I run Jobscan’s Live Chat desk, and after three years at Jobscan, I’ve heard a lot of job search stories directly from the people who use our service. My favorite stories? Success stories! I’m inspired all the time by users who send me a message to let me know they’ve found a job.
In the interest of passing on some of that inspiration to other job seekers, I spoke with three Jobscan users who found jobs using our tool. I wanted to know what they learned from using Jobscan, how long it took for them to find a job, and what some of their major challenges were throughout their job search.
I hope what you’ll notice most about each of these job seekers’ experiences is how vastly different they are from one another. No job search is the same, but that doesn’t mean each one can’t lead to success.
Jobscan User #1: Insurance Specialist
Length of job search: 10 months
Biggest challenges
- Getting through to the hiring manager
- Not having a strong enough network
“This business [insurance] is a lot about who you know. I just moved to a new area where I don’t know anyone.”
How did Jobscan help in your job search
“[It taught me] how critically important it is to give the robots what they are looking for. I didn’t realize so little effort was put into reviewing resumes to select the most qualified applicants. If you don’t use the exact word they are looking for, your resume will never be seen by human eyes”
Tips for current job seekers
“Create your base resume, which is what you would be proud to hand to a human. For each position you apply for, start over with that base resume…don’t modify the resume from another position. If you keep evolving the resume (modifying the most recent copy each time) you eventually end up with a mess that is nothing but keywords but no longer represents what makes you special.”
Jobscan User #2: Operations Manager
Length of job search: 6 months
Biggest challenges
- Molding past work experience to fit the skills and needs of the new organization
- “Doing this required me to understand the skills and values the new organizations consider important through the language they use and how they talk about their work.”
- Countering stereotypes about previous industry
- “Unfortunately, there are stereotypes that people who work in federal government somehow cannot move fast, or work under pressure or tight deadlines. Some people I spoke to were more open-minded than others about adjusting their perceptions, and that is to be expected.”
How did Jobscan help in your job search?
“I learned about ATS and how important it is to understand these systems as a job-seeker, especially if you’re seeking to be a competitive candidate to the largest and most competitive companies.”
Tips for current job seekers
“Understand the language of the organization(s) you want to join and use that language in your resume, LinkedIn profile, and when networking. This will make you seem like an insider who has already done their research, so people can already visualize you working for that organization. “
Jobscan User #3: IT Manager
Length of job search: 3 months
Biggest challenges
- Industry change (from business management to IT)
- Applying for jobs and never getting an interview
- Not being able to rely on a professional network
“People could count on their network in the past to help connect them to new jobs, but today, people move around so much more, so it has become a lot harder to rely on those connections.”
How did Jobscan help in your job search?
“I didn’t know anything about ATS, but a friend recommended Jobscan and guided me through it…the tool identified huge gaps in my resume and explained what was missing. It’s like a search engine for writing resumes. This tool is how I got my job.”
Tips for current job seekers
“Learn about the current job search world and utilize all the tools at your disposal if you want to be successful. You can’t rely only on your professional network anymore, so it’s time to explore new methods.”
Try out Jobscan without leaving this article by pasting your resume and a job description below. Head to the Jobscan homepage to upload your resume for additional formatting checks.
