How Applicant Tracking Software Kills Individualism

Everyone is the same and only our generic skill sets and years parked at office desks can separate us.

That’s what most applicant tracking software would have us believe. If that doesn’t sound fair to you, we’d agree.

There’s a reason most of us comb our hair and put on makeup. There’s a reason we buy clothes and listen to music that reflect our tastes. We each have our own style and carry a level of pride in how we present ourselves.

We know the importance individualism. We’d even say that few of us want to merely blend in with the masses.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what many applicant tracking software systems are doing today. They simply deny applicants the chance to be themselves, and squash every bit of individualism the moment resumes are submitted.

Your work won’t matter

You see, all of the time applicants spent writing and formatting their resumes doesn’t matter. All the time devoted to carefully selecting fonts and colors doesn’t mean anything. All those little things done to best represent their brands don’t even get passed the main gate of most applicant tracking software.

All the work applicants did to separate themselves from the pile of other resumes instantly vanishes. The ATS completely strips the formatting from their resume because its in-browser resume viewer can’t handle the format to display. Now, instead of getting a chance at the position via an impressive glance, people get buried in a Downloads folder somewhere until someone has time to dig it up for review.

Here you are, on the doorstep of your dream job, and you’ve been stripped down to nothing more than a collection of 1’s and 0’s. Binary data.

You, and all you are, is represented only by:

Level of education;
Years of experience;
Previous titles held

Aren’t we more than just titles and degrees?

Not all applicant tracking software is created equal

Some ATS’s even go to great lengths to protect each applicant’s unique personality and story. One ATS in particular has developed and implemented an in-App resume viewer. This allows the applicant to upload their resume directly into the system. That means no shenanigans or missed information because some lazy software didn’t pick up the valuable data.

This way, a hiring manager finds a resume in the way the applicant intended – personality and talents included.

Most hiring managers and recruiters will tell you, they’re looking for that special candidate. They want that perfect fit. They want that job seeker who will stand out and make a difference.

So ask yourself, is your applicant tracking software denying you that special someone?

This article originally appeared on The Resumator Blog.