Look at how far we've come. We started with hiring processes where almost universally to submit an application, you at least spoke to a human who would acknowledge you, know you exist, and have advanced knowledge on whether the position was even open. Very little wasting of applicants time.
Then, we transitioned into highly automated form submissions online, where it's so easy for the potential employer to collect applications that they don't bother to stop receiving them when they have filled the position, and they even keep fake job openings to goose the numbers. IMO, this development was a completely one-sided benefit to employers. They seemed to relish in wasting the applicants time, somehow.
Now, legitimate job postings are being inundated with slop due to how shit the online application process is and how much of the applicant's time it's designed to waste. Sounds like a form of justice, almost.
Maybe now we can go back to confirming a human exists on both ends.
> Whereas earlier technologies helped people craft one good résumé more efficiently, AI enables candidates to generate hundreds of customized applications with minimal effort
This isn't totally new - I was doing this pre-AI, over a decade ago. But I guess it's now a lot easier.
The last time I was interviewing, many of my interviewers flat out admitted they hadn’t read my resume and were just interested in my leetcode performance.
Good. It is a terrible way to screen job applicants and a waste of time for them to carefully craft a resume and then have to put all the exact same information into an online job application form.
I have always had to fill out a job application form in addition to the resume. The AI parsing helps fill out some of it with varying success, but I would rather just skip the resume entirely.
Perhaps having the job application form pull from my LinkedIn profile would be a good solution to the problem of filling out the same information over and over.
Online job applications forms are a great way to filter out high quality applicants by wasting their time. I'd rather spend the time which would otherwise be wasted on those forms talking to humans I know and have worked with to find out about worthwhile opportunities where my contribution is valued.
Start by asking their phone number, then, on the next page, have a good few useless questions. Sort by number of questions not answered and least amount of scrolling.
Resumes provide a significant amount of relevant background information on job applicants. How do you propose to obtain this information? Not everything that happens is recorded and available online.
Got an example of relevant information not duplicated on a LinkedIn profile and a job application?
Ultimately, the best chance of success when searching for jobs is to network with people and make personal connections. If you’re relying on your resume to get hired you’re probably going to have a bad time.
Also, as someone who has made hiring decisions in the past I am not a fan of resumes. The lack of any standard for format or even what information is contained on a resume makes them a royal pain to sift through.
I will put relevant details in a resume or cover letter that are not meant for public consumption on LinkedIn. There are plenty of people that can't go into too many details in public about their current role because of NDAs.
Hiring is messy. It always has been and always will be precisely because it involves human beings. I've been on both sides of the table often enough, and every hire is ultimately a coin toss. You try to weed out the people that are obviously horrible, and give a chance to the people that seem like they have a few useful strengths or might be able to grow into the role. Most important is that they can fit in with a team. There is no such thing as a perfect hire, and I would not trust a computer to do a decent job of building a team that works well together.
Moreover, I would have deeply serious concerns if someone working for me in a hiring position complained that resumes aren't in a standardized format. How are they going to cope with the emotional mess that managing humans is as soon as someone steps outside of the predefined box they have put them in?
"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
LinkedIn is a terrible solution if you expect everyone to use a single company for all their job needs. You can’t mandate everyone use a private website.
I’ve had to submit my resume and fill out the same information again maybe 30% of the time. It’s definitely not every time.
It wouldn’t have to be mandatory. You’re always free to fill out the information yourself.
I picked LinkedIn as an example because many (most?) job applicants have an account with them and it has most of the relevant information already, such as education, industry certifications, and job history.
We’ll have to agree to disagree. As a recent job seeker, I had to have a LinkedIn profile, a resume, and fill out application forms all containing redundant information. The resume import functionality was extremely hit or miss…sometimes actually making more work for me because it incorrectly parsed my resume and erroneously filled the wrong information into the wrong fields.
LinkedIn would serve as a definitive superset source of truth so that I would only need to keep it up to date versus the current status quo. Ideally perhaps some sort of standard API could emerge where you could choose your favorite provider of job application information.
Look at how far we've come. We started with hiring processes where almost universally to submit an application, you at least spoke to a human who would acknowledge you, know you exist, and have advanced knowledge on whether the position was even open. Very little wasting of applicants time.
