The 2 Invisible Gatekeepers Between You and the Interview Seat
A field guide to disarming the gatekeepers and landing an interview
Let’s say finding a new job is like going on a quest to a castle. The castle is the destination, aka the job, but along the way you will face obstacles and challenges. After defeating them all, you finally arrived a the bridge, the last barrier to the castle. But you can’t make it across. Every time you try, you are forced backward. There are two invisible guards on the bridge preventing you from progressing. You need to understand how to reveal them and lower their guard in order to make it across.
Those two guards are what I call the invisible gatekeepers standing between you and the job. Most job seekers don’t even realize they are there. Let’s talk about what they are and how to disarm them.
Gatekeeper 1: The Applicant Tracking System
The first gatekeeper you need to get passed is the Applicant Tracking System, also known as ATS, or application processing software in general. I spent 9 years as a hiring manager so my perspective on this is a little different than say a professional agency recruiter, but I used what was called “applicant portals.” They are a basic system that accepts candidate resumes and applications and systematizes it for the hiring manager. There’s no scoring, qualifying, or screening that happens there. All of that is up to the individual manager to sort out.
Applicant Tracking Systems are a little more sophisticated in that they can screen and pre-sort candidates, helping recruiters dealing with large volumes of candidates to quickly prioritize “good fits” and start the formal interview process.
ATS seems really impersonal to me because it strips value away from nuances and idiosyncrasies that make you unique and a potential X factor in any role. In my opinion, it eliminates innovative or non-traditional choices from the candidate pool, over time making new hires and teams a little bland. But that is a bunny trail for another time… Instead of looking for a radical combination of skills and experiences, it is looking for specific keywords. You either have them or you don’t. Because of this, it is crucial to know what keywords you need in your resume and have them organically woven into your experience bullet points.
ATS and Keywords
You need to ensure you have as many relevant keywords and phrases in your resume as possible. To create a list of keywords you need to have, there are 2 methods I like to use:
Use LinkedIn to Surface Keywords for ATS
Use ChatGPT to Surface Keywords for ATS
LinkedIn and Keywords
On LinkedIn, go to your profile and find More >> Build a Resume >> Create From Profile >> [Target Job Title] >> Apply.
You will see a Resume Insights panel on the right side of the page. Inside, you have two sections: Found in your resume and Suggested Keywords. Any of the keywords listed in the latter are keywords that you can write down and work into your resume and your LinkedIn experience section.
ChatGPT and Keywords
In ChatGPT, I often use a few specific prompts to surface the relevant keywords for my target role. Now, please note that ChatGPT is around 2 years behind in its information databank, so it may not have a totally up-to-date list of keywords.
That said, here are the ChatGPT prompts I use to find keywords related to a target role:
PROMPT: Act as a career strategist specializing in the [industry] field and tell me what the most important skills are for the target role of [Job Title].
[ChatGPT will generate a list of skills along with brief descriptions of each. If you need more insight into the required skills (like if you’re making an industry or career transition), this can be helpful context.]
PROMPT: Make this a list of skills only without explanations.
[ChatGPT will refine the list to only the keywords. Now human intelligence comes into play. Look through the list and identify any skills you believe may contain additional skills. Your goal is to break out larger bucketed skills into granular role-specific skill keywords. For example, for the role of Copywriter, ChatGPT may list “Writing Skills” as a skill. This is a skill with several supporting skills with keywords that would be helpful for you to include in your resume.]
PROMPT: Tell me what skills are involved in “Writing Skills.”
[ChatGPT will generate a new list of skills with keywords related to your query. For our example, it may come back with “Grammar and punctuation, tone and style adaptation, proofreading and editing skills.” You can repeat this process for any skills in the list until you have a robust list of keywords you’re happy with.]
PRO TIP: I also like to include a few variations of the keywords to ensure that no matter what sort of criteria is pre-loaded into ATS, it has the best chance of tagging them. For example, I will put the long-form term and the abbreviation in the document. For example, I’ll include “Annual Recurring Revenue” and the abbreviation “ARR”. Another technique is to use several terms for the same thing like “inbound marketing,” “content marketing,” and “organic marketing.”
How to Disarm the ATS Gatekeeper
To pass the bot gatekeeper, you need a resume that is clean, classic, and clear, packed with relevant keywords.
This list is essentially your ATS Gatekeeper password that will allow you to clear that checkpoint and sail to the next one… The Recruiter Gatekeeper.
Gatekeeper 2: The Recruiter Gatekeeper
After you get past the bots, humans stand between you and the interview seat. These people are recruiters, HR staff, or even the department managers like me.
Speaking broadly, these people don’t have granular or deep knowledge and understanding of your role. Instead, they are typically working off of a job description a list of requirements, and wish list items, hand sorting and approving ATS-qualified candidates they believe best match that job description. Because they aren’t “in” your role day in and day out, any ambiguity on your part could cost you an interview opportunity.
Understanding the Human Gatekeeper POV
If your application is with a third-party recruiting agency, then they are going to put extra effort into scrutinizing your application. Their professional reputation hinges on the quality of their candidate recommendations. They need to see that you have the experience and the results that demonstrate you know what you’re doing.
Plus, they are dealing with limited interview time slot availability, so they will likely conduct short pre-screening interviews before scheduling a formal one with the decision maker or hiring manager. In short you need to convey that you have the exact credentials (or as close as possible) to that job description.
Either way, you have to convince a human that you are capable and worthwhile to talk to.
How to Disarm the Human Gatekeeper
Because of this, you need to write your resume in a way that connects your experiences to outcomes so they can understand your impact, value, and contributions.
This is where I see a lot of resumes go wrong. They have just experiences and responsibilities with no indication as to the results, outcomes, wins, or key performance indicators that measure the effectiveness of their work.
Human Gatekeepers are looking for candidates that have obvious, demonstrated wins. They are also pretty good at noticing red flags and inconsistencies, so be sure you are reflecting your experience accurately.
You can prove yourself on the page by constructing your bullet points in this format:
[Power Verb] [experience, activity, or responsibility], [result, KPI, metric, award].
Example:
Directed branding and marketing strategy across a team of writers, graphic artists, and UX designers, increasing global social engagement by 35% in 2023.
The experience bullet point includes your function, area of responsibility, and the result.
Anyone reading this will understand your role in the activity, the activity or experience, and what the outcome was. That means you are connecting the dots, defining your value, and strengthening the case for you earning an interview.
TL;DR:
Don’t leave your value up to interpretation. Literally spell it out.
Good advice for resumes, cover letters, portfolios, and interviews.
Conclusion
Before you strike out on your quest for a new job, be sure you’re equipped to defeat the gatekeepers with a clear, traditional resume optimized for both bots and humans.
If you want tips like this, career advice, and job market insights from a marketer’s and copywriter’s perspective delivered straight to your inbox, then download your free copy of Roadmap to Writer. I’ll deliver it straight to your inbox with step-by-step guidance on how to go from zero to a paid writer. I can’t wait to welcome you to the insider’s CHU crew where the whole point is to help you never sacrifice your health, safety, or sanity for the sake of a paycheck.
Stay FU$$y, my friend.