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OpEdNews Op Eds    H4'ed 7/20/17

Understand the Hiring Funnel to Beat the Resume Reading Robots and Get Your Resume Seen By the Recruiter

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Message Diane Huth

According to Dr. John Sullivan, nationally recognized employment guru, in his eye-opening article "Why You Can't Get a Job -- Recruiting Explained by the Numbers," finding a job is definitely a numbers game.

The average Monster.com job post receives around 250 applications, but it varies with top tier companies. Google, for example, receives more than one million applications per year for 4,000 job openings -- so their hire rate is 4/10 of 1% (less than half of 1 percent.)

Hiring Funnel
Hiring Funnel
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Of 1,000 people who see a job posting, only about 10% of them (100 people) will actually submit their applications. This volume of applications is still too overwhelming for a human to handle -- so the preliminary screening and key word matching is done by a computer.

When you submit your application and re'sume' online, a computer program called ATS will probably analyze your re'sume' to match your qualifications to the job description by key word search.

Since 90% of applicants submit their standard re'sume' which has not been customized for the position being applied for, it's not surprising that 75% of applicants are rejected during the preliminary automated screening process, and only about one-quarter (25%) of re'sume's are seen by a human being. So it is critical that you personalize each re'sume' to ensure it mirrors the key words from the job description.

You need to carefully review all the job requirements, and only invest your time in applying for positions for which you truly match the requirements. Otherwise it's a waste of everyone's time, and you can rest assured that your re'sume' will be one of the 75% that get rejected before a human being ever sets eyes on it.

Of the 25% of re'sume's seen by the hiring manager, 4 to 6 will be selected for a live interview, 1 to 3 will be invited back for a second interview, and 1 offer will be made. In 80% of occasions, the offer will be accepted.

Understand What Will Cause Your Re'sume' to Be Rejected

A recruiter's most immediate challenge in reviewing re'sume's is to weed out all the unsuitable re'sume's, so he can hone in on the best candidates. This process of elimination will leave only the most qualified candidates' re'sume's in consideration. These statistics will help you understand the key reasons re'sume's are rejected, allowing you to correct many easy-to-fix errors that are proven job killers:

  • 76% of hiring managers reject a re'sume' with a photo -- even though that's what they focus on at your LinkedIn page (BeHiring.com)
  • 61% of recruiters will reject a re'sume' or cover letter with a single typo
    (Career Builder.com)
  • 43% of hiring managers will reject a re'sume' or cover letter with a single misspelling (Adecco.com)
  • 60% or recruiters can't scan a PDF -- so submit your application in Word (even if they say they accept PDF), or in both formats
  • 76% of recruiters will reject your re'sume' for an unprofessional or inappropriate email address
  • 50% of applications are rejected because the re'sume' did not meet the basic job requirements
  • An out-of-town address can cause rejection due to fear of relocation
  • Many recruiters will ignore a re'sume' longer than 1 page -- keep it short and sweet so the high points jump out quickly
  • Failure to list accomplishments will cause rejection -- your performance should be quantified with numbers, volume, revenue, etc.

While finding a job is clearly a numbers game, it is one that you can play to your advantage. You now know what causes the vast majority of re'sume's to be rejected -- now focus on what you need in your re'sume' so that it gets selected.

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Diane Huth, MA, MBA Marketing and Branding Expert University Professor of Marketing Accidental Career Coach Diane Huth loves helping other people succeed, and finds innovative and out-of-the box ways to help them meet their goals. She is a (more...)
 
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Understand the Hiring Funnel to Beat the Resume Reading Robots and Get Your Resume Seen By the Recruiter

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