June 8, 2011

Where you come from matters

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Let's talk about where you come from. I don't mean your hometown, your country of origin or your last job; I'm talking about the source of your résumé in a company's applicant tracking system (ATS). It could mean the difference between a phone call from human resources and a "thanks, but no thanks" letter.

ATSs can store the original source of a résumé; that tells companies whether the résumé came from a specific job board, an employee or partner referral, a cold call, a networking event, etc. Based on past experience, an employer might have gotten its best hires from newspaper classifieds, online postings or employee referrals. It's in a company's best interest, and a usual practice, to try to find similar talent from those same sources.

One client of mine -- a vice president of HR -- applied to a legal firm and was scheduled for an interview. Two days before the interview, he got a call from the company and was told they had decided to go in a different direction. I made some phone calls to people familiar with the matter and found out they decided to hire only applicants from a local HR association. As my client had applied through Craigslist, they canceled his interview.

Someone who works at the University of Washington told me that her department prefers to hire applicants through The Seattle Times. She said the newspaper's demographic has provided the best hires, so she keeps recruiting through that method.

A large advertising agency in Woodinville says it doesn't consider anyone who applies through the company's website or Monster. Someone at the agency told me that its worst applicants tend to come from those sources, so it looks only at partner and employee referrals.

A medium-size medical company in Bellevue recruits only those who participate in certain medical groups on LinkedIn. Several local tech companies like to hire people who attend their tech talks. Some employers prefer interviewing and hiring applicants they meet at career mixers.

What does this mean for you? Before sending in your résumé, try to find out which source you should use. Because it matters, simply changing your method to one the employer prefers can greatly increase your odds of getting noticed and scheduled for an interview. The last thing you want is to be categorized with the misfits and bad hires simply because you failed to do some research beforehand.

In my next post, I'll tell you where to get this information. I'll also give you several other research techniques to use before submitting your application.

Paul Anderson of ProLango helps professionals in transition find their desired employment.

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5 Comments

Chryssa on June 9, 2011 11:33 AM | Reply

I am *shocked* that any recruiter admits to feeling that their own website/ATS is a bad source of candidates. To me that says that they don't know how to manage their employment brand; that they don't understand the value of sourcing their own database (if someone has applied through their corporate website, that automatically ensures an interest in the company at least somewhere along the line); and they have money to burn on external postings.

Doug Krebs on June 10, 2011 7:31 AM | Reply

With budgets so tight, why would a hiring manager even pay to post a job listing on a source like a career board or Craigslist for example if they have no plan to consider anyone applying through these?

And how do I go about finding out which methods a hiring manager prefers? I'd love to find that well-kept secret on how to get my resume noticed.

Frustrated on June 10, 2011 6:10 PM | Reply

I have a hard time believing that so many "misfits" and "bad hires" come from one source. You never know who is going to apply for an opening. I feel shocked and saddened that your colleague was turned down from an interview because he applied through Craigslist. Clearly, the company must have read his cover letter and resume and thought it was good enough to schedule an interview. Why even bother posting the job on Craigslist if it's going to waste more of the hiring manager's time rejecting applicants? Seems like an inefficient way to spend your time. Wouldn't it be better to focus all of your hiring from the "good" sources and keep your search focused? It's like we're being teased, and in this economy, it's a slap in the face.

I look forward to reading your suggestions on how to get a hold of this information. Are hiring managers even willing to share that kind of information with applicants?

Stacey on June 16, 2011 8:34 AM | Reply

"Before sending in your résumé, try to find out which source you should use".
This is quite easy to do: set up a meeting with HR management and ask them to disclose their recruiting methods.
Paul, why don't you write another article: "how to get rich from stocks" and advice the readers to "buy low, sell house".

Joe Smith on June 20, 2011 11:43 AM | Reply

There is a reason Stacey didn't include her last name because she's probably smart enough to know that sarcasm isn't well received by employers.

Read the next article; he explains where to get the insider information:

http://blog.nwjobs.com/hireground/2011/06/where-to-get-insider-informati.html

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