You have to love it when Forbes publishes an article called “How to Outwit an Online Job Applications.” An article in which the author calmly, rationally and CORRECTLY states “Applicant tracking systems are talent-repelling monstrosities, but they are everywhere.”
We take this for granted now. Online job applications are awful and that’s just the way it is. The article goes on to advise that when you see a job you are interested in, take a screenshot of it. The reason to take a screenshot is because, and again this is now just common sense, because “you could save the link to the job ad and go back to look at it tomorrow only to find out it’s become a dead link.”
The gist here is that candidates are advised to take that screenshot and spend the time they would have spent filling out online applications and use them researching internal employees that are likely to be associated with the job and send them a personal letter about the job.
So my question for recruiters is, did you KNOW that your applicant tracking systems are driving candidates away from your jobs? What else don’t you know about how candidates behave in reaction to your applicant tracking system and career site?
Wait, I’ll answer. Probably very little.
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Rather than read about your candidate experience on Forbes.com, Survale advises you day in and day out. Learn more about Survale here.
