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Comment by doublespanner | Hacker News Reader

At least in roles where I have sent out a resume, including keywords was less about the interview, and more about passing the not necessarily tech savvy hr or external recruitment process.

In an interview I would hope to talk more about the more detailed parts, but it feels like I need the tickbox stuff to get to that point.

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To be clear, the keywords to tick the boxes are all still there, just presented in the context in which you used them, which adds additional meaning and qualifies what you mean by "having experience with X" to an informed reader. My CV has them in bold so that the HR person won't miss them on a quick scan.

That said, if you optimise your CV for success in recruitment processes where no one understands what you're talking about, you will get jobs at places where no one knows what they're talking about.

Why are you even in a position where you are dealing with HR as a filter? By the time my resume gets to the ATS, someone who is in the hiring chain already knows to look for it or at least I’ve gotten an internal referral.

Perhaps doublespanner is applying to positions where they haven't gotten an internal referral.

That works great when you already have a personal network and/or some cachet.

And once you break the can’t get a job <-> don’t have experience cycle, you should be forming a network from day one. That network can start with third party recruiters who you reach out to on LinkedIn.

Because I have not had a personal contact within every company that has had an interesting job listing....

Only moving to companies where I can get an internal reference seems very limiting...

What are interesting jobs for you?

I specifically look for companies where they want someone to be hands on. But also lead initiatives as an individual contributor. It traditionally has been at smaller companies (since 2008).

Those types of jobs don’t come from submitting my resume to an ATS. I have to either use my existing network or reach out to someone directly at LinkedIn.

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