#132) Jobscan | Benefits & Drawbacks

Today, we’re going to talk about Jobscan. This is a good episode to introduce you to the tool if you haven’t heard about it already. And I’m going to offer you my take on what some potential benefits and drawbacks may be of the tool. 

What we'll cover:

What are applicant tracking systems?

Applicant tracking systems are a tool used by companies to keep track of applicants. And if you’re a larger company, it probably makes sense that you are using a tool like this because you’re probably attracting a large number of applicants. Well that’s exactly what applicant tracking systems do for companies -- they organize and sort through a large pool of applicants so as to save them time. 

What are keywords?

Keywords in an application and on a resume are what make most of that sorting possible. Since these systems can sort through your resume look for relevant keywords, it would behoove you to optimize your resume for keywords, which has been past advice on this podcast. 

What is Jobscan?

Jobscan is a tool that will scan your resume and give you an percentage score on a scale of 1-100 of how well your resume does based on some job postings that you submit for. Jobscan recommends hitting that 80% mark in order to optimize your resume for Applicant Tracking Systems. 

Now it does a match rate based on these priorities in order:

• 1. Hard skills
• 2. Education level (only when an advanced degree is included in the job description)
• 3. Job title
• 4. Soft skills 

Heart of the Podcast:

Benefits

• Sound metrics: After reviewing it, the things that it looks for are very sound (compelling accomplishments, having a decent word count, relevant skills that are a match for the position). 
• Great interface: The interface is just beautiful. I could look at that thing all day, and it makes it really easy to understand what the tool is trying to communicate with me and how to use it. All you have to do is copy and paste and you have a score you can work with from the start. 

Drawbacks 

• Sensitivity to job posting accuracy: You are only as good as the job postings you give it. Which means if I give some job postings that are not truly representative, then I am just going to mislead myself as I write my resume.
• This is really a guessing game: The biggest thing: not all applicant tracking systems -- and not all recruiters are the same. I will go back to what I’ve said from the start -- it is a guessing game. And the score you get using one system may not be the same for Bullhorn as it is for Taleo. And most importantly, it may not be the same for Taleo in 2020 in the spring as it is for Taleo in 2020 winter. algorithms are constantly evolving. 

The verdict: it’s okay and probably useful to work with Jobscan if applying mostly online. But please take it with a grain of salt. Don’t let this guide your resume strategy, but use it as a supplemental tool to gain insights and boost your creativity.

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