You Don't Have To Be A Mind Reader To Get Past The ATS

Many job seekers get frustrated when they aren't chosen for interviews when qualified. 

So frustrated that you may think you need to be a mind reader to get past the ATS and get interviews.

But in reality, you need to read 3 minds: The ATSs. the recruiter's and the hiring manager's.

While there's no magic pill, no method that works 100% every time, it's not as impossible as it sounds, because there are some specific things you can control, to improve the odds you'll get past all of the pre-screening and get interviews more often.

Here are some more effective ways than mindreading to get past ATSs and get more interviews:

1. Getting Past The ATS: ATSs favor resumes that are highly customized to an individual hiring manager's criteria (which rarely are in the job description - see below). They also don't favor resumes using incompatible formats, but there are hundreds of ATSs, dozens of versions of each one, and each version treats formatting differently. You'll want to avoid incompatible formats that can get your resume screened out, delayed, or have data lost or misplaced in the ATS.

2. Getting Past Recruiters: On average, recruiters screen out about 85% of the resumes that get past the ATS. Recruiters look for resumes that aren't just qualified, but often make sure that hiring managers see resumes that are better than qualified ... the resumes that prove candidate track record of success. You need to focus your resume on impact, rather than qualifications, skills, responsibilities, experience or tasks.

3. Getting Hiring Managers To Choose You For Interviews: Hiring managers look for more than just being qualified, more than skills, experience, or responsibilities - They expect that all of the resumes they get from recruiters will be qualified (meet bare minimum requirements) and expect that they'll see many qualified candidates (so qualified = average).

Hiring managers want to interview and hire candidates that:

• Understand and have already solved similar problems to their key/priority issues (they won't be in the job description)

• Prove a strong track record of success that will overcome any risks that a candidate might present (unemployed, over 40, changing career/industry/location, remote, resume gaps, "bouncy" resume)

• The hiring manager can trust

The strategies to pass all of these tests aren't taught by most career coaches, outplacement, nor used by most professional resume writers (because their certification training didn't teach them). Your friends and mentors don't recommend these strategies to you, because they've never been taught them either.

I help people solve the most difficult job search problems, including job search acceleration, getting past ATSs, ageism, remote positions, product/job function/career/industry/ geographic change, unemployment, "bouncy" recent career path, job search turnaround, seeking raise/promotion, industry in decline/consolidation, long term gaps, family leave, or other of the most challenging job search issues.

Join me for my next free Resume Webinar (enroll at https://x.resumewebinar.com/Registration for no charge) and learn how to accelerate your job search, so you can find your next job faster in 2024.

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