An Applicant Tracking System Uncovered iCIMS

An Applicant Tracking System Uncovered iCIMS An Applicant Tracking System Uncovered iCIMS Savvy job seekers dont just rely on the information readily available to them when looking for a new position. They hunt down information that will make them a competitive candidate. When applying to any large corporation, especially a Fortune 500 or otherwise desirable company, getting an edge on the competition can be the difference between getting a call back and indefinite silence from the employer. Job seekers who understand the exact applicant tracking system(ATS) that they want to beat are better able to fine-tune their resume and ensure the highest chance of success.Read more What is an applicant tracking system?Withinsights about a particular ATS, you can tailor your resume above and beyond just optimizing your resume keywords.Todays post examines iCIMS, a top applicant tracking system used by more than 2,700 companies in the United States and internationally- including major companies such as FedEx, Sony, and Amazon. Understanding how iCIMS operates, and being able to identify whether the company youre applying to uses it, will allow you to improve your chances of scoring an interview before you even apply.ParsingiCIMS parses resumes by scanning your uploaded document and trying to identify the skills and qualifications thatyoupossess. In other words, it tries to recognize your skill set and associate it with your profile. If done perfectly, this enables recruiters and hiring managers to match you with positions that fit your exact skill set and qualifications. However, parsing is elend an exact science, and iCIMS often incorrectly captures the contents of a candidates resume.In one example, a fine arts graduate who listed silk screening as a skill was mislabeled as a silk performer by iCIMS. This is problematic because the candidates profile will not be associated with their actual skill.Because of the inaccuracy of parsing tools, its critical to present your sk ills so they precisely match the way they are written in the job description.Without optimizing your resume for the keywords that the ATS is most likely to recognize, your skill set might be completely misinterpreted by iCIMS and prevent you from being considered for a role. Consider Ruby on Rails if the job description mentions Ruby on Rails, and your resume only includes Rails, your resume might not be seen as a match if a recruiter searches the full term Ruby on Rails. FilteringDuring the application process, many companies will ask a few questions relating to work experience, qualifications, or skills. Some might even just ask for basic numerical data such as the number of years youve worked in the industry. While you might not give much thought to these questions as a candidate, they are actually a powerful filtering tool for employers.Recruiters can use any combination of keyword searches and filtering by question to identify ideal candidates. iCIMS has a customizable feature that allows companies to ask you yes or no questions, ask you to select an answer from a drop-down menu, or ask you to manually fill an answer into a text field. Additionally, iCIMS supplies some stock questions- you may see them frequently on applications, because many employers use them. Employers can also add other questions.As a candidate its important to answer questions honestly, but also to decide if your answers will make you a strong candidate. Employers may use a knockout question that automatically disqualifies candidates if they dont meet a requirement, such as education level or years of experience. If your answers will likely eliminate you from the running or make you an otherwise low-priority candidate, you might be better off searching for a connection on LinkedIn and getting a referral so that your resume lands directly in the hands of a company recruiter. You might get an automatic rejection email if you dont pass the knockout question filter- even if you have a pe rfectly keyword-optimized and visually-pleasant resume. iCIMS also allows companies to send out an automatic rejection email a specified number of days after the application was submitted, even if the system rejected it immediately upon submission. TransparencyAnother feature that candidates need to be aware of is iCIMS transparency about which jobs youve applied for and your application status. If you apply for more than one job using iCIMS, your recruiter is likely privy to that information. They can go into the system and look at details such as how far you made it in the interview process, notes from the interviewers, whether you were rejected after an interview, received an offer, etc.Theres no reason to fret about recruiters having access to your application history, even if you didnt land interviews or offers for other positions. However, be wary of applying to dozens of positions within the same company. Recruiters can review back as far as 200 days within their system and s ee all the positions at their company that you submitted your resume for. Shotgunning your application to dozens of positions that dont match your skill set might hinder your chances of landing an interview for a position that would actually be a great fit. Honesty is also the best policy if a hiring manager or recruiter asks whether youre interview at other companies, outside of theirs. You can be honest without divulging details, such as company names, unless you feel comfortable doing that. Its perfectly acceptable to say youre entertaining an opportunity elsewhere but youre really interested in their company, or youve interviewed elsewhere but youre still seeking out the best fit. Recruiters and hiring managers will appreciate that youre forthcoming- especially considering they generally already have the information most candidates try to hide. If anything, companies will generally view you as a more competitive candidate if youre also being considered for other positions. And, expressing a clear interest in their company over others is generally viewed as a good sign and can even earn you points.IdentifyingIts hard to know which ATS youre working with if youve never knowingly dealt with one before. Many people apply to jobs without any awareness of ATS or the role they play in job hunting. Luckily, ATS technology is structured in a way that makes it fairly easy to see what ATS your resume will be submitted to- as long as the company hasnt intentionally taken steps to hide it.You may recall from applying to jobs online that when you hit the apply for this position button, most companies will redirect you to a different page. More often than not, the URL of the new webpage youre on will tell you which ATS youre working with. Heres an exampleDomain while looking at a job description on Amazon.comDomain after you hit apply for that position on Amazon By looking at the URL of the new page that Amazon directs you to for this position, you can see that they are using iCIMS. This neat trick can help you identify which ATS youre dealing with most of the time. Its not a foolproof method, and some companies are beginning to integrate their ATS in a way that disguises which system theyre using. But until all companies make their ATS invisible to candidates, be sure to check the URLs of any company that youre submitting a resume to and see what you can learn from Jobscan about the ATS they use.If you want to learn more about how iCIMS keyword searches, formatting, and social media integration work, sign up with Jobscan today. All users gain access to the ATS Tip tool (see video above), andpremium account members are given access to our iCIMS Applicant Tracking System Uncovered e-book. The e-book goes more in-depth- including moreiCIMS screenshots- than what weve shared here, and covers additional topics that can help you tailoryour resume and land your next interviewMore about iCIMSiCIMS founder tells Jobscan about how they try to make things be tter for applicants