Did I Email My Resume To A Black Hole?

• Applicant Tracking Software - Almost all companies these days use an Applicant Tracking System that sorts all of the resumes they receive and rejects the majority. What the system does is scan the documents for specific keywords in order to filter out the results to just a small handful of well qualified applicants. Does it sometimes rule out people who are qualified? Absolutely. However, even if many well qualified applicants are ruled out, there is still a huge chance that somewhere in the short stack of resumes is a person who is a good fit for the job. This is why it's so important to tailor each copy of your resume for the job opening. Include the exact same keywords that the company uses in their job listing. This will raise your odds of having your resume viewed and not thrown away.

• Many jobs you see advertised don't actually exist - Often, companies advertise jobs that aren't actually open. At least, not yet. Sometimes they can be collecting resumes because they plan to hire in the near future and other times, they are just getting prepared in case they are given the authorization to start hiring. If the job opens up, they have a ready pool of applicants and if it doesn't, then they can keep the resumes on file for a later date. Another reason why the job might not exist is that some companies advertise job openings in order to make themselves look more successful to their competitors.

• Often companies collect resumes - In order to comply with Federal Law and be considered an Equal Opportunity Employer, companies have to actively seek out resumes from minorities like women, people with disabilities and the like. Even if they aren't currently hiring, they still have to be able to say that they are trying to encourage a more diverse workplace.

• Sometimes the job opening is already filled - Many times a job will be filled, but somewhere along the line, the listing was never deleted or closed out. This happens much more often than you'd think.

• They may already have a candidate in mind - Often, a hiring manger may already have a candidate that they want to hire in mind. It could be someone they want to promote or someone that one of their employees recommended. Still, they have to at least advertise the opening and interview several people, just to be fair. Even though they already are certain that they are going to hire a particular person.

Finding the right person for a job opening is a tough task. The people who work in Human Resources are constantly being bombarded with incoming resumes for job listing that need to be filled. With all of this, finding a great candidate is hard. That is why it is always better to find out about specific job openings from your network and ask for a recommendation. When an employee or a colleague recommends someone for the position, it's much more likely that their resume will actually be read, and if they are qualified, hiring them is easy and saves time. This is why networking is crucial in your job search. If you keep sending in resumes without hearing anything back, don't get discouraged. It isn't always because you aren't an attractive employee. Instead, spend your time networking and stay positive.