At last months RecFest event in Nashville I attended a session with 3 job seekers (Kelsey, Maya, Lisa) who talked openly and honestly about what they hate about the job search process. Shoutout to Danelle DiLibero who moderated the discussion.

We transcribed the conversation and broke it down the key questions and answers for you.

Where Do You Look for Jobs?

So I've been in tech for about 15 years, and so for me, Built In is a big resource that I've used. I've also used LinkedIn.
I've tried LinkedIn. Kind of hit or miss, not my favorite. Indeed has lately been my go-to. I've gotten the most feedback and the most responses through Indeed. Also, I'm a very bold person, so if there's a company I want to work for, I'll go to their website and go on their career page and directly do that. I don't know if that's normal, but I do it.

Do High Applicant Numbers on Job Postings Discourage You From Applying?

Hard Yes! They all agreed.

What do you like, or more importantly, dislike about applying online?

I'm just going to go out there. I Hate Workday. Having to create a login password, fill in the information that I just provided in my resume every single time I'm applying for a job. Anytime I go and basically see, hey, this company that I'm applying for, this goal that I'm applying for uses Workday, I pass. I don't apply for Workday jobs.
I just want to be able to submit an application and it just goes. We're just having to retype everything. Because that just takes a lot of time on my end where I could be applying for other jobs, but here I am typing in my name three, four times just to get an automated projection.
So I actually like applying online. Digital world for me, I'm much more comfortable in. And also, I do have two small ones, so I can do it at home, I can do it whenever I need to. I can help them with something, put them to bed and then sit on the couch and do what I need to do. So for me, it works out better.

Do those EEO Questions Turn You Off?

For me as a black woman, obviously historically there have been times people just don't hire people because of their race. And so for me, whenever I find a job that I like, I go into this place and I'm like, "I think I'll be a great fit. I know I can do it"; when I get to that question, I always have this sense of panic, because I'm like, "Okay, if I do [inaudible 00:08:26], then there is that chance," which is very real, we have to acknowledge that, "That they will say, 'You know what? We're going to pass on this just because of that.'"

I mean, it is 2023, but we also have to be realistic. So that is a very real thing for me.

And then it's also like, okay, if I don't check that, then it's like ... You can see on LinkedIn, people look you up and different things like that. And then they look me up and then it's like, well ... As a minority, I don't have the luxury of being like, "Well, they didn't pick me because of my skills." That always lingers in the back of my head. And so I'm kind of just like, "Is that even really necessary?" Like if we're judging people and candidates by what's on paper, then come we can't just go off of that?

And then it also kind of goes with the disability questions. Like on there, it was celiac disease, and it's like, is that really necessary to know about someone in terms of disability?

And for me, I'm like, is that what you want to count as your disability ... Like, "Oh, we have someone with celiac. Check mark. We've hired a disabled person." It's just a little ... You know?

Kelsey added…

Yeah, and I kind of have the alternate view of that, where I was like, "I'm not diverse enough. I'm a white woman. There are plenty of me out there. Do I decline to answer this question because companies are looking for people that don't look like me?"

What do you think happens to your resume when you click the apply button?

In my mind, I would think that it's going to a bot, it's going to narrow it down to the skills that make the position, and then it would go to the person that it needs to. However, if I don't fall into that amount of skills that that needs, then bye-bye, you go into the garbage and that's the end of it.
I feel like I hit apply and I'm basically depending on an algorithm or coding to pretty much give me a job back. And that is so disheartening to put all this faith in this robot. And I don't like it because I feel like there's the whole keyword thing to figure out if you're a good fit. And it's like, what if I am a good fit, but I just didn't use that one key word? Now you've disqualified me because I didn't use a word. That doesn't make any sense.
Just kind of going on the opposite lens. To that end, there are also now AI technologies. One is called Teal AI. I don't know if anybody's heard of it, but essentially it can match your resume with the job that you're looking for. So soon, regardless of if I created my resume or not, this technology is going to be able to adjust my resume to match what you're looking for in your job description. So I think that there are tools that are being used to kind of combat that that sort of get further away from who the individual actually is.

So the word human was not used once in their responses. I just want to point that out. They never thought a human read their resume, or that it ultimately finally got to somebody if they were the final, final candidate. So that as TA professionals is disheartening, because you know how many resumes you read a day. And so there's got to be something other than just us standing on our soapbox preaching that this is what we do; letting candidates know that they aren't being filtered out through some type of algorithm or bot.

How Do You Feel About Those Automated Responses?

They're understandable. It makes sense. You get a ton of applicants. I think the first one confirming receipt, like, "Hey, we've got your resume": great. What really kills me is the lack of specificity with respect to why I'm not a fit. I've even encouraged people, myself and others who are job searchers, to respond and say, "Hey, is there something about ... " Because I think I'm a great fit. Maybe not everybody. Yes, it's a numbers game, some people are just throwing it out there. But having basically more than one response if I'm being rejected that says, why am I being rejected? Is it about skillset? Is it you guys are further along with another candidate or a group of candidates? Well, why is the job still posted?
It's very annoying when you get that rejection. Because rejection itself, it stinks no matter what, but then when it's just very cut and dry and it's at this weird hour, you know that nobody is up at that time and it's just like, "Oh, hey, sorry, thanks for applying, but you're not a good fit. Okay, bye." It just makes the whole process very impersonal. You're kind of just like, "Okay, I'm just a throwaway." And it's kind of what you said where it's like there's been times I've applied to jobs and I know that I can do this job and then I don't hear anything back, and I'm like, "Okay, but I just want to know why, maybe so I can figure out how I can change in the future." Or even furthermore, if I want to reapply with the company, what should I do going forward?

Being a job seeker, someone who's been doing it for four months, and this isn't the first time I've been unemployed, …job searching is a very daunting process and it just feels like you're up against the world, but then it feels like you're fighting against a literal machine and there's no kind of human contact. You almost have to fight to even get to talk to a human.

More Status Updates Needed

So you're getting automated emails, but then what about the status bar? So one, I mean, obviously this is counterintuitive to earlier, but creating a log in or password and then being able to follow your status.

Just some kind of timeline so that you have an idea of maybe when you'll hear back or what the process is that you're going to hear back, just so that you're not sitting there applying for other jobs or it's actually just them trying to get information to put you in a database for later. This way you have some kind of understanding that there might be hope on the other side.
During my job search, it was really unfortunate because I was referred into the position, and it seemed like with my experience with the HR director that I was going to get an offer, or at least was going to hear a verbal offer by the end of the week, and then they took two weeks to get back to me. And so that was really confusing to me, and frankly put a bad taste in my mouth, because by the time they did get back to me saying, "Hey, we're interested in you," I'm no longer interested. That ship has sailed.
I'm actually getting rejection emails today and I was laid off in May. I signed an offer letter in August. There's no way possible that you haven't looked at my resume in two months. Why am I just now being rejected? And again, I probably have forgotten about that job and there's no importance to me.