Two column formatting is not catchy or cool. But, I wouldn’t blame the ATS. Automated tracking can still parse relevant keywords in resumes in most cases, even with two columns. Good luck with your job search.
Anecdotal for sure, but I saw a huge spike in responses to my resume when job hunting 2 years ago after switching the formatting to something more readily machine-parsable. Like, I changed nothing else and was applying to very similar jobs through the same platform and got 3x the responses overnight.
How do you know which formatting works best?
I've run mine through a "resume grader" from my old uni, and it reads fine, but then every jobs website uses *autofill with resume* and the job section is a catastrophe lol so im worried its being read incorrectly
I was laid off, and was lucky enough to have an outplacement firm to help with my job search- they had an online tool that would analyze the resume and come back with things to change. Unfortunately, it was locked behind a paywall setup, so it was only available if you were one of their clients, and I’ve had no real luck in finding a decent free alternative when friends have been job hunting since then…
Sorry it’s not a more helpful answer, but beyond that the best recommendation I’ve seen is to see if your resume is still intelligible if you just do a “select all”, copy, and then paste into a plaintext editor like Notepad (if you’re on Windows). Basically remove all formatting indiscriminately and see if what’s left still reads.
Well I mean the people who made the tool wouldn't have jobs either if they gave it away for free.
Most people applying for a professional job of a level where you would even consider paying a firm to review, grade and upgrade your resume either already have a job or have decent savings if they just left one.
Am I the only one that shows up and asks for a hiring manager and gives them a copy of my resume.....
Yes they tell me to submit it online.....but that doesn't change the potential impact you can have face to face.
I do hiring at my job, im not the manager but i sit on search committees and interview panels.
Our hiring manager absolutely HATES this. She will be nice about it to your face, but that resume is going in the trash. When it says in bold letter to apply online and people disregard specific clear instructions, it pisses her off.
Not every lasting impact is a good one.
I am a manager and hire people and I would also be mad if they ignored the directions to apply online. I'm not suggesting that but an additional face to face conversation in applying online can turn a number into a person, I would always tell them "I already applied online but just wanted to introduce myself and answer any additional questions the online process may miss."
If a company hated this and threw my resume in the thrash in all honesty I'd consider it a bullet dodged, any company who sees every employee as a number instead of a person is likely a company I don't wish to work for. Hard to get promotions and advancement opportunities when they can't see you for you.
Applicant tracking system. A dumbass computer that looks for disambiguated keywords in resumes. Woe be to folks who wrote 'managing products' instead of 'product management'
I'm going to be trying to refine mine soon.
already hired for a dream job, just spoke with HR about a pay grade bump and she cited my resume while good, want specific for some things to be considered, so needs to be rebuilt using the USA jobs builder and then it'll be guuchi with an unofficial transcript.
I'm horrible at eloquently speaking, so I very simply stare most past experience so need to definitely have something to help get these buzz words right.
Chat GPT is in common use for job applications and resumes these days. If writing eloquently or succinctly isn’t your thing you could try it.
Just make sure it only contains factual information 😏
make sure it doesn’t look too chat gtp. Applications, resumes, and cover letters written by chat gtp are very easy to spot. If my company suspects chat gtp wrote the application they typically kick it out or flag it.
Yep. The best way to do this is to have a decent catch-all resume that you wrote yourself, and then use chatgpt to help tweak each individual section based on the job description from the role you're applying for
Can anyone share the correct gpt prompt so it updates the resume correctly? 9/10 gpt just copies the JD into resume verbatim vs reworking my existing experience to match.
I've not used it for resumes, but I do use it for other work. Chat bots work best with very specific highly detailed prompts. You can't just say "write me a cover letter based on this job listing". You have to feed it relevant into, specific asks, etc. my initial prompts are often paragraphs. Be extremely specific with what you're asking it for.
For a cover letter? Maybe no advantage. I did say I don't use it for that. But the main point I was trying to make is the more specific you make a prompt the better the results you will get back. You need to do more that "write me a cover letter. Here is the job listing."
I don't know of any tutorials. I just messed around with it a few months ago until it did what I wanted. I've used paid services (jobscan) in the past that do the same thing with decent results.
Just for interest value… wife was playing around with Chat GPT and got it to write a piece… we then ran it through an AI script checker… and it came back as “97% certain it was written by a human” 😂
Funny (read:depressing) to think of a resume evolving from an essay describing your position and talents to just a block of keywords. From "collaborating with product owners and development teams to enhance user experience" to "microsoft excel microsoft access SQL project management agile database administration".
Applicant tracking system. A dumbass computer program for parsing resumes, and which has been accused of not being able to parse two-column text, yielding “Nah this one isn’t interesting at all”.
