Getting immediately rejected from jobs despite internal referrals.

32 Comments

1. Kate WadeAugust 31,2023 at 3:12PM UTC

   This can be disheartening, but keep doing the work. I know this may not be what you want to hear, but, please believe that those ghostings and rejections have nothing to do with you as a person - or with your resume. It's likely something within the company that is coming in the way. For example - they may want to promote, they may have changed their strategy etc. What you can do: keep reaching out to people you know. Keep applying. A LinkedIn study done about a year ago noted that it is our SECOND degree connections that get us new jobs, not our first degree connections. So - ask for introductions to people at companies you want to work at. Have some informational interviews and ask for their advice. Do that before you ask them to share your resume for a job. Keep it relational, not transactional. Keep going, girl!

2. AnonymousAugust 31,2023 at 4:47PM UTC

   Power words for application tracking systems but also be able to support them as I'm sure you are.
   Unfortunately, a computer reads the resume before a human.

   Interviews, resumes, applications are a sick competition and unfortunately you don't know your competition.

   For each opportunity lost, there's one fewer person out there for the next.

   Hang in there!!!

3. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistAugust 31,2023 at 10:02PM UTC

   That is not how it works.

   I have experience with 7 or 8 different ATS and with different configurations of those systems.

   I and every recruiter I know and network with look at every resume that applies to our open requisitions. It's literally our job.

   Here's what happens (on all the systems I've ever used) when a candidate applies to one of my open requisitions: I click on their name in the list of new applicants for that requisition. Their resume has not been ranked. It has not been sorted for keywords. It has not been "scored". It has not been filtered.

   I click "download resume". It downloads in whatever format - Word doc or PDF - the candidate uploaded it. I look at their resume. With my eyeballs. Every single resume.

4. AnonymousAugust 31,2023 at 10:29PM UTC

   I'm glad you review them. I have met many recruiters that admitted they won't if they aren't "statistically qualified"

5. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistSeptember 1,2023 at 2:07AM UTC

   What is "statistically qualified" supposed to mean?

6. Sarah RSeptember 1,2023 at 12:34PM UTC

   Is this within tech?

7. Sarah RSeptember 1,2023 at 12:34PM UTC

   Agreed. I'm also a recruiter. I have worked in financial services, manufacturing, and healthcare. None of the ATS systems I have worked with do this.

8. AnonymousSeptember 1,2023 at 1:16PM UTC

   Yes, that’s been my experience in recruiting too. I can say that one of the companies I worked for required a master’s degree and licensure for the position so they had rule out questions on the applications that if you said no you did not have a master’s degree in that field or a license, you were passed on, but still that pass came from a human who looked at the questions.

9. Sarah BordersSeptember 1,2023 at 2:39PM UTC

   I’ll admit to applying to one or two jobs where I’ve answered at least one yes/no qualifying question with a “no”, and it’s an “automatic” rejection.

   By that, I mean, in about one business day, I’m notified that my application has been rejected. If the ATS were doing the rejecting, it would be instantaneous OR it wouldn’t even let me submit my application in the first place. It’s 2023; if an ATS were going to be programmed for automatic rejection, it would be instantaneous.

10. AnonymousSeptember 1,2023 at 3:28PM UTC

    Having worked on an ATS as a product manager, I can tell you at least in my system how screening worked. All resumes are collected and screened. The recruiter has the option to see all of them. If they have "knock out" questions or criteria that's defined in the system, the resume shows "Knock Out" status. When a recruiter goes in to review resumes, they have the option to send rejections to all candidates in various states, including Knock Out. That's why you don't get a rejection within minutes of your application most of the time (though it's a configurable setting to auto-reject, so it's possible). But just because you got a rejection hours later or the next day doesn't mean someone looked at your resume - they may have just 'batch processed' their Knock Outs.

11. AnonymousSeptember 1,2023 at 3:17PM UTC

    Not in recruiting, but I was a product manager for an ATS. All ATS's have the ability to automatically screen candidates via resume parsing for keywords. Any questions asked specifically during the application like degrees, relocation, availability can absolutely be configured to "knock out" candidates. You can also set a percentage of criteria that a resume has to match. Most systems also provide the ability to flag rather than straight knock out.

    Whether a recruiter uses these features or not is personal preference, but I can tell you from talking to my customers that many do use them. (I actually appreciate your method so much more and think it's the right way to go, but wanted to make sure folks know that this is absolutely a possibility depending on how someone uses their software.)

12. AnonymousAugust 31,2023 at 4:53PM UTC

    I am in the same boat feel really rejected now I did everything by the book even took extra courses still nothing.

