ON THE JOB HUNT: Electronic Resumes Tossed « Liveshots

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ON THE JOB HUNT: Electronic Resumes Tossed

November 20, 2009 - 1:45 PM | by: Alicia Acuna

The combination of the unemployment rate and the Internet is making work ever more hectic for those on the hiring end. Human resource workers say they are inundated with electronic resumes -- and say it's impossible to give every application a long look, and some resumés get only a 10 to 20 second glance before being tossed into the electronic graveyard.

According to the human resources director at Denver Health hospital, they may get 6,700 applications in a month. Mark Gengkinger says, "it's very exhausting. it's like an endless pile that never ends." A generic curriculum vitae doesn't cut it. Gengkinger tells Fox, the key to standing out is a very targeted resumé. It's also about networking: who you know can get you over the first hurdle.

Whole Foods Market takes pride in its lengthy, selective hiring process. The Fortune 500 business employs 51,100 team members worldwide, the bulk of them, 87% are full time. Just the initial online job application can take 30 or more minutes and includes screen after screen of questions delving into personality.

The idea is to see if someone is a good fit for the job and company culture. If you make the first cut, you may be interviewed by a team or panel.

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85 Comments

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TzJobWarrior

Military Veterans try: www.tzjobwarrior.com focused on linking Veterans to Employers and visa versa TzJobWarrior

November 23, 2009 at 3:32 PM

Chris

Not sure I agree with employers on how they go about searching resumes received on-line. On the other hand do you want to work for an employer that shallow?

November 23, 2009 at 10:42 AM

On the Brink

I have been looking for over 2 years but in the meantime have been fairly successful with my own freelance business until the end of last year. My income has dropped by more than 1/2. I've tried Starbucks, Walgreens, a local bakery, jobs outside my field and NOTHING! Now my husband just lost his job. 10.2% unemployment rate my *ss...it's probably more around 20%. I've just about given up. I've even been denied a position because "I'm too good at what I do." At another job interview the owner even had the balls to ask me if I had children (a single mom) and how I plan on getting to work on time with kids. This financial meltdown is all a fabricated crisis by George Soros and executed by their front runner BO.

November 22, 2009 at 4:18 PM

Cybermom

For recent grads -- if you cannot find a paid job in your field due to lack of experience, you may need to temporarily take a volunteer position as close to your desired career as possible to boost your resume and confidence. It will get you up and dressed professionally each day to start to get you into the work mindset. You will be less depressed and hopeless by feeling productive and useful. You could make contacts and network into a paid position. When you are ready to interview for a paid position you will now have practical recent experience, skills and knowledge to talk about. Continue to search web sites like indeed.com for available openings as well as directly on company, government and not-for-profit business web sites. Submit your resume with a targeted cover letter as directed but also try to politely contact directly the hiring manager or someone in the department by doing a little research so you stand out from the crowd. If you do get called for an interview, rehearse positive answers and examples so you will feel prepared and less nervous. I know you are competing with often highly qualified candidates with a lot of experience but sometimes employers will choose a clean-cut, less experienced candidate with a positive attitude so they can train you to do things their way. Don't forget to follow up the interview with an appreciative thank you note and offer to provide additional information. If they do ask an additional question, follow-up quickly with an impressive response. Brush up on any technical skills in case you need to pass a skills exam. Good Luck!

November 21, 2009 at 6:34 AM

Paul

Hi baby-something to look at...whole foods?

November 21, 2009 at 6:02 AM

More Friends Than You

In this day and age with the sheer amount of competition in the job market (6 job seekers for every job up 3X what it was 3 years ago) if you haven't been networking you aren't going to get a decent job. The fact that the majority of people on here haven't figured that out yet and still wonder why no one is calling them back is exactly why they aren't getting called back. I only hire via personal reference from other company personnel and my own personal contacts. I get roughly 30 email resumes a day and I just delete them. You want advise? Stop your anonymous internet bitching and start going out to meet real people in the field you are interested in. Life's a competition, not a socialist utopia like your socialist "couldn't do it so he took up teaching it instead" college professors taught you. Lastly, for those of you who think the employers should be regulated so their hiring process would be tailored to your inabilities, I can't imagine the world of entitlement you must live in. Sink or swim folks, get used to it.

November 21, 2009 at 4:46 AM

MissD

Right on Troy! One thing that drove us crazy when my husband was looking to change jobs were those "personality profile questionnaires" listed above. What a bunch of crapp. Spend 45 minutes to an hour going through all this psycho bull and never hear from them anyway. On-line applications have made it far too easy for the employer to skip the face-to-face challenge of saying they don't want you. Since it's anonymous, they just dump your application and leave you to wonder.

November 21, 2009 at 4:01 AM

Mom

Nicole, I think I might know why you're having trouble. When you write a sentence like, "I should not have even went to college," you do not inspire much interest. Sheesh. What do they teach these days?

November 21, 2009 at 3:33 AM

DJ

I haven't heard from my recruiter in 6 months.

