I encourage clients to have an effective LinkedIn profile, but I also ensure they have an effective CV/Resume.
Despite LinkedIn claiming that an offer is made every 10 seconds, this is not based on your profile as almost all jobs advertised ask you to upload your CV for the ATS (Applicant Tracking Software).
ATS software
There are over 200 options available and some are quite dated, so you need to create your CV/Resume, so it will be read properly by all systems. In the past the software read documents like a document scanner, now the software reads the code. You no longer need a plain text CV but still take account of the following.
Formatting – bold, italic, underlining, borders and shading
You can use these to enhance your CV and when looked at by a person you don’t want your CV to look boring. Borders and shading help to keep the reader looking at your document, with eye tracking research confirming this.
Do not use text boxes
Many people do, but the ATS software doesn’t read the text in boxes so if you must, use sparingly and make sure the detail is also covered in the main body of your CV.
Graphics, Graphs and Charts
As ATS read code, they won’t read text within a graphic like a chart, but a human reader will.
Many technical CVs include a star rating against different skills, but who is rating them?
File Type
Save and upload your CV as a word document (.doc) as not all systems can read PDFs.
Block Chain
Very early days, but block chain could be beneficial to you. You will take control of your own data rather than e.g. Google making money from your data.
Social Recruitment
30% of HR departments have a dedicated social recruiter and 70% are using social media to screen (Career Builder Research, 2017)
Only 36% of job seekers are on LinkedIn so recruiters use other social media to find them
Applying for jobs via LinkedIn
Many changes to LinkedIn and you can read how the site is making things easier for job hunters. Here’s the link to read more
https://blog.linkedin.com/2018/august/22/updates-to-jobs-search-make-it-easier-than-ever-to-find-the-right-job
It’s over 5 years since I last wrote about ATS
Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) – CV scanning software
Organisations are using Applicant Tracking Software to help manage the high volume of applicants who apply for jobs that are advertised online. Many applicants are poorly qualified for jobs they apply for and there just isn’t the time to skim read all application. The ATS software scans for key words related to a particular job.
That’s why key words are so important. Of course the software may miss well qualified candidates who don’t include enough key words but as long as they find a qualified candidate they are happy. Another reason for using this system is that the organisation can prove that it is not discriminating against people as it is the ATS system which has shortlisted candidates.
Let’s look at what you need to do to get through this shortlist. Read more on this blog post
