Written by Michele Rock
Sometimes a job search can feel overwhelming, especially during these unprecedented times. Do you often wonder if your resume went into a black hole? The whole process can feel impersonal and extremely frustrating. Today, Career Connectors brought back Jackie Schierenberg from CommonSpirit Health (previously known as Dignity Health). Jackie has over 20 years of experience in talent acquisition, with expertise in finding top talent, HR Technology and maximizing social media in the hiring process. She shares her insights to help us better understand how to successfully navigate the ATS (Applicant Tracking System).
Keynote
Dignity Health…Our alignment to Common Spirit Health
- February 1, 2019 alignment completed
- Currently have 159,000 employees, last year hired 34,000
- Open positions = 7200 +
- Recruiters handle 40-120 requisitions at one time
- Recruit in 22 states
- 139 Hospitals + Urgent Cares and Medical Groups
- Dignity Health ATS = ICims
- CommonSpirit ATS = Taleo
- 2019 reviewed over 1 million resumes
How does a Recruiter attract, find, and engage talent?
- Current Candidates
- Past Applicants
- Employees
- Referrals
- Social Media (Share what it is like to work at the company, feature leadership, showcase hard to fill positions, etc.)
- Career Portals and Talent Pools (Follow specific companies and never miss an opportunity.)
- Passive Jobseekers
- Boolean Search
- Association and Conference Lists
- Job Boards
A Job Search is like a puzzle. One needs to employ all of the aspects highlighted above to pull it together and be successful!
What is an ATS?
It is a software application that recruiters use to manage their recruitment and hiring needs. It will do everything from posting a new job on websites, filtering applications, storing job descriptions, supporting collaboration efforts with hiring managers, documenting the hiring process and providing advanced reporting. Companies rely heavily on these systems to process the hundreds of applications that come in for a posting in a faster, more efficient manner. Many newer systems are using artificial intelligence to aid in the overall process and remove human bias. Companies are able to maintain compliance and pull reports to analyze metrics about a specific posting, role, candidate and more.
Most job searches today start on Google.com. Candidates can search to see who is hiring, research targeted companies, learn minimum requirements and the keywords to include in their resume, gather salary information and tips for interview preparation.
When you are ready to upload your resume keep in mind the following:
- Keep it simple! – Many ATS systems will strip away formatting or even omit information if they find unknown tags within the document. Font type, bullet points and some file types can “confuse” older systems. Consider a basic formatted version using Arial or Times New Roman to specifically upload online.
- Be aware of the requested file type – Jackie recommends using a PDF format unless noted otherwise.
- Keywords – Be sure your resume has terms that are specific to the role and used in the company’s job description. You can use generic keywords for a specific job, but if you are looking for a nursing role and the description specifies RN, be sure to use RN rather than Registered Nurse. Some recruiters may include both when they search for candidates, but you have a greater chance of rising to the top of the search by using the exact terms for the company’s posting.
Do Your Homework
- Company Career Sites – In addition to Google Search use the filters on a company’s career site to search job postings. Job boards may not be as up to date with positions. There is not just one way to search. Always search using the different filters to ensure you get all the possible results.
- Leverage Your Network – Try to find people who are connected to individuals at the specific company you are targeting.
- Talent Pools or Communities – These are available on the employer career portal. They are helpful for recruiters to proactively find candidates and great for Passive Job Seekers (warm leads). You will also receive recruiting news and be part of email campaigns.
- Glassdoor.com – Research the interview tips, salaries, and benefits.
- Sign Up for Email Alerts and automate wherever possible – This feature is often in the search function after you have uploaded your resume on the company website. It can save you time since you will not need to regularly check the company’s website to ensure you don’t miss a new posting. You may also be one of the first candidates to apply if you are on this list.
- Recruiters Often Tag Candidate Profiles – Try to make personal connections with the talent team by social media, career fairs and even cold calls. Recruiters can apply tags to a candidate profile to make candidates easier to find later.
- White Text – Type keywords from the job posting in white text at bottom of resume. The words will not be detected when printing, but could help your resume get pulled by the ATS.
- Meet the Minimum Qualifications – Always review the minimum requirements and ensure they are demonstrated on your resume. Recruiters are looking for those minimums to share your information with the hiring manager.
- Be Discoverable – Companies can see the different resumes you have submitted and your history, but are going to look at your most recent one. Make sure your profile is as complete as possible to ensure it is pulled.
- Get Personal with Recruiters – Leverage LinkedIn to find recruiters and hiring managers. Once you find them, search for their contact information on Google and make a call or reach out directly to the talent or hiring team.
- Cover letters – Recruiters generally do not read cover letters. However, if you have an impactful story to share – add it as a cover letter and combine it with your resume as one document.
- Resume Guidance – It should never be more than 2 pages and should not include a photo. Your contact information should be at the top of the page, then a summary of your skills, then your work experience and highlight your education at the end.
- Salary Expectations – Companies should not be asking your current or previous salary. You do not have to include salary expectations. Instead use $1 or 9999 to get past the field.
- Virtual Events – Be authentic and be prepared to discuss the opportunities. Recruiters are also learning how to successfully maneuver in this new space that was caused by Covid-19.
Hiring Companies
The Hartford
Chet Joshi, Sr. Talent Consultant
Since 1810, The Hartford has been helping people pursue ambitions, seize opportunities, and prevail through challenges along the way. They continue to this day on a path of excellence receiving a variety of recognitions, including being named a World’s Most Ethical Company 12 times over the years by the Ethisphere Institute. Over 19,000 people are employed by The Hartford with 800 employees in the Scottsdale office. The company is known for its industry leading benefits including 19 days of PTO. Chet is currently recruiting for Sales Agents (Job ID Number #2000962), but checkout all of their openings on their website. All roles are currently remote. However, the opportunity to work from home long-term will be available for those who meet/exceed their KPIs.
Dignity Health
Allen Riggs, Recruiter Talent Acquisition
Dignity Health was founded in 1986 and is currently doing business in 22 states. Their goal is to create environments that meet each patient’s physical, mental, and spiritual needs. They also believe this healing philosophy promotes the well-being of their staff and the patients they serve. Patient facing and Non-patient facing positions are available. The culture and benefits are in line with a company promoting both the well-being of patients and staff. Go here to search and apply to open positions.
WealthWave “The HowMoneyWorks Company”
Jason Wiseman, Sr. Marketing Director
Jason shared an entrepreneur opportunity. WealthWave’s Network of Leaders are all independent business owners who have been flying in formation for years shaking up the status quo of the financial industry and shifting the advantage in favor of families all over North America. There is both a void of effective material and a lack of trained educators that prevent the vast majority from learning the financial concepts and strategies they need to know. This allows society to be easily taken advantage of by those who know how to leverage this lack of knowledge to construct their own wealth. Check out Jason and the opportunities available at the website.
Resources
The Career Connectors’ website offers a number of free resources to assist job seekers, including online coaching, free DISC assessment, LinkedIn basics, and career advice. Click at the top of the resources page to register in order to receive updates.
Closing
CEO/Founder of Career Connectors Jessica Pierce reminded the online audience that Career Connectors will continue their webinars on Wednesdays starting at 9:00 AM through July until live, in-person events can resume. For anyone seeing the presentation via Facebook, or if you haven’t registered, register on Career Connectors’ website (upper right corner) to receive notices about upcoming meetings and other related career information.