Applying for jobs, but no response yet? Craft an impressive resume!

You have been tirelessly applying for jobs, but somehow, you have not been receiving the interview calls or the job offers you have been hoping for. It's frustrating, and it seems like all your hard work is going unnoticed.

However, the issue might not be your qualifications, experience, or skills. Instead, it could be your resume and job application strategies that need adjusting.

Every inhouse recruiter uses ATS or applicant tracking system. This is a software that scans and filters resumes based on the job requirements mentioned in the job description. Any mismatch between the job descriptions and your resume can lead to your application being rejected. This can happen when the ATS is not able to recognize your qualifications or experience because you have not explicitly mentioned them in your resume.

To avoid these issues, it's essential to follow the job posting carefully and tailor your resume and cover letter for that particular position.

Strategies which should be applied by Candidates as they apply for jobs.

1) Crafting an eye catching summary - Your resume's summary is the first thing recruiters will see, so make it compelling. Use this section to provide a snapshot of your key skills, experiences, and career goals. Keep it concise, engaging, and keyword-rich, ensuring that it entices the recruiter to explore further.

2) Highlighting relevant skills plays a vital role in getting your application noticed by the ATS. Analyze the job description thoroughly and identify the skills and qualifications that are most relevant to the role you're applying for. Incorporate these skills into your resume, providing specific examples of how you've utilized them to achieve success in your previous roles. However, be authentic and avoid keyword stuffing, as recruiters value genuine experiences over buzzwords.

3) Showcase accomplishments by quantifying them This is because the ATS software identifies the significance of your achievements based on the numbers you use. For example, it's better to mention, "Increased sales by 20% in Q1 of 2020" rather than "Improved sales in Q1 of 2020."

4) Understanding that a resume is not a "one size fits all" document. Instead, each job application requires a customized resume tailored to the specific job requirements. When a candidate only has one standard resume for every application they submit, they hinder their chances of getting the job. This is because their resume will not meet the specific requirements of each job description, and their application will be rejected by the ATS. So, if a candidate hasn’t been successful in their job search, it is worth reviewing their resumes and job application strategies, customizing for each job with appropriate keywords and skills found in job descriptions.

5) Do not try to flood resume with keywords that seem relevant, but with no actual substance to back it up. This can work to an extent, but it ultimately leads to a loss. Recruiters can easily spot this and will likely not shortlist such candidates.

Should you spend time in enhancing your resume template?

Why Resume Templates Might Matter:

First Impressions Count: A well-designed resume creates a positive first impression. It conveys a sense of professionalism and attention to detail, which can be reflective of the candidate's work ethic.

Ease of Reading: Templates that are clean and organized make it easier for recruiters to find essential information quickly. Given the vast number of resumes that recruiters review daily, a clear and concise template can make the review process more efficient.

Why Resume Templates Might Not Matter:

Content is King: While a template might make a resume aesthetically pleasing, it's the content that truly matters. A recruiter is primarily looking for qualifications, experience, skills, and other attributes that match the job description. If those elements are missing, no template can compensate for the lack of substance.

Potential Distractions: Overly complex or flashy templates can distract from the content. If a recruiter has to work harder to extract relevant information, it might result in frustration or even dismissal of the resume.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS): Many companies use ATS to screen resumes. These systems may struggle to read overly complex templates, leading to potentially qualified candidates being automatically filtered out before a human even sees the resume.

In summary, while resume templates can play a role in the evaluation process, they are secondary to the core content that demonstrates a candidate's suitability for the job. It's not about the template itself, but how it's used to present the essential information that truly matters.

Pick one resume template and stick to the same. Contextualize the content for the job description and requirements.

How can you generate contextual resume content?

Introducing iRekommend's improv which can optimize your resume using #generativeAI, and help you land your dream job!

In the next subsequent sections, we will demonstrate how you can use Improv to enhance your resume.

Let us take job description as below:

Observe how these qualifications serve as practical guidelines for crafting your resume. Based on the job description, make sure to include relevant details that align with the "required qualifications" section. It is crucial to incorporate essential keywords like "AWS". Java/Angular," "Spring boot," and "Microservices". If these qualifications seem too challenging to include, it may be worth reconsidering if this role truly matches your background.

It is important to showcase your past experience with the job requirements.

Let us begin formatting one of the resume to align closely with the job requirements.

