Recruitment Manners.

As a busy Recruiter, I am constantly talking to candidates actively seeking new opportunities and I hear one bit of feedback more than anything else: "I hear nothing back from the roles I apply too!"

These days recruitment has become very automated. Applicant tracking systems are commonly used by agencies and big companies to manage their recruitment process. These sophisticated systems can save a hiring manager's time and reduce the 'time to recruit' metric. But at what cost?

It seems there are many people falling through the cracks of these systems and any credit gained through employer branding is lost by not extending the courtesy of a simple email.

It's time to change. It's time to bring the human touch to the job hunt.

Currently in my geographical region there has been a downturn in a number of industries. The bubble has burst on mining and there are a number of great candidates in the market. These candidates have great skills and are dedicated professionals. They are certainly deserving of an email if they apply to a role.
But these emails are not coming because a computer is lacking the human touch to realise they are great candidates with transferable skills.

So, how do you beat the automatic applicant tracking system? You can't.
But what you can do is not take it personally. Understand that your application has gone through a process and, for whatever reason, you have fallen through the cracks. As a Recruiter I welcome calls to ask about any roles we are currently advertising. But Hiring Managers can sometimes be unreachable.

If the role is a company advertising directly, try a search on LinkedIn for the hiring manager and see if you can approach someone that way. No manager was ever annoyed by a LinkedIn message and it does show some form of initiative.

You could engage with the companies social media streams and get noticed that way. These days thinking outside the box is a necessity to getting noticed.

The automated systems are here to stay, but they will get better and those cracks will shrink. Until then, pick up the phone, message via social apps or just complain to your friendly recruiter (me); things will, eventually, get better!