So stop trying to win. I see so many posts on here about trying to beat the ATS. It’s a losing strategy. Even if you get past the ATS you may be dealing with a terrible recruiter. Last week I interviewed with a recruiter that spelled SaaS “SASS” and no she wasn’t being cute.
So how do you get passed all this nonsense? The hiring manager. They are the key to everything. The hiring manager doesn’t care if you have an optimized resume or if your background doesn’t exactly match the job description. They have the ability to see your transferable skills whereas so many recruiters can’t.
But the hiring manager isn’t listed. Yep I didn’t say it was going to be handed to you. When you use your network to reach out to people at the company stop wasting your time asking for referrals. Instead ask for the hiring managers name which is much more valuable. I’ve found that internal employees almost always have access to that information.
When you get the HMs info reach out with a quick summary of how your experience makes you a great fit. Avoid AI slop as there is no better way to automatically screen yourself out.
Is this strategy perfect? Of course not, but it has been 10x more successful for me then throwing my resume into the void against a system that’s not even part of the hiring decision.