In the ‘new normal’ many people are looking for a job that can be done from home, the good news is that many companies are hiring for remote jobs. For many people it is like starting all over again, because of their work experience they expect at least a reaction from the recruiter or Human Resources people after writing and sending resumes and job applications.
I am the perfect example of a person that started doubting, got frustrated and couldn’t believe I was not getting any reactions on my applications, so I had to find out why this was happening. After all I am fluent in 5 languages, worked as a customer service rep and reception manager 5 star resorts here in the Dominican Republic for almost 10 years.
If you are not getting interviews after sending tons of resumes, chances are that it is not because of your Skills, Qualifications or Experience but simply because of how you write your resumes.
Most companies, especially the bigger ones use ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems), these bots will, qualify and rank all resumes received.
You could be on the top of the list for an interview or not even make it to the recruiter, all decided by a bot.
According to the stats about 43% of resumes get dismissed because they were sent in an incompatible file type.
Make sure that the employer’s Application system can process your resume. If they don’t specify the file types they accept, just stick with Microsoft Word docs.
Graphics, charts and inventive layouts may catch the recruiter’s eye but ATS bots don’t like these extras. Keep it simple or the recruiter probably doesn’t get to see your file. (TopResume found that 21% could not be read by the software).
Make sure you customize your resume for keywords, it is easy to mimic the language of the employer, just copy the job description into a word cloud with a free tool like Wordle. All the keywords will appear in a larger font size.
Make sure you write different Resumes (stay truthful) for different job applications, change them keywords depending on the job you are applying for.
If your job experience doesn’t give you a lot of opportunities to use the keywords, you can just add a Skill Section to incorporate them.
Good luck!
Sandy Parra