You’ve spent an hour or more painstakingly tailoring your resume. You researched the company, learned everything you could about the role, and perfectly optimized your resume for the job description. You click “Apply Now” and upload your resume. Done, right? Not so fast! Now re-enter your name and contact information. Re-enter every single job title, employment date, and qualification from your work history. Re-enter your education info.
You’ve now sunk an entire evening into a single job application and are wondering why the resume was necessary at all.
Why companies make you re-enter resume information
Believe it or not, one of the reasons online applications are set up this way is for the applicants’ benefit.
Some applicant tracking systems (ATS) automatically parse your uploaded resume into a digital candidate profile that can be searched or filtered by recruiters. Unfortunately, systems that rely on parsing tend to let highly qualified candidates slip through the cracks. For example, if your resume isn’t ATS-friendly, critical information might not be parsed correctly. This could cause you to be overlooked when a recruiter runs a keyword search for a skill that is on your resume. Are you sure you included all of the most important keywords?
Read more: What is an applicant tracking system?
When a company configures their ATS to receive your resume then ask for all that same information via text input fields, they’re avoiding some of the problems associated with resume parsing. The resume you uploaded will be used if a recruiter wants to give it a once-over or print it out. The information you manually input into the system will be used for searches and other ranking algorithms.
“A common resume mistake is not customizing your resume for each job application,” says Clair Levy, a certified professional resume writer with over 15 years of experience. “Many job seekers use a one-size-fits-all approach, missing the opportunity to tailor their resumes to reflect the specific keywords and phrases from the job ad.”
In some cases, this redundancy may simply be the result of a poorly configured recruitment process or a necessity of corporate process and bureaucracy. Nevertheless, assuming that it’s intentional and taking text fields seriously could provide a big boost to your application.
Do not write “see resume”
After you’ve already invested so much time into creating the perfect resume, re-entering all the info might seem like a bridge too far. It’s easy to fall into “see resume” mode.
Just know that “see resume” and similar responses could be death to your application. By punting these fields, you’re counting on a recruiter to manually sift through all their (potentially hundreds of) applicants, click on yours, and decide to read your upload.
That’s not typically how recruiters operate. Often, they search for skills and keywords to narrow down their applicant pool before looking at any resumes. Unless they search for “see resume,” you’re out of luck.
Take text fields seriously
At a bare minimum, paste in the information from your optimized resume. Get instant optimization tips and keywords by using the form below.
You might also gain an advantage over other applicants by beefing up application text fields beyond what’s in your resume. If you were struggling to fit all your qualifications or resume keywords onto a single-page resume, use these supplemental sections to expand upon your experience. This could help you come up for additional search terms.
Challenge accepted
Remember, if an application feels arduous or overwhelming to you, other applicants are feeling the same way. Many will have abandoned their application and others might be phoning it in with “see resume” responses. Giving your full attention to redundant fields can be enough to get your resume to the top of the stack.
If you find yourself struggling to get to the interview stage, start by using Jobscan’s Resume Builder. The best part? It’s free with no hidden costs and it’s ATS-compatible. Our data shows that Jobscan users get three times as many interviews as non-users.
Learn more about ATS:
- What is an Applicant Tracking System?
- Taleo: 4 Ways the Most Popular ATS Ranks Your Resume
- 8 ATS Resume Secrets You Need to Know
- Jobscan Learning Center: Applicant Tracking Systems
