Behind the Scenes: Evaluating an Application

What happens when you send your application to a company or recruiter? How long does it take to evaluate your documents and what elements are prioritized by the recipient? Why haven’t you received a confirmation or response to your application? Has your application been considered? Here are a few tips to help you better understand how applications are sorted internally.

A first Look

When you send your application to a potential employer, the employer must first take the time to evaluate all your documents. We might think that the reading of the documents is done in a calm and thoughtful manner, but the reality is quite different. In fact, a recruiter in a company or agency will spend an average of 6.25 seconds reading a CV, and rarely more than 30 seconds (1).

Knowing this, it is important to prepare your application accordingly and keep your resume to two pages.

After the first (very quick) look, the candidates who most closely match the selection criteria will be contacted to take part in the rest of the process.

New Technologies

Sometimes your application is not processed by a human. Have you ever heard of application sorting software? Some companies, mainly large international organizations, use software to sort through electronic files by looking for the presence of certain keywords in the CV. If these keywords do not match those on your CV, your file is likely to be rejected without even being opened.

Furthermore, if your CV is in a format that does not allow for the detection of keywords, it is possible that it will simply not be read by the software, and therefore automatically rejected.

Our advice to avoid the software’s trap: make sure you have a CV that is adapted to the description of the position you are applying for, as well as an appropriate CV format.

The Human behind it

On the other hand, if we put aside the use of technology, we must keep in mind that behind this process, there is a human being. It is quite possible that the person in charge of the recruitment process is overwhelmed, and therefore lacks the time to diligently evaluate each application. You may be contacted and after a brief call, your application is rejected (often without you even knowing it!). This situation is detrimental to the company’s employer brand and we encourage all recruiters to contact a candidate, whether or not they are successful.

On the other hand, especially when there is an urgent need to fill a position, the time devoted to recruitment is often too short and the manager is forced to rush. In these cases, you may receive a return call several weeks after submitting your resume, or you may not receive a response at all.

The Wrong Job Posting

Another secret about recruiting is that often the job posting that has been published by the employer is outdated and not up to date. Again, this is due to a lack of time or in-house resources. It is therefore possible that your CV corresponds on paper to the published offer, but that in reality, it does not correspond or no longer corresponds to the requirements of the managers. In some cases, the position may have been filled internally without the recruiter having had time to remove the job description from the online platforms. So you find yourself applying for a position that has already been filled without knowing it.

The Final Word

There are several things you need to know in order to better understand the complexity of this first step in the recruitment process. Evaluating an application file seems easy at first glance, but the internal context, the resources dedicated to managing the process, the time available to devote to it, as well as the efficiency of the work tools can influence the outcome of the analysis of the applications received, and therefore have a direct impact on you as an applicant, without you even being aware of it.

For further advice or information from our team, contact one of our members today.

(1) Reference : “Does your CV pass the 30 second speed test?”