For the first time in a decade, I have been flooded with requests from recently unemployed recruiters looking for assistance.

This was unthinkable a few months ago.

My usual go-to action when I do get a recruiter approach me is to counsel them a little on clear career thinking, and then refer them to a selection of my clients or industry contacts, satisfied that I had oiled the wheels a little, and paid it forward.

But now, my contacts are not hiring. It’s the last thing on their minds.

So I ‘went back to school‘. That’s right, ‘Savage the Talker’, sat down and listened. I joined a webinar put together by JobAdder. I stole their content, and I added some of my ideas. This is part of a series of blogs to help recruiters. (Especially as much of my advice to date has been for Owners and Managers).

My thanks to JobAdder, and especially Victoria Cleghorn, ( Talent Acquisition Lead at Jobadder) for allowing me to share their knowledge. All of us just want to help where we can.

So for this article, we focus on preparing your resume. This is much more of a science than it ever was, and there are many pitfalls even experienced recruiters may not appreciate.

Optimising your resume for ATS parsing.

Resume parsing is an automated process which means your resume is read, pulled-apart and essential information such as your work history, qualifications, keywords and contact details etc are recognised and stored appropriately in the ATS candidate database.

Some key tips to ensure your resume makes it through the ATS cull;

• Make sure you select the right file type for your resume. It is best to use plain text, google or a word or pdf document. Do not be tempted to use images or fancy software.
• Don’t put important details in the header or footer of your resume. The parsing technology may not pick it up.
• It is critical to optimise your resume with keywords. For example, the words used in the job title of the Advert you are applying for. Think about the frequency, as well as the placement of these keywords throughout your resume.
• Avoid images, charts, and other graphics. While these may look funky, they may confuse the parsing technology, and it won’t help you.
• If at all possible customise your resume to the job description and to each specific job, boosting appropriate keywords for example.

How ranking in an ATS works (Using JobAdder as an example)

The ATS will screen all candidates and rank them for the recruiter who is managing the hiring process. How do you get to the top of that list? Well, you have to have the skills and experience of course, but you can ensure you get that little advantage by making sure you;

• Reference the keywords within the job description as many times in your resume as possible.
• Can point to longevity in relevant roles.
• The more often keywords appear high up in the resume the better. (make sure to put the jobs you’ve worked in most recently as high up in your resume as possible)
• Maximise the times the keywords are in the resume. This is contributing to the score and the higher the score, the closer the match.
• Make sure sought after keywords appear in your resume job title. The more recent, the better.

Extra stuff that Recruiters look out for.

• Spelling, grammar, font size consistency. Yes, it does count against you. Why give yourself any disadvantage?
• Incorrect or missing contact details. I know, WTF? But yes, we see resumes without phone numbers. Why?
• Unprofessional email address. Hotgirl_bootylicious@hotmail.com seemed so fun at the time, right?
• Irrelevant or outdated information. Think about it. Is it going to help? Or does it just cloud the good stuff?
• Failure to demonstrate and quantify results. It’s imperative to have more than just historical data. Show achievements. Quantify outcomes you created. Describe the projects you delivered. Spell out the difference you made.
• No document longer than two pages. Especially if you believe the research that tells you that recruiters average 6 seconds per resume reviewed…
• Stick to simple bullet points – not too many though, and not big chunks of text
• Match your resumes target job title to the job listing
• Tailor your skills to match the key terms in the job description
• Always write a cover letter and address it to the Recruiter/TA Manager. Appeal to them directly and personally, and use keywords.

Want to get a little bit funky?

Video Applications can work well. They can differentiate, cut through, and show that you made an effort. It doesn’t not have to be a Hollywood calibre production. But make sure it’s well lit, dress well, no slouching, no cleavage (that applies to you woman too ). Make eye contact. Yes, do prepare, but don’t read a script. Show your personality. Focus on making it clear why you have what the job needs. Make sure you are clear and audible and don’t swear (FFS!) or use sloppy slang. And if you don’t like my advice or feel it’s ‘old school’, bring it in tight. The boot is on the other foot. Jobs are hard to find. And will be, for a long time. You need to shine.

Here is a link to the full on-demand webinar produced by JobAdder.

Here is a link to website matching Melbourne and Sydney recruiters to contract recruiting gigs

Access the library of my Crisis advice here  (Blogs, podcasts, webinars)

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