Right now, the job market is really difficult. It’s tough for everyone working white-collar jobs, but it’s especially bad for new grads, or those with limited experience.
It’s a very frustrating experience.
Let’s clarify who is actually making the hiring decision and why you may not make it past each stage.
An applicant will submit their resume, and it will be parsed - with varying results - into an Automatic Tracking System. Job descriptions, dates, and keywords will be added to various fields in a database.
Recruiters seldom read every resume that comes in. Some still do, but given how many applications they receive it’s become even less common.
The problem with the ATS: When a recruiter queries the ATS, they look for keywords, and get back a list of applications with a score. If an applicant’s keywords don’t line up, then they get a lower score. They won’t be rejected. They won’t even be considered.
The recruiter will take the job description and post it somewhere. They may do it themselves, and/or send it to one or more third-party agencies.
It’s important to note that recruiters are paid to place people into jobs. If they don’t find someone, they don’t get paid.
They have a lot of incentive to find someone the hiring manager will accept. Not necessarily the best candidate, but the one that will get them paid the most money for the least effort.
The problem with recruiters: They’re all different. They all have their own way of evaluating candidates. Ask three recruiters what’s the best way to get a job, and you’ll get five answers.
It all starts with the hiring manager. They have an opening, and they need to find some candidates.
The hiring manager will create a job description, and send it to a recruiter. In a larger organization, HR will play a big part in this.
They’re also very involved at the end. They have the final say as to whether or not a candidate is selected. Don’t blame the recruiter - they didn’t have anything to do with it.
The problem with hiring managers: For many, it’s something they do once or twice a year, if that often. They’re already overworked, and interviewing adds even more.
One or more interviews will be with your future co-workers.
These interviews have a lot of impact on whether or not you’ll be hired. They aren’t always make-or-break, but the hiring manager will take their feedback very seriously.
The questions are usually technical in nature: “describe what a load balancer does”, “what does it mean when you get this error?”, and so on.
You may even get a curveball, like “tell me about a time you had to give bad news to your boss”.
Congratulations! You were offered the job! Now you can finally scouring job boards, filling out endless applications, hovering over your email, interviewing, and basically just stop worrying. What a relief!
An offer is a great step forward, but it isn’t the finish line. A lot can happen between “we’d like to hire you” and your first paycheck clearing the bank.
The problem with getting an offer: It’s only an offer. There may still be reasons you don’t have a new job.
Applying for jobs is a numbers game. You send out resumes, cross your fingers, and hope something sticks. Sometimes it does. More often, it doesn’t.
You might get a polite rejection email. You might get ghosted completely. You might make it through three rounds of interviews only to vanish into the void.
That’s just how it is.
If you apply on LinkedIn, you may see that a given job has “100+” applicants in less than a day. That’s not a mistake, or a typo.
Just because you see so many applicants doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply if you’re qualified. You should.
Adding to the difficulty is that many of those 100+ applicants are faking it. It isn’t difficult to create a resume based on the job description. It’s easy to apply, so plenty of unqualified people just go for it. The potential of getting a job is a huge reward for very little effort.
The problem with AI Generated resumes: With the popularization of AI, creating and submitting a tailored resume is easier than ever. It will be perfectly formatted, have relevant bullet points, and follow the STAR method.