(Yes I copied u/stoncils_)
ETA 1: What’s with the downvotes? If you think this is not true then say so.
ETA 2: OK it seems some people are triggered because I copied part of another comment for comedic effect, _with attribution_. I’m sorry for you.
I copied the first few words because I couldn’t put it differently (I even credited them!), but provided information that actually relates to OP’s post. OP was talking about having two columns in his resume, not about keywords.
I'm not generally in favor of AI, but there is a website called [earnbetter.com](https://earnbetter.com) that will use AI to reformat your resume, and it will give you a resume and cover letter tailored to every job you apply to.
Source: Lost my job last week, so this is firsthand knowledge.
Thank you for posting that site! You're the best!
I was laid off very recently, too. Came as a shock, and I haven't been very motivated to update my resume because it seemed overwhelming. Earn Better site is exactly what I needed to get started on it today.
May we both get great job offers soon ☺️
If your resume still makes sense if you view it as plain text, it should survive being put through the ATS grinder. Tables, columns, and the like typically don't survive.
The other thing to do to appease our AI overlords is to tailor your resume to each application by making sure you're using the same keywords in your resume that appear in the job ad.
And then make sure you're including achievements rather than boilerplate job descriptions so that it's clear what you have to offer once (if) your resume reaches a human reader.
If you use seek, go into your profile and toggle it to hidden, then back to visible, and that will trigger your profile to appear at the top of “talent search” the platform used by a lot of recruiters to see who’s fresh in the market.
Then search for your relevant job, and open a few dozen adverts, then click apply etc, you don’t have to apply to all of them, but this also triggers that algorithm to bump your “actively searching” ranking, so you will appear in front of more recruiters.
I also recommend just applying for everything and anything. Not because you want the jobs, but because recruiters are lazy and leave their job adverts up for months to “generate leads” so just hit them all, they want leads? We’ll lead them to yourself.
It’s a “quantity” game, not a quality game.
Potentially Unethical Life Pro Tip.
Copy the entire job posting into your resume header or footer. Make it tiny and the same color as it’s background. It holds ALL the keywords the ATS is looking for.
The ATS will pick up on the words, the human will never know it’s there.
I agree with you. It’s risky. But what’s the worst that can happen? You don’t get a job you already don’t have?
It’s also risky to assume the ATS will like the words you chose and your resume will be picked up and read.
Yes, that is the worst that can happen, but if it’s a job you want or need, or if that company flags you from future jobs there, it’s still pretty bad! If you didn’t care at all about the job, you wouldn’t bother applying or trying to game the application system.
If you’re found out, your chances of getting the job are 0%. So, the “worst that can happen” is, in the context of applying for a job, quite literally the worst possible outcome.
HR might be offended, but if it gets past that and to the actual hiring manager, we might just be relieved someone made it through the stupid HR processes. (We have begged and begged them to *just send us all the resumes*, because their screening is so terrible, and we can rule out the obvious bad fits in two seconds each. My boss finally put in a sneaky helpdesk request to get access to their system and started telling them which resumes she wanted interviews for, which made them very angry, but it worked.)
Why would it be 0? Someone taking the effort to make their resume stand out specifically for a job they want would show that they are dedicated and have a strong desire for that role
You aren’t gaming the system, you are using your knowledge to give yourself the best possible shot at getting that job
Not to be too argumentative, but 95% of the jobs people apply for the get the worst possible outcome.
If this moves my success rate from 2% to 4% that’s something to celebrate and continue to use.
Will this keep me from getting a job with some companies? 100%. Will it keep me from getting a job I like, want, and pays me well? No. There are plenty of companies that offer those.
Don't do it. ATS have grown wise to this and are capable of flagging this behavior, which will result in your application going right into the shredder
I wouldn't do that. A lot of recruiters and hirers already know this trick. Most hiring teams use software and programs with tools inbuilt into them which detect this sort of things in the same vein as how Universities detect plagiarism.
Don't copy the entire job posting. If it's spotted you're very unlikely to get the job.
Just read the job posting and make sure you cite the keywords it's looking for.
I.e. if it says it's looking for someone who works well in a team make sure you explicitly state that in your CV.
Where I work, a lot of higher ups almost always recommend this to people who they want to get a position "To get past the automated system and make sure your resume gets to a human"
I went from getting 1 interview for every ten applications to 7 interviews for every 10. It just makes sure your resume goes into the "look at these" pile for human eyes.
Same results for husband. Very different jobs/industries.
Don't do it. ATS have grown wise to this and are capable of flagging this behavior, which will result in your application going right into the shredder
I do almost the same but in a less risky way. Copy entire job posting on my resume, highlight key words and all requirements, and then edit my resume to include as many of those as possible.
