A Nigerian man submitted over 3,000 applications in 2023 and got no fewer than 2,000 rejections. He, however, does not agree that his abilities and experiences were the reasons for all the rejections because he received some of them seconds after he sent his applications. He is adamant that applicant tracking systems (ATS) were used to screen applications.
“I mean, I don”t think I have such a terrible profile to get that many rejections,” he scoffs.
The recruitment process has evolved over many decades. ATS — software that helps companies manage job applications — became popular in the late 1900s and has since, to varying degrees, handled recruiter and applicants functions that were previously carried out by people.
Recruiters often highlight the efficiency this system brought to the hiring process as it replaces the time-consuming traditional approach of sifting through piles of applications — resumes or cover letters — and, expectedly, recruiters highlight its efficiency. But for all the praise it gets, the system is not without its criticisms.
One of such criticisms, the efficiency paradox, is having the efficiency of handling a high volume of applications at the expense of a potential consequence of losing a highly qualified talent in the pool.
This technology denies applicants human judgment right from the start of the process, leading to recruiters missing subtle cues in the applications that could have increased an applicant’s chances.
Interestingly, applicants have learnt how to navigate this gatekeeping system.
A flaw in the ATS
A well-crafted resume highlights an applicant’s skills and experiences and is their way of making a good first impression.
However, with ATS in the mix, the best resumes might be useless because they never get seen by a human because the initial screening is often impersonal, focusing solely on keyword matching and predefined formatting.
Suck at managing people?
Stay ahead of the curve with expert takes on transforming company culture, mastering leadership challenges, and embracing HR strategies. The Mordern Workplace Newsletter keeps you informed and motivated with our bi-weekly updates.
A few weeks ago, Jerry Lee, COO of a recruitment consulting company, released a video detailing a social experiment he carried out to see if recruiters check resumes at all.
This was inspired by the cases he’d seen online with people boasting of a 90% call-back rate for interviews even though there were deliberate discrepancies in their resumes. This exposed a major flaw in some ATS.
He applied to 100 companies for the role of a programme manager. His well-written resume contained a fake name and experiences and showed educational and work affiliations with prestigious and popular establishments like Stanford, Google, and Instagram.
It also contained buzzwords and bullet points with silly statements such as “Launching new products while on LSD and shrooms” and included words like “Arson” and “Mia Khalifa” as skills.
Shockingly, this resume got him 29 interview invites from several companies, including Descript, Reddit, Cloudflare, and Webstacks.
This highlights the over-reliance on keyword matching without proper context or evaluation of applicants’ overall qualifications and experience. So, how does ATS work?
Here’s a simple ATS process
What goes on at the backend of an ATS is quite simple.
Defining the ideal candidate
When the ATS is fed with a job description for a role, it extracts keywords and phrases from it that will become the criteria for filtering resumes. It is on the recruiters to properly define the qualifications, skills, and experience needed for the role.
Parsing
After applications are received electronically into the ATS, the program scans resumes for keywords and phrases that match the job description, while also following predefined formats.
Scoring and shortlisting
After going through this filtering process, the ATS scores or ranks the resumes based on how well they match. At this point, the program can be set to automatically send rejection emails to applicants or redirect the application into a pool of those that would be ghosted.
Up to this point, there’s no human input whatsoever.
Depending on the program’s versatility, it can also shortlist candidates for interviews. This means it can send automated assessments or interview questions to further narrow down the applicant pool.
Human review
Here’s where recruiters give a deeper review of the applications and decide whether to proceed.
Now, considering the limitations of this process, the likelihood of losing a quality talent is very high.
This means resumes containing the qualifications and skills the ATS is programmed to look out for will most likely make it through the first parsing, even if they are false experiences.
Are companies concerned about this flaw?
With efficiency as ATS’ selling point, it is impossible not to question if companies are not prioritising it over finding the best talent.
Probably not. A recruiter will most likely bypass ATS altogether for hires the company believe are quality talent.
“There are different ways recruiters look out for their talents, depending on the role. For strategic roles, they would rather poach or leverage on referral,” says Peace Ndudim, an experienced HR Generalist.
By implication, companies are possibly not subjecting important roles to the workings of an ATS.
Mayowa Owoniyi, a recruitment and ATS optimisation expert, agrees with this.
“Many organisations advertise their vacant positions primarily for the sake of appearing proactive and engaged in the recruitment process. Essentially, they want to create the impression that they are actively seeking new talent.”
This explains why applicants will keep seeing open roles on job boards and also why companies may not necessarily have high expectations for the outcomes of a mass hiring cycle that’ll involve ATS.
“Recruiters are compelled to explore alternative methods, such as poaching candidates from other companies or relying on referrals. For instance, when it comes to hiring for a graduate trainee role, the process tends to be more straightforward compared to filling higher-level positions like that of a Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer,” Owoniyi adds.
Still, the HR expert expects companies to find a way to ensure they are getting the right talent from the pool even if it’s not for what they consider critical roles.
Strategies for a more balanced approach
Ndudim explains how companies can complement the inadequacies of the ATS, which involves making the best use of human instinct where it is needed through multi-stage interviews.
“One thing that could be very helpful is to have different stages of interviews, including a one-on-one conversation with applicants. This would give it a human touch. You want to humanise the process by asking case study questions, giving them live scenarios and then see how they respond to it with live examples or with things that they would have done if they were in that situation.”
She suggests that recruiters should also pay attention to consistency in the applicants’ experiences. Recruiters could also question gaps between jobs while also looking at achievements on the roles.
She adds that a reference check is another way to create a similitude of balance in the recruitment process.
On the other hand, Owoniyi proposes that companies dedicate ample time to the hiring cycle, such that recruiters will have sufficient time to thoroughly review many of the applications received. One possible solution to provide such an opportunity is by implementing a set timeline for the recruitment process, including specific opening and closing dates.
ATS has come to stay, especially with the unchecked use of artificial intelligence. Employers are, however, encouraged to go for more refined ATS programming. This will largely help mitigate bias by ensuring that the technology considers a wider range of relevant skills and experiences beyond just keywords. It might involve including skills assessments or allowing for more open-ended responses in the application process.
