Your Resume Is Not Being Read By A Person

“I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans, and I’m rooting for the machines.” —Claude Shannon

So, for fun, I decided to apply for jobs.

As a Graduate student, this seems poignant. I will not have time for work, so why apply? I guess it was a test of sorts (to see if I could land the job between now and the degree).

But I was met with the same response, over, and over, and over:

"Unfortunately, we have decided to move onto another prospect."

After having read an article about this a while ago, I can understand this horrid metric: the resume is not even being read by a person.

86 percent of companies are using Automated Job Interview technology to scan resumes for keywords, and this is a trend that will not be going away.

Think About The Recruiter

Now, if you are a recruiter, this has a telltale advantage: it allows for that pile of 300+ resumes to be read by (yes, here it comes...) a machine searching for keywords.

Scary, right?

I wrote an article on this a while back , in regard to the A.I. tactic of screening, so go ahead and take a read. Then, consider the alternatives: why would you bother apply?

Better yet, how do we trick these machines?

When I Graduated...

When I graduated from my Bachelor's degree, my mother and I went to a casino. We went with a total of $300 and walked out with $500. Why is that?

That last machine was a tanker. It kept losing, no matter the amount of money you put in, no matter what you bet, and no matter what you pressed.

"Can I get some water for this poor machine?"

Many people ignore this with subtlety. We think if we keep playing the same bet, pushing the same button, or using the same manner of playing, eventually it will win.

The psychology behind this is immense...but then, I recalled the notion that I was being beaten by a machine. In this case, it was a slot machine.

So, I took the reigns of my mother, stuck at a dollar-a-game slot machine that I decided to give a try. I pushed one bet of $3, and got nothing. I then pushed for $1, then nothing.

Ten or so tries later, we won $100 from this one machine. My mother inquired: "What's your secret?" I said playfully: "I'm John Conner from Terminator..."

"...and I just tricked the machine."

Terminator References Aside

The point is stated in a TalentCulture article in an effort to advertise their services:

"AI is being taught to overcome human biases during sourcing and screening. The key is teaching the program on data that presents as gender-neutral and training it to ignore other identifying information that might trigger biased decisions. An organization may end up with a pool of applicants far easier hiring."

-TechCulture

We are being conned into a world where even applying for a job is detrimental. Ever apply for a job, only to be refused the interview in less than two days?

I have done experiments on this, and do not discount the following words when applying for your next job: the 2 percent of those accepted resumes are based on keywords.

Say, you are applying for a job. You submit your resume and cover letter.

It is looking for keywords meant to ease the Human Resources process (who get paid 80% of the time for recruiting alone) of finding the right candidate.

Weird, Right?!

This, suffice to say, is creepy. Actually, it is weird. It is "wierky," in that sense. We have become so novelized by the idea of easier "this" and easier "that" that we forget:

The best employees may not actually be selected.

They may just be lucky applicants who submitted the perfectly-framed keywords.

Now, if you truly want to "beat the machine," take a more personalized approach. Once in time, we were able to walk into an office and hand our resume to the front desk.

These days do not have to be gone.

If you want to beat the machine, show up in person.

My Mother Again

Oh, how I wish I had grown up in the 1970s. It sounded so much simpler. Her first job was as a temp, and then, as she had studied teaching, she would walk into a location and hand them her resume, which was actually read. Then, she would receive an interview.

Times have changed, however.

Now, the process is simpler yet more difficult at the same time. We apply for a job, only to find that we did not use the right "keywords" for the scanning thingy to pick up on it.

C'mon, I'm Qualified!

Yes, I do, and most people do, as well. However, as I often find myself sitting on LinkedIn applying for jobs (mostly out of boredom), I find that I get rejected.

Within 2 hours, it seems.

So far gone is this process that there are actually paid keyword generators made specifically for these A.I. Human Resources recruiters.

Not to give any names, but are they worth looking at? Maybe, but that is beside the point.

Try this: write a list of 300 jobs to apply to. Then, do not go on the website (except for researching, which is key to developing a good cover letter).

Rather, write your resume, write your cover letter...and mail it. Then, walk into the building yourself and demand the job. If you were rejected by the machine, ask for a redo.

I find it wholeheartedly strange that this is how job hiring proceedings are amassing. We have entered a world where a machine judges our strengths and merits.

Even More Awkward...

Even more awkward is the ambivalence of this.

According to James Hu:

"The majority of resumes never even land in the hands of a human. They’re automatically stored in an applicant tracking system—a software application used by companies to search through thousands of resumes quickly to determine which ones are the best fit for a position. That’s right, your carefully crafted and hand-tailored resume’s getting reviewed by bots" - James Hu

As Said In John Wick

"I once saw him kill a man with a pencil. Who the f**k can do that?!"

In other words, do things a bit differently. I know, that is a strange metaphor to use, but it gets the point across: forget spending your time applying for jobs online.

That is like throwing rocks down a corridor.

Rather, go old school. Find jobs in your area that are hiring. Then, find the address. Then, send them a personalized cover letter, and a personalized resume, and mail it to them,.

This is not rocket science here.

The personal approach is called "reciprocity," and it means that when we do something bold, we are obligated by social norms to actually read the resume.

In other words, if online postings are not working for you, switch things up. Try a personal approach. Go into the job itself, and ask to speak with the recruiter.

Try that approach if your job searches are limited in scope. If you cannot beat the machine, you can win with the personalized approach.

If that does not work, I have no idea what will...

Stay tuned for a potential "Part II..."

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