November 21, 2009 at 2:43 AM

Nicole

I am frustrated looking for a job. I am 26, I graduated last December and still can not find a job. I would like a job in Internet Marketing, yet I only have my BS and no experience and can not find anything entry level. I have sent about 75 resumes a day (literally) since before I graduated and simply can not get anyone to hire me. I have tried getting creative and also have tried sending something simple, nothing is working. I have student loan payments and I am running out of money. All I want to do is work. YES thats right, I WANT TO WORK!! I am even applying for other jobs now at the mall and just can't get a thing. I am nice, friendly, smart, and learn quickly; I am not asking to be paid a professional salary, I just need work. I am getting depressed about the situation. I regret quitting my job for my last semester of college for my capstone and at this point feel that I should not have even went to college, since I had a better job when I was in college and can not find a thing now. I also would not be $125,000 in debt from college!

November 21, 2009 at 2:24 AM

laner95

Dear Strip Search: Since they strip searched you before they gave you the job, I'm afraid to ask what it will take to get that raise! -- Good luck with that!

November 21, 2009 at 1:37 AM

Joseph

I am an HR Manager for a large, multi location manufacturing company. I receive thousands of resumes every month and have a limited amount of time to read through each one to determine if they meet the basic qualifications for my open positions. I have to do that along with the rest of my job duties as well as managing my department. Things have gotten so bad lately that my teenager now reads the resumes first looking for key words because I just don't have the time to read all of them.

November 21, 2009 at 12:52 AM

Centrist

In many of the midwestern states such as Michigan and Ohio its all about being in a union in order to get a chance at a job. Witness the billions of dollars that were given to these states to save or create jobs. Furthermore, these states were recently given 4m of taxpayer monies in order to do a study on how to transition autoworkers to green jobs. So getting a job these days is all political.

November 21, 2009 at 12:35 AM

Career Avenues by Judy

Standing out from the crowd is definitely the path to success. I wish I could tell you what they are here, but if I did then everyone would do them.

November 20, 2009 at 11:23 PM

CJK

Excellent point. There is a HUGE number of employers that will only accept resumes in electronic format, will specifically state in the job ad to please NOT telephone, and they would also prefer you NOT show up in person unless invited. I've also seen more and more that ask you to not send a cover letter because they are discarded without being read. It's how HR departments save money. Electronic resumes are automatically parsed for keywords by software and sorted accordingly. What's the quickest way to get your resume into a trashcan? Print it out and mail it in or hand deliver it.

November 20, 2009 at 10:43 PM

Chad

If a company is big enough that HR is its own department, then that's probably not the company I want to work for. If a company is laying people off and trimming the fat but is still forking out money for the ridiculous placement fees that recruiters and headhunters charge rather than hiring directly, then that's probably not the company I want to work for. If the only questions they want to ask at an initial interview sound like canned questions out of some "Job Interviews for Dummies" book, then that's probably not the company I want to work for. I LOVE working for Small Business. And by Small Business I mean employers with less than 100 employees. I love the culture those companies have, I love the lack of bureaucracy, and to top it all off I can usually park within 50ft of the front door.

November 20, 2009 at 10:35 PM

curt

Years ago I finished one school, and applied at another to advance my training. The interviewer looked at me,and then over at a pile of resumes, then proceeded to pitch them into the round file. He said to me," you are here, and those were all from out of state, and I won't even consider them." I'm sure there were a lot of people more gualified than myself, but I bugged the guy every week until I got accepted.

November 20, 2009 at 8:43 PM

Deb Jones

Corporate recruiters, all too often, are forced to sacrifice recruitment time for administration of the hiring process, due to HR and regulatory concerns. Recruiters who "recruit" rather than simply "hire" know how to solicit and screen without the need to view hundreds of resumes. If you want to get noticed, you must not only utilize the online portals, but also seek out the real hiring authority for the position you want and make sure they know who you are.

November 20, 2009 at 7:58 PM

Paula H

A job search has been taken from the appropriate arena and thrown into the electronic age. The want ads in the newspaper worked just fine. I have my resume posted on certain company websites, as well as, the major slosh-buckets, i.e., Monster, Careerbuilder. My resume was professionally written - I'm highly qualified in my field with exceptional recommendations. In seven months I've had two face-to-face interviews and three phone screens. Let's go back to the newspaper and require mailed in resumes. If you want the job you'll put in the effort one for mailing instead of pushing a button to apply. Or go a step further- as an this employer - FED EX put the job needs in the paper and required those interested to come at 3:00 am for an interview with Resumes in hand.

November 20, 2009 at 7:27 PM

Barry M. Gold

Over 40 years, a successful headhunter - retained and contingent. Can count on one hand the number of placements out of the thousands I have made, were through HR! Any company that relies on them for talent acquisition is a company that is easy to recruit from. Putting the resume on-line, in any form or fashion, is just a waste of time for the vast majority. So, how do you get a JOB? Through a headhunter who specializes in your niche or by IN PERSON (not on-line) networking with those who work in your niche. Could write a book but just wanted to bottom line it. Good luck.

November 20, 2009 at 7:02 PM

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