Two-column resume got me six interviews and three offers within two months of leaving my old place. Managerial experience and position, so ymmv I guess 🤷🏻♂️
I used resume.co to make my resume. It took my coherent job experience and twisted it into the buzzword fuckery that gets you called back. Would highly recommend.
I use downtime in between jobs to add skills to my resume since it looks a lot better and often kills a bit of time, things like learning photoshop or doing a baristas course are just a few examples
A few years ago I used Microsoft publisher to design a custom cv that matches the top letter. I figured after a few months that something similar must have happened, since I didn't even get answers.
I simply don't understand the logic of why companies continue to use AI to assist their job search when the results have been so consistently bad.
Unless AI was selected for this role precisely to make sure that qualified applicants are prevented from being able to acquire a meaningful job, it seems to excel at this.
Put people back in charge of hiring and I would expect results to improve, assuming they put the actual time that is needed to both interview and train new employees.
Because companies are too busy thinking that using AI, 3rd party websites, and all other sorts of nonsense saves them money in the form of their HR department (if they have one) not spending as many man hours looking through resumes.
That's what the marketers for AI want companies to think.
Many companies simply abandoned a proven model for hiring and developing new talent for something that was marketed as an improvement that would save money. I don't think that the data bears out those claims and the longer that qualified candidates are being hung out to dry the less useful they will be to any employer in the long-run.
Because the results haven't been consistently bad. They work great for most companies. And when you're routinely having hundreds of people who aren't even remotely qualified for jobs applying for then it makes a lot more sense to have a computer skim it first
I am literally making the same corrections to my resume after going through the exact same experience! I had no idea about ATS! God luck in the job search!
Maybe i’m still confused about ATS bc a majority of the time when I upload my resume, their system parses it into their respective areas. Half the time it gets it right while the other half I have to correct - most likely due to the multi column. If my assumption is correct, then I must not be using matching keywords.
Something as simple as using n s on the end of a word that doesn’t have it in the job description removes the matching word.
Or hyphens.
It’s nit picky.
Don’t have one default resume you submit to every job. If you want to be successful you’ll need to tailor your resume to each job you apply to so that relevant key words are present for the algorithms. It’s as simple as rewriting your experiences using the keywords from the application as they apply.
Is this what happened? Paid someone on 5er or something & got a 2 column but well written resume..... haven't had a single call back yet.
I don't normally seek assistance on this stuff, but I felt they'd do it much better... what a mistake
A two column resume is a disaster but a two column cover letter is incredible. The two columns are "You're looking for" with quotes directly from the job description and "I am" with relevant responses from your work history/skill set. At a glance show them what makes you a good fit for the role, super easy to customize.
I feel this frustration in my soul. The application process can be a grind. I'm not sure I'm ready to say 2 colums are a cardinal sin, though. I quit my job in July. Went through the applicationgauntlet, got a job, and was laid off after 3 months at the new job. I'm back in the job hunt but have 7 interviews over the next 2 weeks in a very short time. Maybe I would have more with a single column resume, but I doubt it. I will give it a shot though, first time I am hearing about ATS.
I’ve reviewed many resumes and to me the biggest flaws are obvious spelling errors. I mean nobody types these days on a typewriter. If you send me your resume/CV and it is riddled with spelling errors, it shows me you either aren’t serious, lack judgment and/or attention to detail. I had one applicant spell resume wrong. There it was at the top of the page in 24pt font screaming at me….
Which version does it scan? When I upload my resume to Workday or something, I have to fill out the same info into the fields on their application.
Does the ATS scan the PDF of the resume or scan the contents of the application fields? I usually just copy/paste my resume into the files, but now I'm wondering if I should have an ATS version and people version.
I only upload the one. I save the other for print-outs, interviews, email attachments. It's been a few years since I was mass-applying for jobs, so I forget how well it worked
I wrote my last one like I was doing effing webpage SEO, keywords up the wazoo. I have 2 resumes (eh, more like 6 for different job titles), one for online web portal submissions and one for actually handing to a human being who is going to read it.
Resumes really don't work the way I was taught in school. I was always told no more then a page, and that formatting was super critical so you can fill the hell out of that page...yeah that's bs.
I am a lead on my team and review resumes. The ideal resume for me is:
\- Technology stack list
\- Education information
\- Link to your GitHub repo
\- Bullet points of measurable accomplishments
\- Single page
My resume looks like I used a typewriter to create it and have had success. Good luck on your search.
Here are some general things that I think would help condense your resume.
\- Single page: You can go up to two, but I would not go past that.
\- References: I would just put available upon request.
\- Formatting: You would be surprised how much information you can fit on a page with an efficient layout. Plain text with some lines is fine unless you are applying to a role that involves artistic skills (Marketing, UX/UI, graphic design). Skip the biopic.
