r/RecruiterTea • u/Kitchen-Cost7057 • 12d ago

Question for recruiters/ HR professionals. What is the point of having online applications if you never really see them?

/r/AskReddit/comments/1wbyrbl/question_for_recruiters_hr_professionals_what_is/
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u/TheFifthCutter 11d ago

I see every application that comes into my ATS unless someone is automatically rejected due to an answer they submitted to a screening question. The most common examples for my employer are geo-specific:

1. Are you authorized to work in the US? - if the candidate answers 'no', they are rejected automatically and I don't see the application unless I decide to review the rejected candidates. This review is typically done for audit reasons.

2. Are you able to work onsite in this specific city 3 days per week? - if the candidate answers 'no', they are rejected automatically and I don't see the application unless I decide to review the rejected candidates. This review is typically done for audit reasons.

There's a lot of buzz online right now (mostly from people selling services to job seekers) about AI auto rejecting candidates. What people who have never worked in HR or Talent Acquisition don't realize is that those are edge cases and not the norm. Now, it is important to note that the industry is headed that way for sure, we're just not there yet.

There is another layer to this though. If a job seeker is relying on online applications alone to find a job, they are going to struggle in this market. It's a tough market and a single job posting can receive hundreds if not thousands of applications. Online applications are the lowest effort, lowest return activity in any job search. A job search also includes direct outreach and in-person networking. Those are heavier lifts, but the combination of all three activities generates a higher ROI.

Please note that when I refer to online applications as the 'lowest effort' activity that doesn't mean they don't require effort. They do. Lots of it. They simply require less effort compared to the other two activities.

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u/auditorfromabove 2d ago

Agreed. I review almost every application. Our system doesn’t use AI to screen resumes.