Then, we transitioned into highly automated form submissions online, where it's so easy for the potential employer to collect applications that they don't bother to stop receiving them when they have filled the position, and they even keep fake job openings to goose the numbers. IMO, this development was a completely one-sided benefit to employers. They seemed to relish in wasting the applicants time, somehow.
Now, legitimate job postings are being inundated with slop due to how shit the online application process is and how much of the applicant's time it's designed to waste. Sounds like a form of justice, almost.
Maybe now we can go back to confirming a human exists on both ends.
> Whereas earlier technologies helped people craft one good résumé more efficiently, AI enables candidates to generate hundreds of customized applications with minimal effort
This isn't totally new - I was doing this pre-AI, over a decade ago. But I guess it's now a lot easier.
i deleted my linkedin last year when i realised it only exists to harvest data for microshafts AI
The last time I was interviewing, many of my interviewers flat out admitted they hadn’t read my resume and were just interested in my leetcode performance.
Good. It is a terrible way to screen job applicants and a waste of time for them to carefully craft a resume and then have to put all the exact same information into an online job application form.
Good riddance, they have long been obsolete.
What are you suggesting? I fill out a form for every position or does the article talk about AI parsing your resumes for you?
Because filling out a new form for every position is a ridiculous waste of time.
I have always had to fill out a job application form in addition to the resume. The AI parsing helps fill out some of it with varying success, but I would rather just skip the resume entirely.
Perhaps having the job application form pull from my LinkedIn profile would be a good solution to the problem of filling out the same information over and over.
Online job applications forms are a great way to filter out high quality applicants by wasting their time. I'd rather spend the time which would otherwise be wasted on those forms talking to humans I know and have worked with to find out about worthwhile opportunities where my contribution is valued.
Start by asking their phone number, then, on the next page, have a good few useless questions. Sort by number of questions not answered and least amount of scrolling.
Resumes also waste a lot of time for both applicants and employers. They are a relic of a bygone era that should be retired.
And what do you propose should replace them?
Nothing should replace them. They are unnecessary and redundant.
Resumes provide a significant amount of relevant background information on job applicants. How do you propose to obtain this information? Not everything that happens is recorded and available online.
Got an example of relevant information not duplicated on a LinkedIn profile and a job application?
Ultimately, the best chance of success when searching for jobs is to network with people and make personal connections. If you’re relying on your resume to get hired you’re probably going to have a bad time.
Also, as someone who has made hiring decisions in the past I am not a fan of resumes. The lack of any standard for format or even what information is contained on a resume makes them a royal pain to sift through.
I will put relevant details in a resume or cover letter that are not meant for public consumption on LinkedIn. There are plenty of people that can't go into too many details in public about their current role because of NDAs.
Hiring is messy. It always has been and always will be precisely because it involves human beings. I've been on both sides of the table often enough, and every hire is ultimately a coin toss. You try to weed out the people that are obviously horrible, and give a chance to the people that seem like they have a few useful strengths or might be able to grow into the role. Most important is that they can fit in with a team. There is no such thing as a perfect hire, and I would not trust a computer to do a decent job of building a team that works well together.
Moreover, I would have deeply serious concerns if someone working for me in a hiring position complained that resumes aren't in a standardized format. How are they going to cope with the emotional mess that managing humans is as soon as someone steps outside of the predefined box they have put them in?
"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
LinkedIn is a terrible solution if you expect everyone to use a single company for all their job needs. You can’t mandate everyone use a private website.
I’ve had to submit my resume and fill out the same information again maybe 30% of the time. It’s definitely not every time.
It wouldn’t have to be mandatory. You’re always free to fill out the information yourself.
I picked LinkedIn as an example because many (most?) job applicants have an account with them and it has most of the relevant information already, such as education, industry certifications, and job history.
A lot of people don’t want to show up in an internet search and having LinkedIn makes that a necessity.
I’d rather we mandate companies have AI/auto parsers for a regular resume instead.
We’ll have to agree to disagree. As a recent job seeker, I had to have a LinkedIn profile, a resume, and fill out application forms all containing redundant information. The resume import functionality was extremely hit or miss…sometimes actually making more work for me because it incorrectly parsed my resume and erroneously filled the wrong information into the wrong fields.
LinkedIn would serve as a definitive superset source of truth so that I would only need to keep it up to date versus the current status quo. Ideally perhaps some sort of standard API could emerge where you could choose your favorite provider of job application information.