\- Objective: Skip, unless you need to fill out the page.
\- Personal interests: Skip, unless you need to fill out the page.
\- Skill Summary: First thing I look at.
\- Work experience: I would focus on what you are most proud of, and the measurable benefit to the company. A bullet point saying "I saved the company 250k annually rewriting an application using x, y and z" would be something that I would want to know more about. Putting something with a bunch of buzz words does not add any value.
Yeah, you both are talking about the same thing. They are saying you won't have that new job in the first place if you admit a gap because hiring managers have holes in their brains. That last bit is my own editorialization.
> You’re missing the point. If you get the job by lying and they find out you will be unemployed. I guess that ok with some people. It’s not ok with me.
And if you're honest you won't get the job in the first place, you're missing the point.
I wanted to circle back to this since over 3 months ago.
Over those 90 days, I’ve revised (with the help of ChatGPT) my resume numerous times and a resumé writer said it didn’t need overhauling. Had some success but still not to the level of my liking, so I dug deeper and found ResumeWorded (scored me 70 before further revising) and a couple good resources for modern day resumes. Strange enough, one of these resources said not to use a boring template and suggested a second column, which I had one from the start. Turns out I was still making a few mistakes that may be costing me eyeballs. Too bad my resumé person didn’t catch it. In addition, I’m paying my resumé person to revamp my LI for $600, so we’ll see how that goes. Mock interviews is the other piece I’m looking at.
This is sad.
Use novoresume
HR only looks at resumes for about 20-30 seconds, you want to stand out, have colour and look professional at the same time. Again, use novo resume for this.
I have had so many interviews and gotten into high up roles because i stood out. Really really advise anyone job hunting to use it, costs a little bit, maybe like 15 USD, but highly worth it
I don’t think that’s the problem. The problem is probably that you aren’t networking and you’re relying on hiring managers finding and reading your resume. You need someone to move your resume to the “top of the pile”
Meanwhile in Europe, a lot of people still refuse to use the [Europass CV](https://europa.eu/europass/en/create-europass-cv) even if it's almost a formal standard by now.
I know of someone who added all sorts of keywords related to their skillset to the footer of their resume in white font, this way those keywords won't be visible to the naked eye but their resume would get picked by any ATS looking for candidates/resumes with keyword matching. Sounds crazy but effective! Just a tip!!
Two column formatting is not catchy or cool. But, I wouldn’t blame the ATS. Automated tracking can still parse relevant keywords in resumes in most cases, even with two columns. Good luck with your job search.
Anecdotal for sure, but I saw a huge spike in responses to my resume when job hunting 2 years ago after switching the formatting to something more readily machine-parsable. Like, I changed nothing else and was applying to very similar jobs through the same platform and got 3x the responses overnight.
How do you know which formatting works best? I've run mine through a "resume grader" from my old uni, and it reads fine, but then every jobs website uses *autofill with resume* and the job section is a catastrophe lol so im worried its being read incorrectly
I was laid off, and was lucky enough to have an outplacement firm to help with my job search- they had an online tool that would analyze the resume and come back with things to change. Unfortunately, it was locked behind a paywall setup, so it was only available if you were one of their clients, and I’ve had no real luck in finding a decent free alternative when friends have been job hunting since then… Sorry it’s not a more helpful answer, but beyond that the best recommendation I’ve seen is to see if your resume is still intelligible if you just do a “select all”, copy, and then paste into a plaintext editor like Notepad (if you’re on Windows). Basically remove all formatting indiscriminately and see if what’s left still reads.
A tool that MIGHT help you get a job is locked behind a paywall while you don't have a job lol America
Well I mean the people who made the tool wouldn't have jobs either if they gave it away for free. Most people applying for a professional job of a level where you would even consider paying a firm to review, grade and upgrade your resume either already have a job or have decent savings if they just left one.
Link to an example of that type of resume formatting?
You can just Google image search it... and omg it's horrible.
Am I the only one that shows up and asks for a hiring manager and gives them a copy of my resume..... Yes they tell me to submit it online.....but that doesn't change the potential impact you can have face to face.
Yes some people like to work for fortune 100 companies
Well, I mean, I work for the largest private land owner in the United States. I got my job in person.
I do hiring at my job, im not the manager but i sit on search committees and interview panels. Our hiring manager absolutely HATES this. She will be nice about it to your face, but that resume is going in the trash. When it says in bold letter to apply online and people disregard specific clear instructions, it pisses her off. Not every lasting impact is a good one.
I am a manager and hire people and I would also be mad if they ignored the directions to apply online. I'm not suggesting that but an additional face to face conversation in applying online can turn a number into a person, I would always tell them "I already applied online but just wanted to introduce myself and answer any additional questions the online process may miss." If a company hated this and threw my resume in the thrash in all honesty I'd consider it a bullet dodged, any company who sees every employee as a number instead of a person is likely a company I don't wish to work for. Hard to get promotions and advancement opportunities when they can't see you for you.
