Recruiting technology, like the increasingly prevalent applicant tracking system (ATS), is making it easier and faster for job-seekers to find and apply to their ideal employment opportunities. Talent acquisition professionals also appreciate the multiple benefits of an ATS, one of which is reducing the burden of reading hundreds, if not thousands, of résumés to find the right candidate for a position. Candidates and recruiters, however, have reported some frustrations with ATSs, blaming them for screening out candidates who are seemingly well-suited for an open position. While it’s easy to make technology a scapegoat, keep in mind this software is simply doing what it was designed to do. The real culprit for the so-called “black hole” of applicant screening technology isn’t the ATS itself, but rather outdated rules for creating a résumé.
This old guidance was based on a human being scanning through a pile of résumés, but now robust software performs that task. So rules that were originally designed for human eyes need to be re-thought with technology-based scanning in mind.
