Recruiting AI is one of the fastest-growing operational tools and one that offers the most promise to both employes and job seekers. For employers, it allows them to quickly search, filter and evaluate thousands of applicants in a matter of seconds. For employees, it allows them to be discovered more quickly, and eliminates the human bias that is all too common in the job search.
If you’re looking for a job and applying to open positions, then this is the time to optimize your resumés and online profiles to help you get hired fast.
Here’s how.
Skip the fancy format
For all their genius, robots are terrible at reading between the lines. Make sure that your resumé is in a plain format without tables, decorative items, etc. Once you make it past the robot and are contacted by recruiters, you can send them a formatted version for your interview.
Be sure to use a text-based, commonly-used application such Microsoft Word, rather than a PDF, HTML, Open Office, or Apple Pages document, and to avoid including logos and graphics. You can test your resumés readability by posting it into a plain text file, then making sure nothing gets out of order and no strange symbols pop up.
And don’t put any information in the header, as most software can’t read it. If they can’t see your name and contact info it doesn’t matter how good your application is. It will most likely be disregarded due to a simple formatting error.
Focus on Keywords and Skills
Shrink the personal statement
Yes, AI is trying to help you get hired, but it doesn’t really like small talk. Keep your personal statement short and keyword-focused. This is a great place to include some of those soft skill keywords that don’t fit elsewhere.
Mirror the job description and prioritize
AI-technology not only reads and matches your information but weighs the importance of the information provided. Therefore you should list jobs in reverse-chronological order, with the information most relevant to the job description coming before other bullet points.
Tailor each application
Apply anyways!
Put yourself out there
Many career websites allow companies to search profiles for suitable jobs (which is much easier for them than scanning the hundreds of resumés that come in from a job search), so in addition to adding yourself to the ReadyToHire database, be sure to upload your resumé to other career sites such as indeed.com, monster.com, LinkedIn.com, ZipRecruiter, and Dice.com.