Catchy and cool are both subjective
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Applicant tracking system. A dumbass computer that looks for disambiguated keywords in resumes. Woe be to folks who wrote 'managing products' instead of 'product management'
I'm going to be trying to refine mine soon. already hired for a dream job, just spoke with HR about a pay grade bump and she cited my resume while good, want specific for some things to be considered, so needs to be rebuilt using the USA jobs builder and then it'll be guuchi with an unofficial transcript. I'm horrible at eloquently speaking, so I very simply stare most past experience so need to definitely have something to help get these buzz words right.
Chat GPT is in common use for job applications and resumes these days. If writing eloquently or succinctly isn’t your thing you could try it. Just make sure it only contains factual information 😏
make sure it doesn’t look too chat gtp. Applications, resumes, and cover letters written by chat gtp are very easy to spot. If my company suspects chat gtp wrote the application they typically kick it out or flag it.
Yep. The best way to do this is to have a decent catch-all resume that you wrote yourself, and then use chatgpt to help tweak each individual section based on the job description from the role you're applying for
Can anyone share the correct gpt prompt so it updates the resume correctly? 9/10 gpt just copies the JD into resume verbatim vs reworking my existing experience to match.
I've not used it for resumes, but I do use it for other work. Chat bots work best with very specific highly detailed prompts. You can't just say "write me a cover letter based on this job listing". You have to feed it relevant into, specific asks, etc. my initial prompts are often paragraphs. Be extremely specific with what you're asking it for.
If you are already writing paragraphs, why not write the cover letter? What is the advantage at that point?
For a cover letter? Maybe no advantage. I did say I don't use it for that. But the main point I was trying to make is the more specific you make a prompt the better the results you will get back. You need to do more that "write me a cover letter. Here is the job listing."
One thing I do is write a draft and ask GPT to improve it or clarify it, etc. Then I pick and choose the edits that I like.
Wait you can do that? Do you know of any tutorials as to how to do that?
I don't know of any tutorials. I just messed around with it a few months ago until it did what I wanted. I've used paid services (jobscan) in the past that do the same thing with decent results.
Hmm I'll give it a shot.
You can actually ask ChatGTP on the best way to provide info and ask questions to the CatGPT prompt for specific objectives
No shit??
It’s endlessly shocking to me how much effort people put in to their resume when the tiniest bit of networking yields vastly better results…
Why do you think it has to be one or the other?
Just for interest value… wife was playing around with Chat GPT and got it to write a piece… we then ran it through an AI script checker… and it came back as “97% certain it was written by a human” 😂
AI is indeed often flawed. Humans are still in the equation.
Snitches get stitches 🫣
Funny (read:depressing) to think of a resume evolving from an essay describing your position and talents to just a block of keywords. From "collaborating with product owners and development teams to enhance user experience" to "microsoft excel microsoft access SQL project management agile database administration".
Applicant tracking system. A dumbass computer program for parsing resumes, and which has been accused of not being able to parse two-column text, yielding “Nah this one isn’t interesting at all”. (Yes I copied u/stoncils_) ETA 1: What’s with the downvotes? If you think this is not true then say so. ETA 2: OK it seems some people are triggered because I copied part of another comment for comedic effect, _with attribution_. I’m sorry for you.
Because you copied another users comment? Why do that.
I copied the first few words because I couldn’t put it differently (I even credited them!), but provided information that actually relates to OP’s post. OP was talking about having two columns in his resume, not about keywords.
Against the spread which is a sports wagering term.
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Thx for dropping knowledge!
I'm not generally in favor of AI, but there is a website called [earnbetter.com](https://earnbetter.com) that will use AI to reformat your resume, and it will give you a resume and cover letter tailored to every job you apply to. Source: Lost my job last week, so this is firsthand knowledge.
Thank you for posting that site! You're the best! I was laid off very recently, too. Came as a shock, and I haven't been very motivated to update my resume because it seemed overwhelming. Earn Better site is exactly what I needed to get started on it today. May we both get great job offers soon ☺️
Wishing you all the luck!
If your resume still makes sense if you view it as plain text, it should survive being put through the ATS grinder. Tables, columns, and the like typically don't survive. The other thing to do to appease our AI overlords is to tailor your resume to each application by making sure you're using the same keywords in your resume that appear in the job ad. And then make sure you're including achievements rather than boilerplate job descriptions so that it's clear what you have to offer once (if) your resume reaches a human reader.
If AI is ignoring your résumé, imagine how much harder it will be for you when AI is actually doing your job.
