Why applicant tracking systems are broken by design
1–10 of 15 posts
Re: Why applicant tracking systems are broken by design
#2Some interesting insights, but author is speculating on a technical solution for a process that's broken * for the job seeker *.
The fact that there's often thousands of applicants for one job is exactly what companies and recruiters want. This system shifts all the power to them, and they're perfectly happy with it. No amount of technical fixes will change this, or if it's even necessary.
Re: Why applicant tracking systems are broken by design
#3I hate to be that guy, but HR is one of the things I always point to as a perfect example of "A system's purpose is what it does"
- HR's task is NOT with maximizing results/IC output
- HR's task is minimizing corporate risk
HR is, in most corporate environments, doing exactly what it is intended to do (minimize risk)!
Hiring anybody, from an org's perspective, is insanely risky for a million different reasons. Therefore, there are a million different (valid and invalid) reasons to reject a candidate - which is what overwhelmingly happens, unless HR is sidestepped via referrals and networking.
Re: Why applicant tracking systems are broken by design
#4I hate to be that guy, but HR is one of the things I always point to as a perfect example of "A system's purpose is what it does" - HR's task is NOT with maximizing results/IC output - HR's task is minimizing corporate risk HR is, in most corporate environments, doing exactly what it is intended to do (minimize risk)! Hiring anybody, from an org's perspective, is insanely risky for a million different reasons. Theref…
> "A system's purpose is what it does"
POSIWID: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_wha...
Re: Why applicant tracking systems are broken by design
#5I was waiting for this rambling post to get to the point until I realized it's just an ad for the author's new ATS. They're trying to convince you that other products are bad but theirs is good.
Re: Why applicant tracking systems are broken by design
#6> The product is the sales demo that impresses VPs. Meanwhile, recruiters are still shuffling candidates around in Google Sheets.
This gave me a chuckle, because a colleague who talked with HRs just told me exactly this last week.
Re: Why applicant tracking systems are broken by design
#7I was waiting for this rambling post to get to the point until I realized it's just an ad for the author's new ATS. They're trying to convince you that other products are bad but theirs is good.
Which seems weird, it's very technical. Monolith design, relationship types, I've never met an HR person who wondered about those kinds of things
Re: Why applicant tracking systems are broken by design
#8I hate to be that guy, but HR is one of the things I always point to as a perfect example of "A system's purpose is what it does" - HR's task is NOT with maximizing results/IC output - HR's task is minimizing corporate risk HR is, in most corporate environments, doing exactly what it is intended to do (minimize risk)! Hiring anybody, from an org's perspective, is insanely risky for a million different reasons. Theref…
But does it minimize corporate risk? Those who get ghosted or face an unfair interview can overwhelmingly report a negative experience online, which then slowly drags the company down because it hurts the candidate pool. I assert it does not minimize this dimension of corporate risk.
Re: Why applicant tracking systems are broken by design
#9Some interesting insights, but author is speculating on a technical solution for a process that's broken * for the job seeker *. The fact that there's often thousands of applicants for one job is exactly what companies and recruiters want. This system shifts all the power to them, and they're perfectly happy with it. No amount of technical fixes will change this, or if it's even necessary.
> The fact that there's often thousands of applicants for one job is exactly what companies and recruiters want
Are you sure that's true? I often read complaints here from hiring managers that have to wade through far too many obviously unqualified applications.
Re: Why applicant tracking systems are broken by design
#10I think there's just an plain faulty assumption that hiring is optimized for best candidate in lowest time for the optimal work done delta improvement.
Hiring is a process with many different motives. Like:
- Signaling company growth
- Appeasing overworked employees that something is being done
- Signaling that you or your team is important by gatekeepimg the role
- Signaling that you are important by participating or contributing to the hiring process
- Endlessly window shopping candidates simply because finding the perfect one is fun
There's a simple fact that if no one is pressuring hiring to pick someone sooner, there is simply no motivation to. And hiring is everyone involved. Managers, engineers, c suite, anyone with a veto in the process of a candidate. A single kink in the pipe can drag on the process forever. Even if engineering is slammed, if the recruiter screen or even the final CEO interview doesn't interalize that, the process is borked.
Now the real question is where are the hiring platforms that optimize for these weird motivation. I bet a platform where you swipe candidates for fun and encourage the whole team bikeshed screener quizzes would do gangbusters. Straight up make it a company tinder where unless recruiting, engineer, and CEO all swipe right on a candidate its a match! (Barf)