hole?”

Many job seekers report similar experiences, with reactions ranging from frustration to utter despair.

The majority of companies now issue an automated ‘Get out of jail free’ generic email response to reward your dedication and diligent efforts with something bland along the lines of:

“Thank you for your interest and application. We are in the process of reviewing your CV against our current requirements. Should your background and experience meet the requirements of one of our job openings, we will contact you to request additional information. If we do not have an appropriate opening at this time, we will retain your inquiry for six months for future consideration.”

So what happens to your carefully collated application?

It makes its way into a company’s Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), the software used by employers to manage job applications. These ATS systems are only as good as the person at the end of the computer. This will either be an in-house recruiter or the hiring manager themselves. For the majority of roles, you can expect a massive amount of competition when applying to adverts — anywhere from 50–250 other applicants. You can add a zero for those applying to the sexy tech giants — Google, Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, etc.

Recruiters are by their very nature lazy. Take this from someone who has trained many; I know the majority will still take the shortest possible route to fill a role as their company targets them on an outdated model of ‘Time To Hire’ KPI. The majority of recruiters will have to manually go through every application and either reply to set up a call for an initial screening interview or at the very least, send a rejection email to let you know where you stand (which they should be trained to do). Let’s say there are 200 applicants for one Data Scientist role and out of the first 20 CV’s, half have the relevant background, experience, and skillset so the recruiter phone screens all 10. He or she then whittles that shortlist down to 4–5 candidates maximum to progress to formal interview; who they feel are in line with the salary requirements for the role, who are the right cultural fit for the business, that team, and that particular hiring manager.

So what happens to the other 180 applicants, including yours and your hard-fought MBA from Harvard and a first from Oxford?

The awful truth is unless someone is monitoring it or coaching that recruiter on how to deliver a world-class candidate experience, those applications are just left to float in perpetuity in the abyss of the ATS.

There was a shift a decade ago from the old school HR and resourcing model to Strategic Talent Acquisition. By that, I mean that instead of just forwarding CV’s from agencies to hiring managers, companies realized that if they could hire a crack team of in-house recruiters they could bring enormous value to the business, offer coaching and advice to hiring managers, plan development paths, succession plan roles, build strong employers brands using social media as well as actively approach and hire the best passive talent in the marketplace and save hundreds of thousands and in some case millions of pounds in agency fees.

I have noticed in the last three years a worrying trend for many businesses to think they can replicate this expertise and slash costs even further by hiring in junior recruitment agency folk. The rationale thinking they can perform the same role as experienced senior talent professionals but for a fraction of the salary; still saving on agency fees but often with disastrous long terms results. Talent Acquisition is often overlooked and undervalued but nothing affects the bottom line of business more. As after all a company and how it is perceived is only as good as the people around you. You only have to read some of the employee/candidate reviews on ‘Glassdoor’ to see where such practices are most prevalent.

https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/index.htm

Some more advanced ATS use algorithms to filter applications using keyword searches. This is particularly prevalent at the major tech firms. Every ATS differs slightly. Some don’t have search functions, some do. Many only rank by exact keywords, so the software may miss plural words if it is looking for a singular term. Or when the software encounters “analysis” in a CV, it may not recognize that the job seeker has experience with “analytics.” Hyphens and columns can also present problems.

My best advice to give yourself the best chance of your CV being shortlisted by automated ATS and indeed by a recruiter manually reading through is to tailor each application and optimize with the relevant keywords that match those in the job description you are applying for.

Take note of keywords that are used in the description and think like a recruiter. For example instead of ‘experience with Java,’ you may want to say ‘Java Development’ or ‘Java Developer’ as that is how it appears in the job advert.

ATS software can be expected to get smarter as it incorporates A.I. technology but it won’t necessarily become more open, transparent, and understandable, much to the frustration of candidates.

Use social media to your advantage. And by that, I don’t mean stalking the recruiter or hiring manager on Facebook or Instagram! More often than not, when a job is posted directly by a company on LinkedIn, it will list the profile of the person who posted that specific role. Send that person a warm connection request with a small covering note explaining why you are the perfect candidate for the role. Better still take out a Premium LinkedIn account as this permits you to send an Inmail message to someone you are not directly connected within your network and worth its weight in gold. It marks you out as top of mind and directs the recruiter/hiring manager to naturally view your profile which increases your chances of actually being reviewed. Needless to say, make your profile shine with a professional photo (There are some awful/hilarious ones out there), a summary and I find that personal recommendations by team members, clients, and senior folk help to add weight and credibility to your cause.

My greatest example of this was when I flew to Los Angeles to pitch my streaming digital reality TV project. I had several great pitch meetings lined up but the one company that was a closed shop and eluded me was Mark Burnett’s production company. Having a recruiter mentality I paid for a LinkedIn Premium account and sent a friendly one-pager Inmail to the Executive Vice-President of Unscripted Television (who wan most definitely not in my network). For those of you unfamiliar with all the tricks of LinkedIn, you can see who viewed your profile. Within minutes I could see that the EVP had read my message and was looking at my profile. I called the switchboard immediately and asked to be put through. When her executive assistant answered the phone and asked;

“Who are you and is XXX expecting your call?”

I replied; “Please tell your boss that I am the guy whose LinkedIn profile she is currently looking at on her screen.”

She took my call and arranged for me to come in and pitch the team the next day. So be resourceful!

Amazingly, even after filling in an online application and following up with a connection request and an Inmail covering letter, you will unfortunately still find a percentage that is too arrogant to acknowledge you. In those instances, frustrating as it may be, consider it a window into the soul of that company. A reputable recruiter should act as a brand ambassador for their company and want to deliver a world-class candidate experience from the moment you hit ‘send’ on your application as too many forget what it is like to be in your shoes.

To all of you out there today searching and applying for new jobs, I wish you the very best of luck, as I know from first-hand experience that it is a jungle out there. Be positive, be resilient and I hope this has given you a couple of useful pointers. Please feel free to connect and help each other as who knows what the future has in store for any of us…

Grant Parker is the founder of Generation X. The voice of a generation. The last outpost in a world gone mad, for Gen X, by Gen X. https://www.facebook.com/GenerationXmag/