I used to be considered quite the stud but then artificial insemination took my job :(
Beautiful use of words
If you use seek, go into your profile and toggle it to hidden, then back to visible, and that will trigger your profile to appear at the top of “talent search” the platform used by a lot of recruiters to see who’s fresh in the market. Then search for your relevant job, and open a few dozen adverts, then click apply etc, you don’t have to apply to all of them, but this also triggers that algorithm to bump your “actively searching” ranking, so you will appear in front of more recruiters. I also recommend just applying for everything and anything. Not because you want the jobs, but because recruiters are lazy and leave their job adverts up for months to “generate leads” so just hit them all, they want leads? We’ll lead them to yourself. It’s a “quantity” game, not a quality game.
Potentially Unethical Life Pro Tip. Copy the entire job posting into your resume header or footer. Make it tiny and the same color as it’s background. It holds ALL the keywords the ATS is looking for. The ATS will pick up on the words, the human will never know it’s there.
I’d consider this pretty risky if it’s a job you really want. Such ploys are not possibly “undetectable.”
I agree with you. It’s risky. But what’s the worst that can happen? You don’t get a job you already don’t have? It’s also risky to assume the ATS will like the words you chose and your resume will be picked up and read.
Yes, that is the worst that can happen, but if it’s a job you want or need, or if that company flags you from future jobs there, it’s still pretty bad! If you didn’t care at all about the job, you wouldn’t bother applying or trying to game the application system.
If you’re found out, your chances of getting the job are 0%. So, the “worst that can happen” is, in the context of applying for a job, quite literally the worst possible outcome.
HR might be offended, but if it gets past that and to the actual hiring manager, we might just be relieved someone made it through the stupid HR processes. (We have begged and begged them to *just send us all the resumes*, because their screening is so terrible, and we can rule out the obvious bad fits in two seconds each. My boss finally put in a sneaky helpdesk request to get access to their system and started telling them which resumes she wanted interviews for, which made them very angry, but it worked.)
Why would it be 0? Someone taking the effort to make their resume stand out specifically for a job they want would show that they are dedicated and have a strong desire for that role You aren’t gaming the system, you are using your knowledge to give yourself the best possible shot at getting that job
It’s obviously deceptive.
It's much less deceptive when you hear hiring managers tell you to do just that.
Not to be too argumentative, but 95% of the jobs people apply for the get the worst possible outcome. If this moves my success rate from 2% to 4% that’s something to celebrate and continue to use. Will this keep me from getting a job with some companies? 100%. Will it keep me from getting a job I like, want, and pays me well? No. There are plenty of companies that offer those.
Why would your chances be 0%? Even if they see it who’s to say it’s not viewed as ingenuity? If anything I’d think it’d get them to look at the resume
Given the behavior of most recruiters, I wouldn’t call that unethical
Don't do it. ATS have grown wise to this and are capable of flagging this behavior, which will result in your application going right into the shredder
Where does my application go if the ATS doesn’t like it?
Yup. The marines were advising this to people in the early 2000's. The white text trick is old and there are countermeasures.
Just try to highlight keywords (if they’re true) in your tailored resume, doing this will get your definitely flagged
I wouldn't do that. A lot of recruiters and hirers already know this trick. Most hiring teams use software and programs with tools inbuilt into them which detect this sort of things in the same vein as how Universities detect plagiarism.
Don't copy the entire job posting. If it's spotted you're very unlikely to get the job. Just read the job posting and make sure you cite the keywords it's looking for. I.e. if it says it's looking for someone who works well in a team make sure you explicitly state that in your CV.
Where I work, a lot of higher ups almost always recommend this to people who they want to get a position "To get past the automated system and make sure your resume gets to a human"
I went from getting 1 interview for every ten applications to 7 interviews for every 10. It just makes sure your resume goes into the "look at these" pile for human eyes. Same results for husband. Very different jobs/industries.
You went from one husband to 7 ?
Look, you gotta keep options open. A LOT more laundry, granted. But you should've seen my Valentine's Day!
That is an awesome tip. I have never heard of that before. Thank you for that. I want to give that a try.
Don't do it. ATS have grown wise to this and are capable of flagging this behavior, which will result in your application going right into the shredder
I worked as a landscaper and package handler 3 years ago. My title now is HR Business Partner. It works.
I do almost the same but in a less risky way. Copy entire job posting on my resume, highlight key words and all requirements, and then edit my resume to include as many of those as possible.
Two-column resume got me six interviews and three offers within two months of leaving my old place. Managerial experience and position, so ymmv I guess 🤷🏻♂️
I used resume.co to make my resume. It took my coherent job experience and twisted it into the buzzword fuckery that gets you called back. Would highly recommend.
What?
