I automated my job application process • Hacker News Board

Re: I automated my job application process

#81

Post by DavidDodda » Sat, Dec 28, 2024, 6:21 PM UTC

codegeek wrote: post #78

DavidDodda wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how would you rate this?, this email was written by the system from the article. Dear Hiring Manager, I hope this message finds you well. My name is David Dodda, and I am writing to express my interest in the Software Engineer position at WIA Software Systems Inc. I am a Senior Software Developer with extensive experience in full-stack development, and I believe my skills align well with the requirements outlined in…

Honestly, this is a typical generic one where may be you just edited the pargraph a bit about "Your job description emphasizes the importance of..". I would rather have you give me concrete examples. Instead of saying "I have consistently evaluated user feedback to..", give me an actual example. Also, a bit too long. Make it shorter.

thanks for the feedback!

Re: I automated my job application process

#82

Post by saulpw » Sat, Dec 28, 2024, 6:22 PM UTC

_blk wrote: post #32

nsxwolf wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s our alternative? It doesn’t seem to be “carefully consider and apply to a handful of highly relevant postings”. I don’t see the downsides for candidates to play the numbers game.

Don't look at it as us vs them. Recruiters are part of your (future) team. Maybe not your direct team, but once you get bad people in your team you'll want them to do a better job.. Chicken vs egg. Apply where you actually want to apply and trust that the recruiter does his job.

I have trusted in the past, and verified that the recruiter does not in fact do their job.

Re: I automated my job application process

#83

Post by 65 » Sat, Dec 28, 2024, 6:22 PM UTC

The biggest issue for me was filtering through software engineer job listings, since I wouldn't be interested or qualified for listings using various tech stacks.

I made a Chrome extension for LinkedIn that would filter out listings to exclude certain keywords, e.g. "Rust" or "Java" and find only listings that applied to me. From there I could manually apply and track my job application status. This saved much more time. I had a few macros to paste information which sped up the process.

Re: I automated my job application process

#84

Post by uncomplexity_ » Sat, Dec 28, 2024, 6:23 PM UTC

codegeek wrote: post #12

Nice. But as a hiring manager, this is the last thing we want. Flooded with auto submitted Resumes. I posted a job recently and got 100+ resumes in 2 days and 99% were not even remotely close to being a good fit. I struggled to sort through so many Resumes to find someone worth interviewing. The problem is that with so much noise, good candidates may get ignored or rejected by mistake. And the cycle continues. I get…

it's number's game anyway on who gets the initial interviews

hate the game playa ;)

Re: I automated my job application process

#85

Post by toasteros » Sat, Dec 28, 2024, 6:23 PM UTC

Scrolling down to the bottom of this post brought up the "please subscribe!" nag screen and also immediately sent me back to the top of the page. The modal has poor contrast on the close button, so it was just confusing.

If you must nag for subscriptions, you might want to try and find a way that does it without interfering with page interactivity.

Re: I automated my job application process

#86

Post by Der_Einzige » Sat, Dec 28, 2024, 6:25 PM UTC

vunderba wrote: post #77

codegeek wrote: post #12

Nice. But as a hiring manager, this is the last thing we want. Flooded with auto submitted Resumes. I posted a job recently and got 100+ resumes in 2 days and 99% were not even remotely close to being a good fit. I struggled to sort through so many Resumes to find someone worth interviewing. The problem is that with so much noise, good candidates may get ignored or rejected by mistake. And the cycle continues. I get…

With automated hiring spam and our industry's tenuous grasp of basic integrity with actual HN posts proudly boasting of their apps to help you cheat during interviews using LLMs, several of my friends who assist in hiring at their companies have already returned to "on site" interviews to cut down on the proverbial chaff. The kicker? These are 100% remote jobs - the interviews are being performed at shared workspaces…

Thinking that "in person" will stop or prevent cheating is laughable.

For god-sakes, the chess world is freaking out over an ANAL BEADS cheating scandal! https://kotaku.com/chess-champion-anal-bead-magnus-carlsen-h...

https://github.com/RonSijm/ButtFish

A candidate who wants that job will figure out some way to have ChatGPT help them in a way you can't detect, even if it also has an impact on their ass health.

Re: I automated my job application process

#87

Post by karaterobot » Sat, Dec 28, 2024, 6:25 PM UTC

Every job I've applied to has involved me researching the company, deciding whether I understood it, was right for the role, and wanted to work for them, and then tailoring my resume and cover letter to what that role needed. In my life, I've maybe sent 25 applications, gotten 6-7 interviews, and been hired 4 times. Pretty good batting average, and I'm not by any means especially qualified or accomplished. For me, automated spam has not been the answer, laser targeting has been.

Re: I automated my job application process

#88

Post by theoreticalmal » Sat, Dec 28, 2024, 6:27 PM UTC

It’s my understanding that most hiring managers have a similar AI-assisted filtering tools. So there are humans in either side, it’s just a bunch of garbage in between

Re: I automated my job application process

#89

Post by lostlogin » Sat, Dec 28, 2024, 6:28 PM UTC

codegeek wrote: post #78

DavidDodda wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how would you rate this?, this email was written by the system from the article. Dear Hiring Manager, I hope this message finds you well. My name is David Dodda, and I am writing to express my interest in the Software Engineer position at WIA Software Systems Inc. I am a Senior Software Developer with extensive experience in full-stack development, and I believe my skills align well with the requirements outlined in…

Honestly, this is a typical generic one where may be you just edited the pargraph a bit about "Your job description emphasizes the importance of..". I would rather have you give me concrete examples. Instead of saying "I have consistently evaluated user feedback to..", give me an actual example. Also, a bit too long. Make it shorter.

I’m in a completely different field, working in healthcare. This letter would rank well above the average one I get.

I receive cover letters with typos, the wrong word used, poor punctuation etc. If candidates could use a spell checking it would be a good start.

Re: I automated my job application process

#90

Post by nickff » Sat, Dec 28, 2024, 6:29 PM UTC

Etheryte wrote: post #70

drillsteps5 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Requiring applicants to pay a fee will mean that the positions that I have to apply for that either do not exist, or are opened "just in case", or are market research, or the COA positions to push internal candidates, or any one of countless similar positions, will require me to pay out of pocket. Not exactly fair from my perspective.

Agreed, while paying to reduce spam may work in other contexts, in this setting the incentives don't align. Imagine if Linkedin got paid every time you applied for a listing, the pile of ghost jobs would be practically infinite.

Some of the listing services actually do charge employers per applicant, unless they are rejected within a certain amount of time (usually 48 or 72 hrs).