Job Hunting: Getting a Step Ahead
The job market has changed drastically over the past decade. One of the biggest “enhancements” has also become one of the greatest hurdles as a job hunter. How can you get ahead? Let’s peel this onion and find out!
Why is Job Hunting so hard now?
Before we can understand what we need to do to get a step ahead of the competition, we need to understand what has changed. In my opinion, the answer to this is simple: Technology and people have changed.
Applicant Tracking System
The ATS has been around since the 1970s. The purpose of an ATS is simply to track all applicants for any given job application. This system allows recruiters or hiring managers to easily identify job applicants and filter through the applicants without the need to look at a physical resume.
What sets the ATS apart in today’s job market are two specific factors. First, ATSs have gone online. The second is that ATSs have become ‘smarter’.
Online ATS
In recent years, there have been several online ATSs. Greenhouse, LinkedIn, Indeed, and Level are examples of various ATSs that companies can now use for their job hiring process. Because these are online, it makes it far easier for anyone to apply. What used to be an all-day process of going from store to store to apply to 3 to 4 places in a day can now be done in the comfort of your pajamas in an hour or two. As a result of this, companies can get hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants for any given position they have open.
Strictly speaking, LinkedIn and Indeed are Job Boards
Smarter ATSs
Not every ATS is the same, but they all tend to excel at their purpose: Filtering applicants to get the best of the best. This is done through a variety of methods. For example, LinkedIn lists all applicants with a simple notice of how many ‘required’ skills the applicant’s profile has. Lever uses a simple search algorithm that allows recruiters to search by keywords from your parsed resume.
The more advanced ATSs use a weighted algorithm system. This system will take your resume and parse it out, then compare your parsed resume to the job application. It’ll then use its algorithm system to assign your resume a ‘weight’. This weight is how good of a match your resume, and subsequently you, are to the job. For example, if the ATS sees 20 keywords on the job description, but your resume only lists 10 of those keywords, your resume is a 50% match. Recruiters can then look at only those resumes that have a higher match.
It’s worth noting that there are some instances where recruiters will claim this information is all incorrect and wrong. For example, one argument I’ve seen is that recruiters in the USA are required to review all applicants owing to the EEO. I have two challenges I want to point out about this. First, if a company gets ten 100% matches in the ATS, and they find the one they want to hire in those 10, they aren’t going to keep looking at the remaining 90 applicants since the role was ‘filled’. Second, ‘reviewing an application’ isn’t reading the resume all the way through. LinkedIn uses a system where they can see that you are a 30% match based on your skills without ever looking at your resume. Finally, I also want to point out that if I get an immediate rejection email the second I submit an application, there is no way a recruiter looked at that application. Sure, they might ‘later’, but I’ve never been contacted by any recruiters for any roles I received an immediate rejection for. Just Saying.
Remote Jobs
Since COVID changed the market, remote jobs are far easier to find. It used to be pretty difficult to get a decent remote job. COVID changed that completely. Not only did it expose a lot of people to the joys of remote work, it created a ton of remote positions. What's more, now that life is ‘returning to normal’, a lot of companies have started revoking remote positions. There are some rumors that many of the mass layoffs we’ve been seeing lately are to force a return-to-office mindset since in less than a few weeks after the layoffs, the companies reopen the position as in-office only. So there was a flood of positions, and now there is a draught of positions. While the number of available positions has gone down, the number of people wanting those jobs has gone up exponentially.
2–4 % of Applicants get “results”
The ATS has greatly simplified the job hunting process for companies, but in doing so has greatly complicated the job hunting process for those looking for a job. If a role is highly coveted by everyone interested in the company, then they could easily get over a thousand applicants. Add on the simple ‘remote’ flag, and this goes up even higher. On top of this, the weighted ATSs and filtering options make it so that companies will only look at the top-rated applicants. As a result of this, an estimated 2–4% of applicants will get ‘seen’ by the recruiter or hiring manager. The remaining 96–98% never get reviewed. What makes things worse is that a resume is considered to only have 7 seconds to ‘wow’ the recruiter. If your resume doesn’t wow them during this time, they move on and don’t look at your resume anymore.
The Great Resignation
In the tech industry, software engineers have become notorious for staying at a job for less than 2 years only to move on to a new job with a fancy $10,000 or more annual pay increase. While the Great Resignation is associated with 2021 and post-COVID, the tech industry was seeing this as early as 2019. As a hiring manager during this time, I had several instances where I was hiring for a Level 3 Engineer, with people applying with a clear Level 2 (or lower) Skill Level, asking for the asking cost of a Level 4 or even Level 5 Engineer. This resulted in two distinct issues. The first issue is this drove up the average cost of an employee. The second issue is that it caused a lowering of loyalty on both sides of the hiring parties. These two issues make it so that companies have become far more selective than they were previously. That is to say, companies are in a position where they have to pay more than they were previously, and they want to only hire the diamond in the rough so they can get up to speed quickly and provide value immediately.