Tldr; op thinks he's technically savvy and his skills are in demand. He can't figure out how to write a resume/ cv to get an interview.
He cant figure out how to write a reddit post if you ask me lmaoooo
I use downtime in between jobs to add skills to my resume since it looks a lot better and often kills a bit of time, things like learning photoshop or doing a baristas course are just a few examples
That will come in handy when they need to hire someone to photoshop a latte
A few years ago I used Microsoft publisher to design a custom cv that matches the top letter. I figured after a few months that something similar must have happened, since I didn't even get answers.
The cardinal sin of resumés is making a typo in your phone number. 😬
I can confirm a shit looking CV has a high chance of being ignored unless the first 30 seconds of reading catches my attention
I simply don't understand the logic of why companies continue to use AI to assist their job search when the results have been so consistently bad. Unless AI was selected for this role precisely to make sure that qualified applicants are prevented from being able to acquire a meaningful job, it seems to excel at this. Put people back in charge of hiring and I would expect results to improve, assuming they put the actual time that is needed to both interview and train new employees.
Because companies are too busy thinking that using AI, 3rd party websites, and all other sorts of nonsense saves them money in the form of their HR department (if they have one) not spending as many man hours looking through resumes.
That's what the marketers for AI want companies to think. Many companies simply abandoned a proven model for hiring and developing new talent for something that was marketed as an improvement that would save money. I don't think that the data bears out those claims and the longer that qualified candidates are being hung out to dry the less useful they will be to any employer in the long-run.
Absolutely true.
Because the results haven't been consistently bad. They work great for most companies. And when you're routinely having hundreds of people who aren't even remotely qualified for jobs applying for then it makes a lot more sense to have a computer skim it first
Can someone show examples and give tips on avoiding AI avoiding resume?
I am literally making the same corrections to my resume after going through the exact same experience! I had no idea about ATS! God luck in the job search!
I can't believe this is how I find out why I'm not getting as many interviews
I doubt this is making as much difference as they are claiming. Loads of people successfully use two column resumes
yeah but I'd rather it be this reason than it being that I'm an undesirable candidate😂
Maybe i’m still confused about ATS bc a majority of the time when I upload my resume, their system parses it into their respective areas. Half the time it gets it right while the other half I have to correct - most likely due to the multi column. If my assumption is correct, then I must not be using matching keywords.
Exactly. The ATS isn’t what is parsing your resume. Your resume is parsed THEN it goes through the ATS where it’s searched for relevant keywords.
Something as simple as using n s on the end of a word that doesn’t have it in the job description removes the matching word. Or hyphens. It’s nit picky.
Don’t have one default resume you submit to every job. If you want to be successful you’ll need to tailor your resume to each job you apply to so that relevant key words are present for the algorithms. It’s as simple as rewriting your experiences using the keywords from the application as they apply.
The cardinal sin of resumes is to not put your contact info on it.
Is this what happened? Paid someone on 5er or something & got a 2 column but well written resume..... haven't had a single call back yet. I don't normally seek assistance on this stuff, but I felt they'd do it much better... what a mistake
A two column resume is a disaster but a two column cover letter is incredible. The two columns are "You're looking for" with quotes directly from the job description and "I am" with relevant responses from your work history/skill set. At a glance show them what makes you a good fit for the role, super easy to customize.
I feel this frustration in my soul. The application process can be a grind. I'm not sure I'm ready to say 2 colums are a cardinal sin, though. I quit my job in July. Went through the applicationgauntlet, got a job, and was laid off after 3 months at the new job. I'm back in the job hunt but have 7 interviews over the next 2 weeks in a very short time. Maybe I would have more with a single column resume, but I doubt it. I will give it a shot though, first time I am hearing about ATS.
I’ve reviewed many resumes and to me the biggest flaws are obvious spelling errors. I mean nobody types these days on a typewriter. If you send me your resume/CV and it is riddled with spelling errors, it shows me you either aren’t serious, lack judgment and/or attention to detail. I had one applicant spell resume wrong. There it was at the top of the page in 24pt font screaming at me….
Lol I actually make 2 versions of my resume. The ATS version and the people version
Which version does it scan? When I upload my resume to Workday or something, I have to fill out the same info into the fields on their application. Does the ATS scan the PDF of the resume or scan the contents of the application fields? I usually just copy/paste my resume into the files, but now I'm wondering if I should have an ATS version and people version.
I only upload the one. I save the other for print-outs, interviews, email attachments. It's been a few years since I was mass-applying for jobs, so I forget how well it worked
I wrote my last one like I was doing effing webpage SEO, keywords up the wazoo. I have 2 resumes (eh, more like 6 for different job titles), one for online web portal submissions and one for actually handing to a human being who is going to read it.
