Job Searching After Thirty Five Years 2

[drawoh]

Last June, I was informed that business was bad and that my position was being terminated. My last day would have been April[ ]7, but I have a new job offer and it starts tomorrow. I am looking forward to the new job, so this posting definitely is not me whining.

All of the people laid off had been with the company for over ten years. We had a session with a firm of outplacement consultants. Among other things, they re-wrote my resume. If I were the person doing the hiring, I would be reluctant to hire someone who was unable to write their own resume. Apparently, your resume needs to get past resume reading software. All sorts of HR types have purchased and installed this software, tried out resumes, and have learned how it works. If you want to get through to the interview, you need to hire them. They took my word for it that I have the ability to multi-task without losing focus, and that I am highly adaptable with a broad range of transferable skills.

Even if you are willing to process this stuff manually, the people applying have to assume you are using the software. Is this technology really and improvement?


--
JHG

 

[rotw]

quote
Is this technology really and improvement?
unquote
was this the question?

 

[cvg]

you've got Gen X'rs hiring Millennials. Of course they are using software to screen resumes. I wouldn't expect anything less.

A quick google search will give all the tips and techniques necessary to defeat the resume reading robots. For example:

http://mashable.com/2013/11/11/resume-robots/#UDNdCQ60Uiqo

https://resumegenius.com/blog/applicant-tracking-systems-resume-keyword-help

 

[ScottyUK]

"You've got Gen X'rs hiring Millennials. Of course they are using software to screen resumes. I wouldn't expect anything less."

I wouldn't expect anything better.


And yes, I am a Gen-X'r.

 

[moltenmetal]

Demon3's book had a section dealing with his experiences with this human resources software bullsh*t- it was quite informative. Any company using this kind of screening software is probably too large for me to work for anyway, so if I went looking for a job the software would probably doing me a favour by screening out my resume!

 

[jari001]

It's an improvement if you have to look at close to 100 resumes for a position and the software screened out 200 resumes. But it all comes back to how you use any given tool at your disposal and to some extent the quality of the tool.

 

[JNieman]

I've failed to get into the running for a job twice, now, where the person actually selecting the hire, could never get my resume. He wanted me to apply for the job, after working with me on other projects as a supplier. He read my resume in person, but said he couldn't even take the printed copy. He said his hands are tied and I have to get it through HR. He said he could only review the resumes they gave him and never got it. He had me submit multiple times, gave me some help in wording it differently, and some tips to get through the screen. Never made it. Never understood why / why not.

When situations like that can happen, the system is not working in the benefit of the company using it.

 

[IRstuff]

We have one, exactly, HR person, so an ATS makes sense for weeding out casual applicants or dilettantes.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

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[drawoh]

moltenmetal,

My new job is with a much larger establishment. I think the overall company is smaller. I am walking away from some office politics. Size is not the only thing that matters.

--
JHG

 

[MartinLe]

This is a weird difference between the US (I assume this is a US experience) and where I live and work, Germany. I always try to call the hiring manager before sending in an application, and in three jobhunts with a total of maybe a few dozen applications, I almost always got the potential boss on line for a few minuts and learned a few things about the position (sometimes that it would be a horrible fit, or I learned what to emphasize in application). It was a handful times that I only cought HR persons and learned nothing.
This was mostly smallish firms, but also a few larger ones and municipalities or states I applied to.

 

[moltenmetal]

Yep, size isn't everything- small isn't a guarantee that you won't be screwed over. My brother worked for a family-run enterprise and had to flee for the exit after over a decade when the boss brought his worthless kid on staff...Best of luck drawoh- you deserve a soft landing!

 

[MikeHalloran]

When I run into an ATS, I just give up on that company.
I've already ridden too many doomed outfits down the drain.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[spraytechnology]

I doubt nowadays you can get a senior professional position by way of a CV only and surely not when you send one in the black hole together with tens or hundreds of applicants. Easier would be to win the lottery.

 

[drawoh]

spraytechnology,

I actually did not get past an ATS. An agency found my profile on LinkedIn. I sent them my resume. They hacked it to exclude my name and contact info. I handed over paper copies at the interview. They told me they would think about it and call me next week. I was offered the job later in the day. During the interview, I pontificated quite a bit about DFMA. Otherwise, we had a very friendly chat. I guess at some point you say the right things to the right people.

A lot of stuff about why you should not hire old people, does not apply to mechanical designers who use SolidWorks. The latest, cool technology has been used by me for the last fifteen years. The young whippersnappers do not know it as well as I do.

--
JHG

 

[spraytechnology]

Best of luck with the new gig.

 

[MFJewell]

I doubt nowadays you can get a senior professional position by way of a CV only and surely not when you send one in the black hole together with tens or hundreds of applicants.

My experience has told me otherwise. I have never used anyone else to write my resume and only marginally change it from time to time. I have applied for and eventually been offered some very good positions based on submittal of my resume only. I have applied for positions that I barely met, or partially met the qualifications, got selected for interviews and got offered positions. A good HR person and a good hiring manager should be able to read between the lines and see what a person can offer, not just blindly rely on some computer code to find what they need.

When it comes to a software screen and my resume gets booted out based on a preferred qualification that I don't have (which has happened plenty of times), I don't care. I figure if a company doesn't want to take the time to actually see what I bring to the table, it's their loss, not mine. I'll be fine and find plenty of other good opportunities. In the past 10 years, I have had over 50 job offers (might be closer to 100 if I went back and tallied it up and yes, I have changed companies 7 times in that span). I'm currently a senior project engineer. We'll see what next year brings.

P.S. - I'm a gen x.

 

[spraytechnology]

I admit only once in 25 plus years got a job by way a recruiter. It was a very specialized role, in a hard location and had practically no competition. It turned out to be a good fit, interesting work, with a great team. It was before all the scanning software etc when there was still a bit of human touch. Regardless, it will not chance my view on the recruiting industry.

 

[CWB1]

I have never accepted a position through a third party headhunter, contract/temp agency, or other middleman but have been recruited directly twice and also successfully gone through the standard online hiring process. JME but only the smallest of companies don't rely heavily upon ATS anymore and it is well worth the small effort and expense to have your resume reviewed upon occasion by those who know the little ins/outs of these systems. Unfortunately, even great companies often have crap HR depts responsible for these systems, and even good HR depts struggle with the technology. One issue that was uncovered at a former employer was how "nontraditional" degrees were treated, we had an engineer in mind with multiple degrees including a BSMET and his resume was automatically rejected as unqualified. A basic requirement was "BSME or equivalent" and the system interpreted it strictly requiring BSME, ignoring both BSMET and MSME in this case. The sad/scary part was that upon further investigation it was a known issue amongst the HR/recruiting team but had been dismissed bc as a Fortune 50 company we rarely lacked for candidates so the system wasn't viewed as "broken."