13. AnonymousAugust 31,2023 at 11:40PM UTC

    I posted about 100 applications in a month, recently I was told the magic number is at least 400 connections, applications a month... So, yes, it's a tough world out there. Lots of networking, cold calling, applying, etc.

14. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistSeptember 1,2023 at 2:22AM UTC

    I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've had this conversation:

    ME: I really like your background/experience but we have to fix this resume.

    CANDIDATE: But I just paid to have it professionally redone.

    If you're not getting interviews, it's typically either your resume or the positions you're applying for or both.

    Not all positions have a sea of applicants. You don't say what you do.

15. AnonymousSeptember 3,2023 at 5:02AM UTC

    an

16. Kimberly HSeptember 3,2023 at 5:03AM UTC

    You always have the best advice and insight! What do you think about the “Freshworks” screening software anonymous mentioned above? Keywords and 95% matching? Yikes!

17. AnonymousSeptember 1,2023 at 3:53PM UTC

    Don't just apply, be vocal about your experience in forums and use that expertise to help others too. The market is very tough even for referrals these days that golden referral means almost nothing because the market is flooded.

    I know this might not be what you want to hear but it may take 9 months these days to find something new. Fill your time with other things like learning new skills during the down time, apply for things above and below your last role level. See how far you can make it in those situations and in some fields you might have to settle there until things get better. Good luck.

18. AnonymousSeptember 1,2023 at 8:44PM UTC

    Unfortunately, I've noticed that unless they're desperate and giving bonuses to employees who recommend someone, the HR department is not going to care what Fred from IT has to say about you. They are going to go for the person their computer says is the best match. Which is terrible, but that seems to be the norm these days.

    All you can do is keep throwing out resumes in the hopes that someone will take a second to actually look at it.

19. AnonymousSeptember 2,2023 at 12:28PM UTC

    What computer is saying a candidate is the best match? I've been a recruiter for 20 years and this doesn't exist and isn't a thing. Also, the majority of companies will look at referrals. Networking and building relationships work better than anything and "keep throwing out resumes and see what happens" is terrible advice. You often have to play the long game with networking, because many people are networking in this climate, but that is 100% the best way to get your foot in the door.

20. AnonymousSeptember 2,2023 at 6:53PM UTC

    I’m not a recruiter, but I work with closely with HR. This is not true at my current workplace, nor at any other place I’ve worked in my nearly 20 year career. A personal recommendation or referral is almost always more likely to get seen, at minimum, than resumes submitted externally.

21. AnonymousSeptember 2,2023 at 12:32PM UTC

    I’ve been job hunting since December of last year, and I’ve had little to no success too. There’s been an increase of “ghost postings” on Indeed and other job boards. Ghost posting is when big companies put up feelers onto sites like Indeed for jobs that aren’t available. Too many companies aren’t interested in hiring new talent due to the current economic crisis. I’m hoping this will change since we’re in September, and September has historically always been a good month for job seekers.

22. AnonymousSeptember 2,2023 at 1:48PM UTC

    The company I work for uses "Freshworks" candidate screening software. It has the ability to hunt through resumes looking for a candidate with a 95% similarity to the keywords/key phrases used in the company's job description. Your best strategy is look at the keywords/key phrases used in the job posting you're applying to and make sure those words show up in your resume. An additional step is to do your own search for a keywords list for your specific job title and try your best to include some of those.

    Let's say you a looking for a job as a dental hygienist. The keywords would be Compliance, Documentation, Insurance, Customer Service, CPR, Clinic, Anesthesia, Dentrix Software, Scheduling, Radiographer, X-ray, Proficient in a Second Language. Out of these 13 keywords, at a 95% match, you would need 12 of these words to be moved into the group of resumes that an actual person will review.

    I hope this is helpful.

23. AnonymousSeptember 2,2023 at 2:30PM UTC

    As a corporate recruiter with more than 20 years of experience I can tell you that we are expected to review employee referrals first which may be resulting in your rather quick rejections. While I believe in at least doing a courtesy interview for referrals (unless woefully unqualified) not all recruiters have that luxury if the position has hundreds of applicants. Remember it takes very little effort to apply for a job these days so many, many applicants do so without considering what the minimum requirements are.

    I would suggest asking your friends referring you to submit your resume directly to the hiring manager when possible. You should provide a short statement to your referring friend on why you think you are a good fit that he/she can submit with your resume. The hiring manager will either call directly or send to recruiting who they will ask to follow up. Most recruiters will follow up with a candidate when a hiring manager requests it.

    I would also make sure that your resume is being reviewed by people in your field vs resume professionals. I've seen some "professionally" done resumes that are downright awful and not reflective of the candidate.

