You can’t open up a business publication nowadays without the talk of artificial intelligence and machine learning. These applications affect every aspect of business, including job searches and the hiring process.
First, what exactly is artificial intelligence? Simply defined in the dictionary artificial intelligence is “The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.” Market Business News further explains it by stating, “Artificial intelligence or AI refers to software technologies that make a robot or computer act and think like a human.”
And artificial intelligence is ever prevalent for those seeking employment. In fact, one get-down-to-business executive asked, “Isn’t applying artificial intelligence tactics to executive resumes like hacks to get resumes through the ATS, but like AI is ATS on steroids?” Yes and no.
Artificial intelligence in hiring focuses more on candidate’s entire online brand and communication exchanges and not solely about the keyword optimization of one document, which is what the focus of writing an ATS compliant resume is.
To be a successful candidate landing a leadership role in a modern workplace, it’s imperative that you:
• Have an ongoing concept-optimized profile, beyond keywords, on various online platforms. This way companies using AI and machine learning tactics to search for passive candidates and evaluate actively-applying candidates will find you have done what you do in various aspects of your life over a period of time and not just placed some keyword in a document. Let employers see how you live your work.
• Prepare achievement-based stories using a challenge-action-results format before engaging companies in any dialogue about a specific position. Companies will use their job descriptions as a basis for processing online language exchanges between candidates and themselves. If they use text or video (one-way or two-way) as part of their screening process, the stories communicated will be analyzed for concepts and keywords in conjunction with the career documents as data points for decision making to continue the hiring process.
• When you have committed to a job search, ensure your resume, social media profiles, and published professional content about your work speaks to concepts in prospective employer job descriptions. The internet and social media platforms can be scoured seeking information about you. Publications, conferences attended, comments made and all other types of public-facing information can contribute to what AI and machine learning-based processes unearth about a candidate’s background. Be conscious to how you keep your online brand and presence positioned.
• If you are in a passive search mode, or not looking at all, you still do not want to ignore these points. You don’t simply only want to pay attention to how you appear online when you are looking for an executive role. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can be used to develop candidate sourcing efforts to find passive, but richly qualified candidates. It has never been more important than now to be mindful of your online presence and build it before you need it.
The process of writing an executive resume is the basis of developing a personal brand, both online and offline, and nowadays goes beyond just writing an executive resume. Advanced executive resume writing firms will know how to incorporate the story-telling elements and achievement-based talking points of a candidate’s background to speak to the needs of target employers across multiple mediums: LinkedIn profiles, Twitter posts, personal websites, cover letters and communication exchanges with prospective employers (emails, text and direct messages).
Lisa Rangel, founder and managing Director of Chameleon Resumes (a Forbes Top 100 Career Website), is a Certified Professional Resume Writer, Job Landing Consultant and 13-year Recruiter. Lisa is also a paid moderator for LinkedIn’s Premium Career Group, which has 1,300,000+ members.
