Guidebook

Section 10: Q&As for the Young Professional (YP) and the Coach
YP: Questions to Ask Your Coach

• Is it necessary to complete the entire online application if the information is in my resume?
• How important is spelling and grammar when submitting an application?
• Is there a way to follow-up after you submit an online application to know if they are interviewing or have filled the position?
• What should I put if the application asks for references? Should I tell the people that I put their name as a reference?
• How many applications should I submit at one time and how do I keep track of who I have applied to?
• How long should I wait to hear from a company before I apply to other companies or re-apply to that company?

Coach: Questions to Ask Your YP

• What are some things you believe you should do when you want to make a good first impression?
• Which of the articles in the Career Engagement Guide have you read about completing applications? What did you learn and what do you want to understand better?
• Do you have any gaps in employment or weaknesses such as poor grades or poor driving record that would make it less likely for you to be interviewed? Talk about how to address weaknesses.
• Have you looked at an application and do you feel you have all the information gathered so you can complete an application in a fairly short period of time?

View this site to learn more about creating impressive job applications.

The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is an electronic managing and screening software application used by many employers for their recruitment needs. An ATS may also help employers stay compliant with government hiring rules.

Employers use this application to automate and streamline the recruitment process by filtering through online resumes and applicant information based upon keywords and phrases associated with the job descriptions. These keywords may be skills, former employers, years of experience, schools attended or other criteria. Each keyword or phrase is assigned a scoring number and a resume must achieve a minimum total score in order to be reviewed by a human. Data can be collected from internal applications via the ATS or extracted from applicants on job and resume boards such as Monster.com, Hotjobs, CareerBuilder and Indeed.com. The use of Applicant Tracking Systems has caused many job applicants to adapt resume optimization techniques when creating and formatting their resume.

A problem common with Applicant Tracking Systems is that as many as 75% of qualified applicants are rejected by software application because the resume cannot be read properly. If a job seeker’s resume isn’t formatted the right way and doesn’t contain the right keywords and phrases, the applicant tracking system will misread it and rank it as a bad match with the job opening, regardless of the candidate’s qualifications. It is therefore critical that a job applicant understand how these systems work and how to optimize his or her resume with ATS screening programs in mind.

Tips on Navigating an ATS:

• Don’t send your resume as a PDF: Applicant Tracking Systems lack a standard way to structure PDF documents so they are easily misread. Instead use a .doc, docx, or .txt file type.
• Don’t use tables, graphics or templates: Applicant Tracking Systems have a hard time reading tables, graphics and templates and the information can be missed completely.
• Feel free to submit a longer resume: An Applicant Tracking System doesn’t care if your resume is two pages or four.  It is important for you to pack your resume with relevant experience, keywords and phrases that increase your chances of a higher total score.
• Integrate relevant keywords and phrases: Review the job posting in detail then incorporate keywords and phrases into your resume that are appropriate and accurate with our qualifications. It is important to incorporate the right keywords and phrases that are unique to the job description. Most job-seekers include the “obvious” keywords and phrases into their resumes but many applicant tracking systems assign a higher value to related keywords and phrases.  In order to find the right keywords or search terms that will be highly valued by the Applicant Tracking System:
  • Review job postings for the type of position you’re seeking.  Note specific keywords and phrases.
  • Analyze your current job descriptions to determine which keywords and phrases are applicable to your qualifications.
  • Review www.MyNextMove.org
  • Use Google’s Keyword tool to find keywords that make your resume more effective with Applicant Tracking Systems.
  • Review the Dictionary of Occupational Titles
  • Review the Occupational Outlook Handbook
• Label your work experience, “Work Experience”:  An Applicant Tracking System may completely skip over work experience because you labeled it “Professional Experience”, “Career Achievements”, or some other variation.
• Format your work experience correctly: An Applicant Tracking System may reject a resume because the information is in the wrong place. When listing your work experience, start with your employer’s name, followed by your title then the dates you held that title.

Upload your resume: An Applicant Tracking System may give priority to resumes that are uploaded versus those that are copied and pasted in.

View this site to learn more about writing a professional email.

View this site to learn more about how to have impressive written communication.

View this site to learn more about how to use LDSJobs.org

View this site to learn more about career steps for the returned missionary.