Resume templates and a dramatic advice to consider

Some self-called human resources (HR) professionals or self-called top advisors on HR topics tell people that using standard resume templates, such as Europass, is useless. This is dramatic advice to consider. A resume must be comprehensible and clear so the software or the smart robot that a company uses for hiring can read it and decide properly. This is the reason why many recruiting techniques require candidates to fill specific fields of resume achievements, rather than uploading a file such a PDF or a WORD document.

   By doing this, companies force candidates to use and fill in their forms to organize their resumes better. Such information helps AI decide with a greater chance to find the best candidate for the job. In other words, candidates today must write their resume in the context of being readable for robots, not for humans. Human resources professionals, in some cases, never see an actual resume. Companies hire employees based on machines and artificial judgement.

   Given this situation, many companies algorithmically rank candidates and decide who to hire. Artificial intelligence can be used even to recognize any patterns in virtual interviews with candidates, based on word choice, vocal tone, or facial expression. AI systems even analyze the meaning of the words in a resume.

   Facial analysis for instance is subject to human bias, as programming a machine requires a human. At the same time, beating an automated resume screening software means that candidates must ensure that their resume fulfills software requirements. Thus, if a candidate wants to trick the system, she/he can simply “copy” job requirements in the resume, so the machine will read content matching perfectly the initial requirements.

   To sum up, optimizing resumes for systems is a new trend, and a reality. Also, algorithmic discrimination is difficult to prove, thus a candidate will result in applying (even) hundreds of job applications. The algorithms that are being used have been trained on data about previous applicants, in the context of machine learning, so they are not able to be efficient in each case. Regulations from official authorities such as the European Union are now trying to fight against this trend, and help candidates not being excluded from jobs because of technology.