BOTS in the ATS? Mostly a MYTH

There seems to be a lot of confusion about how an ATS works on both sides of the system. Guess what? BOTS are mostly a myth career and resume “experts” are using to try and drum up business, or have never used an ATS as a recruiter (with one notable exception, which I discuss below). I am going to give you the detailed process RECRUITERS use on the other side of the dreaded Applicant Tracking System.

As a candidate, when you upload your resume, there are a couple of different things that happen, and a lot of it is dependent on the specific ATS. Larger systems like Taleo or WorkDay will use what is called OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to scan (parse) your resume and it may create a text file — this is where the elaborate formatting screws up the view. It generally also attaches the document to your candidate record (and some systems allow you to store multiple docs, some allow only one.) Larger systems — that you would find at global companies like Facebook, Procter and Gamble, Microsoft, GE etc. — generally use this sort of ATS. These are companies that have global workforces and need to employ different rules and capture different information across their various subsidiaries. When a system asks you to confirm or manually fill in fields that it as parsed, you will find that often it scans the wrong information into those fields. (IMHO, Taleo is the worst for this.)

There are two general ways recruiters use the ATS. The first is to run a general keyword search (known as Boolean Search). They can run it both in general within the entire system, and also inside a specific requisition (job posting) on the actual applicants …. this is the same technology that we use inside LinkedIn and any job board/resume database to search for candidates (Monster, Ziprecruiter, Indeed.com etc.); this is also the EXACT SAME technology Google or any other search engine uses when you “Google” something. Here is the key thing to understand how Boolean searches work, both in theory and in practice.

1. The search is generally based on specific FUNCTIONAL SKILLS (not personal attributes). This would be terms that are IN the job description, and are specific to the role (i.e. if you are in accounting, examples would be “reconcile” or “GAAP”; if you are retail it would be things like “customer service” or “upsell” or “stocking” or “cashier” or “till”)

2. The way a Boolean search returns results is based on *how many times EACH TERM IS REPEATED* in the document. So, if one of the terms is “sales”, then a candidate that uses the word “sales” more often will come back as more qualified than another person that only uses it twice, even if the second candidate example has more experience. That being said, overusing it makes for poor readability and wastes space.

3. Generally, systems highlight the search terms in the returned view; this is why trying to “trick” the system by using white text on a white field backfires; it is highlighted so the recruiter sees it, and it considered a bad practice (deceptive by a lot of us, and definitely cheesy and unprofessional.)

The second way recruiters use the ATS is by opening an individual requisition and all the applicants that have applied to the job. When we do this, we generally have a split view or a “list” where we scroll through the resumes. Depending on the role and the recruiter, most of us try to stay on top of these records on a daily basis, and send candidates that are qualified to the hiring manager regularly (this is part of the relationship with each hiring manager — frequency of when/how they want to see candidates. Some prefer them as they come in, some want them batched together and sent weekly.) This is generally the part of the process where recruiters “disposition” candidates…meaning they move them onto the next stage in the process, or decline them. If the system is set up, this is the time when the decline email is sent. The decline email is usually a template that will pull the job title from the system and populate it.

There are only two times an action is possibly automated in the ATS. The first is when a new position is opened, and a recruiter or recruiting coordinator chooses to have a confirmation email sent to every applicant letting them know that their application has been processed (added to the applicant queue for a recruiter to view for a specific job.)

The second time, and THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD has to do with what everyone refers to as a “BOT”. The term “bot” refers to CHATBOTS (as in IM) not “robot”. In high volume roles with minimum requirements (think retail associate, customer service rep, pizza delivery driver…ENTRY LEVEL generally), an algorithm can be set up to help screen candidates on BASIC QUALIFICATIONS. This functionality is very limited due to LEGAL REQUIREMENTS and is generally a YES or NO flowchart.

For example: Are you 18? If yes, move to next question/if no, terminate application. Are you legally able to work without sponsorship now or in the future in this role? If yes, move to next question/if no, terminate application. Do you have a valid driver’s license (for delivery roles)? If yes, move to next question/if no, terminate application. Do you require relocation for this position? If yes, terminate application.

It is basically a simple flowchart-like process. That’s it. Either you meet those VERY BASIC qualifications that EVERYONE has to meet, or you don’t. That is the sum total of how a “bot” can impact your candidacy for a specific role — and the LEGAL allowances for using this are very stringent. EVERY OTHER ACTION IS PERFORMED BY A HUMAN, and even a “bot” is enabled/set up…by a HUMAN based on each job.

So, quit believing resume and career “experts” that use the word “BOT” incorrectly and try and tell you that your application is going to be “automatically rejected” without a person actually reviewing it. Because it JUST IS NOT TRUE.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.