The candidate resume shared looks very good fit for the requirements from hiring manager perspective. However, ATS and recruiters may reject the resume as many keywords required in the job description are not found in the resume.

What are the clear gaps in the resume content?

- No resume summary which describes the experience in context with the role.

- Many related keywords like Lambda are missing.

How can you improve the resume content?

Go to Improv and copy paste the job description and upload your resume and press Submit as below and press Submit

Improv will generate specific recommendations.

1) General recommendations and Summary

What do you get?

- Resume Experience Summary

- Grammatical and spelling mistakes in the resume

2) Identify contextual recommendations in the resume based on the job description.

What do you get?

- Identification of the skills and keywords expected in the job description, but not found in the resume.

- Specific improvement opportunities to better align resume content with the job description.

3) Opportunities to strengthen the resume by making it more persuasive and better aligned with the job description.

What do you get?

- Specific sentences which could be incorporated in the resume to improve alignment with the job description.

- Bulleted sentences which would make resume more persuasive, quantifiable, using specific language and metrics.

Based on the recommendation from Meta recruiter, we analyze the resume content to find experience which can be quantified using "Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y], by doing [Z] , where X stands for what you achieved, Y is the measurable way you achieved it, and Z is how you made the change".

4) Cover Letter / Email to Hiring Manager

What do you get?

- AI generated cover letter contextualizing resume with the job description.

Try for free for limited time here

We would appreciate your feedback at hello@irekommend.com.

Overwhelmed by Job Applicants? Find Candidates Faster using iRekommend's #GenerativeAI capabilities

Hiring the best candidate for your company can be a challenging process, especially when you have a vast pool of applicants to choose from. The process of sorting through countless resumes to find the perfect fit can be time-consuming and overwhelming. You don't have to struggle anymore. With the advancement of technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can make the hiring process more efficient and less stressful for you. In this blog post, we will explore how iRekommend's HR AI module can help you choose the best candidate out of a large pool of applicants.

1. iRekommend Can Filter Resumes Based on Job Description:

One of the challenges of hiring is identifying the right candidate who has the required skills, experience, and education to do the job. Thanks to AI, you can now upload resumes and job descriptions and let the system rank the resumes based on fitment with the job role. This process saves you time and ensures that you only consider resumes that meet your criteria.

Go to Shortlist-resumes | Irekommend AI

Provide the job title, job description and years of experience required (optional). Upload the resumes in zip format to be processed.

See the image below on how to best fill out the details.

2. iRekommend Can Provide Matching Scores:

AI can provide matching scores that indicate how closely a resume matches the required job description. This score is based on several factors, including job history, education, skills, and experience. The higher the score, the closer the candidate is to being a perfect fit. This feature not only helps you filter through countless resumes but also ensures that you don't miss out on a candidate who might be the perfect fit.

As you can see, the candidate is a full stack Java developer with AWS experience which was automatically determined by AI and hence the highest matching score was produced.

4. iRekommend Can Identify Missing Keywords:

In addition to providing matching scores, iRekommend can identify missing keywords on each candidate's resume. This feature ensures that you don't overlook candidates who have the right skills but might have used different terminologies to describe their experience. Identifying missing keywords helps you avoid rejecting qualified applicants that would have excelled in the job.

As you can see below, while the candidate is AWS architect, the very important keyword pertaining to the job description - Microservices was missed out in the resume.

The matching score is low, because the candidate was AWS Infrastructure architect, but the in the job description, the recruiter was looking for AWS developer.

4. iRekommend Can Help Prevent Bias in Hiring:

AI can help you avoid unintended bias in the hiring process by removing personal information such as age, gender, and race from candidate resumes. This feature ensures that candidates are only evaluated based on their qualifications, skills, and experience. Hiring the best candidate who matches the job description should be your only aim, and AI ensures that this is what you achieve.

5. iRekommend Can Improve Your Hiring Process:

The best part about using AI in hiring is that it continuously learns from the entire process. From applicant screening to the final hiring decision, AI records the data and feedback from the process. This information helps you improve your recruitment process by highlighting what works and what doesn't.

Try a limited version here for free!

How are we doing this?

The Technology leverages the #generativeAI capabilities from Google's Vertex AI platform which leverages PALM2 models, but custom trained by iRekommend's Data Science Team. Like #hrgpt and OpenAI's chatgpt, the custom models provide superior functionality and performance to drive significant HR transformation.