With the recent rising of inflation, this has become even more apparent. While the inflation bang was far greater in 2023, the Great Resignation has created a volatile market. A company can only survive if they make more money than they spend. If an employee makes $20,000 annually, and the company has $10,000 in expenses annually, then the only way they can survive is if they make at least $30,000 annually to ‘break even’. If the product they sell costs $100, then they have to sell 300 units to do this. If that employee then quits and the new employee demands $30,000 annually, now their cost is $40,000 and they either have to sell 400 units or they have to raise the cost to $135 a unit. This will go in a circle until either A) The employer no longer can afford to hire someone or B) No one will want to buy the product anymore. That is until the ‘market’ ultimately breaks and either you see a mass layoff to account for all the higher expenditures, or you see company closures because the company doesn’t have enough clientele to maintain the expenditures.
Getting Ahead
Hopefully, at this point, you have got a good understanding of what is going on in the market. So, what can we do about it? There are quite a few options, but this market is certainly an ‘employer market’. This makes it several times harder for prospective employees to get a job because they have to do so much more to even be seen.
Tailor your Resume
This is probably something you’ve heard before. The general idea is to adjust your resume in such a way that you stand out even more. For a weighted ATS, you want to ensure your resume ‘matches’ the job description as much as possible. Different people will tell you different ways of doing this. Some say just adjust your ‘Summary’ section, while others will say update the bullet points to match the job description.
Include Results in your Resume
Your resume should list your accomplishments, not your duties. This means adding in metrics that show accomplishments like you lowered costs or increased revenue. Additionally, you should focus on those things that make you proud or ‘tell your story’.
Hire a Resume Writer or Career Counselor
Honestly, 10 years ago I never would have thought of having someone write my resume for me, much less considered it. However, in today’s market, it might be worth it to you. Resume writers can cost anywhere from $100 to $1000. They do exactly what it sounds like, they make your resume “pop” for others. Some of the ones I know are
Avoid LinkedIn Easy Apply
LinkedIn Easy Apply is an amazing feature in how easy it makes it for you to apply for a role. The problem is that what is easy for you makes it easy for everyone else. I’ve seen Easy Apply roles that were posted ‘an hour ago’ with already over 200 applicants. That’s insane! This means that you have to go that extra mile to stand out.
Avoid Roles with High Applicants
Somewhat in line with Easy Apply, the more people listed or noted as applied, the harder it’ll be for you to stand out. You’ll have a far easier time getting that interview you so desire if you only apply to roles that have say less than 10 applications.
Apply Early
Also in line with the previous two ideas, you should apply as soon as possible. The older a job posting is, or the more applicants it has, the less likely you are to be seen or reviewed. There is a chance the company may ‘wait’ and let the job posting just collect potential applicants, but it’s hard to know ahead of time if this is the case.
Don’t be Overly Selective
Something I’m guilty of is being overly selective. That is to say, I only apply to roles “I absolutely have to have”. While I think everyone should get the job they want and deserve, your available money is slowly dwindling if you don’t have a job. You don’t have time to wait. Scrolling through the LinkedIn Premium Group will show you people who have been looking for 6 months or longer for a new role. This could be you if you are not careful. At least get a new role, even if you hate it, so you can have a solid income, and then focus on getting that dream job.
Don’t be afraid to Apply
This is another one I’m guilty of, and that is not applying because I feel I’m not good enough for the role. Good hiring managers will be looking for someone who can grow in their role. It’s better to be a 90% match that can grow into the role than to be a 110% match that might leave when you get bored. Just be careful, the more positions you apply for, the faster you will burn yourself out.
Many of the astute readers may notice this may be counter to what I said before. Given that employers are being more selective and more likely to only hire the best of the best, then it means applying for a role that you are less than a 90% match could be a waste of time. You will have to use your own judgment here.
Leverage the Cover Letter
To be honest, I’m not sure how well this applies anymore. I’ve been a hiring manager for nearly a decade, and I’ve never once been presented with a cover letter. However, I know that if there is something your resume doesn’t show, your cover letter can. For example, if you are applying for a role you are overqualified for, but you are legitimately interested (and willing to take the pay cuts that come with it), you can say this in your cover letter.
Use Available Tools
If hiring managers and recruiters are allowed to use technology to make their lives easier, why can’t you? There are several online tools you can leverage to help you get a step ahead. Some are free or have free options, while others are paid.
- Cultivated Culture — CC has several resume tools to help you identify places to improve your resume, including things like bullet point optimization or a resume builder.
- Resume Worded — RM will parse your resume and rank it according to their algorithm, focusing on items like how good your keywords are, the tone, and even comparing it to a job posting.
- ChatGPT — While I would avoid using ChatGPT to write your whole resume, I think it’s reasonable to use it for bullet point optimization or other minor adjustments to make it ‘pop’.
- LinkedIn — Not technically a resume tool, but LinkedIn is a good place for networking. Finding people you know gets you a wider ‘net’ to cast when looking for a position. Furthermore, the more active you are on there, the more likely you are to show up in searches by recruiters if your profile is well-made.
- Skill Syncer — Similar to Resume Worded
- Inoreader — Somewhat unique to this list, Inoreader is an excellent way to help you get your application in before others do. See my article Inoreader: Automating Your Job Search for full details.
Conclusion
Job hunting is hard. Recent technologies have made it harder. I hope this helps you in your job hunt to land that dream job. If you have suggestions, I’d love to hear about them! Feel free to comment with any tips or tricks you use.
