Tales From The TALEO Crypt – How To Be Screened In

One of the most frustrating things for job seekers can be not knowing why they were screened out of a recruitment process.  Having your resume screened out repeatedly and not knowing why breeds anxiety and loss of confidence.

Over the last couple of months I seem to have encountered a surge in job seekers with tales of woe about their resume being screened out and never finding out why even though they considered themselves to be qualified for the role.

Usually, the job seekers are unaware that larger corporations often use sophisticated software programs to do the initial screening for the hiring team.  The software program, such as TALEO, will strip the incoming detail out of the application and enter it straight into the corporate database.  From there, the hiring team can perform various keyword searches to further whittle down the list of suitable candidates.

In order to be screened in, you must make it clear in your application that you have all of the skills, experience and qualifications they are looking for.  Your resume should mirror the language of the advertisement as much as legitimately possible.

 If the company are seeking the completion  of a certain certificate that you don’t have but intend to challenge, state in your resume or cover letter that you “intend to undertake training to obtain XYZ certification”.  If the certification is being used as a search filter, at least you’ll make the cut and have a human read your resume.  Remember, if you tell an employer that you intend to undertake a further education task – make sure you are serious about doing it.

A recent client told me a story about one of her recent job applications.  She had applied for a government job and deemed herself to be well qualified.  She was rejected.  Fortunately she had a contact in HR and asked her friend to find out why.  It turns out that she was rejected by the software program used to screen the applications because she did not repeat the requirements sought back to the computer using the same language in which the questions were asked.

Although it can seem as though your resume and job application can disappear into some twilight zone or crypt never to be seen again, there is probably a good reason.  Yes, you may simply not have the skills for the role, but in my experience, many clients simply don’t know how to navigate the online job application process well enough.

Hopefully you’ll find something in this article that can help you combat the dreaded software job applicant selection software!  Good luck!