    Finally, make sure you are highlighting your verifiable accomplishments vs. writing that you are "driven professional team player who excels in whatever skill" Show some numbers. Highlight what differentiates you.

24. Lisa MarieSeptember 2,2023 at 3:20PM UTC

    Strategies this, and strategies that... are all neither here nor there. If the job is not not for you, nothing you do will make it yours.

    Some companies already have identified who they want to fill roles internally, but have to post jobs publicly as part of the "transparency process" and no amounts of referrals or strategies will deviate from their intention of who to give the jobs.

    Also, not all "recruiters" and "hiring managers" are truly skilled at being recruiters or hiring managers. Comapnies are hiring people who have no experience in recruiting and placing them in a "recruiter" role, so one needs to regard contacts from a recruiter with a tablespoon of salt (I know, that is way more tyan a grain).

    You just need to be consistent, ensuring you keep putting in the work to find and secure your next best opportunity. You will eventually get interviews, and when you do, do your very best to communicate how you will add positively, or influence the company's success.

    Good luck in getting employed soon. I know it can't be easy getting by on UI or savings.

25. AnonymousSeptember 2,2023 at 4:16PM UTC

    Don't look for jobs on LinkedIn.. don't relie solely on what others are doing for you make sure you are also putting the work of applying directly .. I was getting 4 interviews a week and that's because my cv spoke a ton of volume it was certainly standing different from the rest your cv is your most valuable asset at this point in time never settle and think that your first draft is your last trust me is your first of many .. keep redrafting make it sound better and make sure that just because they laid you off doesn't mean it was for the worse .. did you know that the best employees are often quite expensive to maintain .. think it this way so that when it comes to explain your bit as to why they let you go is because you're damn good and you couldn't accept any less..

26. Rebecca RuettigerSeptember 2,2023 at 4:52PM UTC

    It is your résumé you’re not getting past the ATS. I’m having the same problem.

27. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistSeptember 3,2023 at 10:51AM UTC

    There is no "getting past the ATS".

    I have experience with 7 or 8 different ATS.

    Here's what happens (on all the systems I've ever used) when a candidate applies to one of my open requisitions: I click on their name in the list of new applicants for that requisition. Their resume has not been ranked. It has not been sorted for keywords. It has not been "scored". It has not been filtered.

    I click "download resume". It downloads in whatever form - Word doc or PDF - the candidate uploaded it. I look at their resume. With my eyeballs. Every single resume.

28. Heather L Mattisson, PMPSeptember 2,2023 at 10:58PM UTC

    There is a ton of good advice on this forum: continue seeking internal referrals and applying to jobs cold. Try to apply for jobs in the first week the job description is released. One bit of advice I vigorously disagree with. Some people are saying that you're doing something wrong or there's something wrong with your resume if people aren't reaching out to you. I have not found that to be true. The fact is, some jobs are in higher demand than others. If you're looking for a job in diversity and inclusion, well there are about one of those for every 50 project manager roles, for example. Depending on your job title, you simply might have to wait, and there's an excellent chance you have done everything well and you have a beautiful resume.

29. AnonymousSeptember 3,2023 at 12:23PM UTC

    Often see internal referrals that aren't attached to the department in any fashion and there's a disconnect with whether their feedback is viable as they will only be able to speak on your character and prior jobs without bias, but not on your performance. If the referral doesn't understand the posting and what it really takes it's hard to use their referral feedback sometimes, IMO.

30. Orion BrownSeptember 3,2023 at 6:09PM UTC

    I’m having the exact same issue. It’s been 10 months of job searching, at least 5-7 internal referrals. So far only one referral resulted in an interview and I’ve had a total of four company’s interview me out of hundreds of applications. I did the resume reviews and even have a friend in HR advising me on postings but still nothing. It’s incredibly disheartening when people say it’s been slow the last couple months but will pick up for year end when I was looking year end last year as well. Ugh, sorry to vent. But it’s nice to hear I’m not the only one experiencing this.

31. Ana CrespoSeptember 4,2023 at 2:21PM UTC

    This thread is comforting, tough crowd jobs-wise at the moment, goodness knows! My strategy has been to only apply to things that my resume and experience can stand behind and network into the connections at companies I'd love to work and be at. In the meantime, what about Cover Letters? I've wondered about their role in the equation... are they actually read? Does the hiring manager/recruiter read them? What about if it happens to be an ATS system for some reason, do keywords matter in there? That often takes me the longest! Thanks for this community, onwards and upwards!!!

32. Aleah B.September 4,2023 at 8:56PM UTC

    I have sent out 300+ applications and would only get a few rejection emails and ghosted by the rest. I have written cover letters when I can and revised my resume multiple times. So I don't know what else to do.