I Welcome Our Robot Overlords

Resume scanning software. Ghastly. Gone are the days of the whimsically written resume and the manual review. Toss in a handful of keywords, delete the word creative, and voila, maybe someone will pay attention to you.
Fortunately, the way to evade being passed over by the robots is to add more robots.
I popped my resume over to Jobscan and threw a few job descriptions into the other field. I haven't updated my resume in a while (whoops), so it was expected that I only matched the descriptions at about a 56 percent rate. If you're new to seeding your resume with keywords, this is a great place to test what words work for you.

Comments

  1. PostForgeHubAugust 8, 2026 at 5:22 AM

    I liked the way this post captures the frustration of resume screening software while also pointing to a practical solution: understanding how your resume matches the language of the job description. A match percentage can be useful, but I think the real value is seeing what skills or requirements are not coming through clearly. I’ve been using ATS Checker (https://atschecker.app) for a similar purpose, comparing a resume with a specific job description before applying. It helps turn ATS screening into something more understandable rather than just guessing which keywords the “robots” might be looking for.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Malled. Really?

Image
In the late summer of 2008, I returned to the United States from Spain (at least we Americans don't have a 25 percent unemployment rate, eh?) and found the job market a vast wasteland. Like so many of my journalism brethren before me, I turned to retail. I worked at an independent pharmacy and gift shop until October 2009, when I was laid off. So I have little sympathy for Caitlin Kelly, author of Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail . She takes a stab at exposing the plight of the proletariat, but Upton Sinclair she is not. For starters, her "career" in retail was two, then reduced to one day a week stints at The North Face in a New York suburb. When I read career, I think 40 hours a week. She complains about climbing like a monkey in the dark, dirty stock room, I raise her a stock room that occasionally flooded with raw sewage. It brought another perspective to the phrase "crappy job." I can, however, commiserate with her chapter on customers from hell,...
Read more

Job-hunting in your native habitat

Image
If Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0 wants you to practice stealthy cover letter maneuvers and ninja-like resume writing, I'd rather wear a pith helmet, ready to exclaim "Crikey" like a certain Australian naturalist when first observing a dream job -- then go after it. I'm calling it my plot, prepare, pick strategy. I didn't dress up like David Livingstone , but I did use safari-like tactics when I targeted my internship. First, I researched prospective companies in my area that fit my interests and career path. I followed them on Twitter. I read their blogs. I've created Google news alerts for them so I can track their industry activity. In short, I've stalked them like a cheetah stalks an unsuspecting antelope on the Serengeti , except I'm a lot nicer and less likely to feed on your carcass. So how did I finally net my internship? The company tweeted about a summer internship opportunity. I mentioned the tweet in my cover letter, didn...
Read more

Putting on the Guerrilla Suit

Image
I attended my first career fair today. I'm not normally claustrophobic, but the sheer amount of people, schmooze and desperation in the air was enough for me to make the event a search-and-employ mission. I scouted out a few companies, pitched myself, handed them my resume and walked out. I needed a latte. Next time I'm developing an all-out battle strategy, which brings me to my next funemployment item. GUERRILLA MARKETING FOR JOB HUNTERS 3.0 IS OUT! It's like finally getting an iPhone 3 when the 4 came out. But lest you be dismayed, here's the highlight reel for the rest of 2.0. It's still chock-full of fantastic tactics. Parts two through four of Guerrilla Marketing detail what you should overhaul in your job-hunting arsenal. If you have a non-specific resume that doesn't state keywords from the job you're applying for, you'll be eliminated from the resume stack. Your resume and cover letter are your sales pitch. Write them as such, (but truthful...
Read more