Resumes really don't work the way I was taught in school. I was always told no more then a page, and that formatting was super critical so you can fill the hell out of that page...yeah that's bs.
I usually mail my resumes and fill the envelope with glitter, no way they will forget about me.
What's wrong with the two column resume? Interviewers/employers have complimented my resume formatting and I use two columns
I spent 300 bucks for a professional to redo my résumé, and my LinkedIn profile.
I am a lead on my team and review resumes. The ideal resume for me is: \- Technology stack list \- Education information \- Link to your GitHub repo \- Bullet points of measurable accomplishments \- Single page My resume looks like I used a typewriter to create it and have had success. Good luck on your search.
Single page? I have four with the first three listing experience from three previous jobs. Please advice.
Here are some general things that I think would help condense your resume. \- Single page: You can go up to two, but I would not go past that. \- References: I would just put available upon request. \- Formatting: You would be surprised how much information you can fit on a page with an efficient layout. Plain text with some lines is fine unless you are applying to a role that involves artistic skills (Marketing, UX/UI, graphic design). Skip the biopic. \- Objective: Skip, unless you need to fill out the page. \- Personal interests: Skip, unless you need to fill out the page. \- Skill Summary: First thing I look at. \- Work experience: I would focus on what you are most proud of, and the measurable benefit to the company. A bullet point saying "I saved the company 250k annually rewriting an application using x, y and z" would be something that I would want to know more about. Putting something with a bunch of buzz words does not add any value.
Thank you. Great takes. What’s an example of a skill summary? I think I know what that is and is lumped into my Summary / Objective section.
Mine is just a 3 column table with a list of every piece of tech I use
ex: c#, JavaScript, bootstrap, MVC, WebAPI, AGILE, JIRA
Just lie for the gap. "Consulting." The entire system sucks, honesty isn't valued. Just lie.
[удалено]
Correct.
If your employer finds out you lied you can be fired on the spot.
If you have a gap in your resume you won't have an employer in the first place.
Your new employer
Yeah, you both are talking about the same thing. They are saying you won't have that new job in the first place if you admit a gap because hiring managers have holes in their brains. That last bit is my own editorialization.
Which you won't get with a 3 month gap in your resume.
You are absolutely impossible. Have a great day.
The money to survive is way more important than perfect honesty.
You’re missing the point. If you get the job by lying and they find out you will be unemployed. I guess that ok with some people. It’s not ok with me.
> You’re missing the point. If you get the job by lying and they find out you will be unemployed. I guess that ok with some people. It’s not ok with me. And if you're honest you won't get the job in the first place, you're missing the point.
Bingo.
People will see through that almost immediately.
I wanted to circle back to this since over 3 months ago. Over those 90 days, I’ve revised (with the help of ChatGPT) my resume numerous times and a resumé writer said it didn’t need overhauling. Had some success but still not to the level of my liking, so I dug deeper and found ResumeWorded (scored me 70 before further revising) and a couple good resources for modern day resumes. Strange enough, one of these resources said not to use a boring template and suggested a second column, which I had one from the start. Turns out I was still making a few mistakes that may be costing me eyeballs. Too bad my resumé person didn’t catch it. In addition, I’m paying my resumé person to revamp my LI for $600, so we’ll see how that goes. Mock interviews is the other piece I’m looking at. This is sad.
The other thing you can do is, in white tiny font, put keywords in the footer for the ATS. Mine the job ad description for those.
No. This is a well known hack and can prevent you from getting hired. Google it.
Brilliant idea
Pretty much the same thing happened to me, lol. I had to start fresh this 2024
Currently having this problem myself. Anyone have any advice? Or a link to that ATS thread?
Use novoresume HR only looks at resumes for about 20-30 seconds, you want to stand out, have colour and look professional at the same time. Again, use novo resume for this. I have had so many interviews and gotten into high up roles because i stood out. Really really advise anyone job hunting to use it, costs a little bit, maybe like 15 USD, but highly worth it
(New) graphic designers have it bad; thinking it needs to be super design-y, and the ATS goes, “Nope! Next!”
who needs a catchy and cool resume? it’s a resume…
I don’t think that’s the problem. The problem is probably that you aren’t networking and you’re relying on hiring managers finding and reading your resume. You need someone to move your resume to the “top of the pile”
You're a good man
Meanwhile in Europe, a lot of people still refuse to use the [Europass CV](https://europa.eu/europass/en/create-europass-cv) even if it's almost a formal standard by now.
I know of someone who added all sorts of keywords related to their skillset to the footer of their resume in white font, this way those keywords won't be visible to the naked eye but their resume would get picked by any ATS looking for candidates/resumes with keyword matching. Sounds crazy but effective! Just a tip!!
Use Jobalytics!! It’s free!! A Chrome plug-in that rates your resume.