Dive Brief:
- U.S. job seekers say the most exasperating part of looking for a job is not knowing if a human has looked at their resume, according to 60% of those surveyed for Monster’s Application Black Box Report, released May 1.
- That lack of visibility can cause many otherwise interested candidates to become frustrated, the report found.
- The data showed that uncertainty even outweighed rejection. “Candidates can accept a ‘no,’” Vicki Salemi, a career advice expert, wrote for Monster. “What’s harder to accept is not knowing whether their application was ever meaningfully reviewed, leaving many to wonder, ‘Why do employers not respond to applications in the first place?’”
Dive Insight:
Monster’s survey of more than 1,000 U.S. workers found that silence, automation and repetitive steps have affected how long a potential employee was willing to stay engaged with the application process.
The problem is exacerbated by the effort applicants put into their search by customizing their resumes, adapting to new applicant tracking systems and investing time in each application. However, when the process “feels unclear or overly automated, many are reaching a breaking point,” Salemi wrote.
Fifty-four percent of employees said they were in favor of either “heavy regulation or banning applicant tracking systems entirely.”
Candidates say they feel compelled to optimize their resumes for automation, even if they’re not told how that automation works, with 40% saying that most of the time they modify their resume to include keywords from job descriptions.
“Common job seeker frustrations are no longer just about competition or qualifications — they’re about navigating a process that often feels opaque and impersonal,” Salemi wrote.
System failure is also a concern, with 61% of respondents indicating that they’ve experienced a resume upload error or other technical issue during the application process.
These hurdles are worsening what has become an already challenging job hunt for many. A recent report from hiring platform Greenhouse found that 70% of job seekers said they were never told ahead of time that AI would be evaluating them, and 38% of U.S. candidates said they have already withdrawn from a hiring process because it included an AI interview.
In addition, an April report from Monster found that 48% of job seekers frequently or regularly apply to many roles quickly in a process called “spray and pray,” because employers aren’t providing any application feedback.