BY NODUMISO MASEKO
Have you ever wondered how the job application process looks from the opposite end? How does the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) work in practice, and what happens beyond it? I’m asking because most people seem to only worry about their end of things—getting the application sent. Yet understanding the receiving end might be the very thing that changes whether you’re ever seen at all.
Countless human resources pages and career professionals have shared all the information you could possibly need: how to write an ATS-friendly resume, how to tell your value comprehensively, what to include and what to leave out. The information is not hidden. It’s everywhere.
But since the year began—with new graduates entering the market and many more people making resolutions to find better jobs—I’ve asked a few people about this. More than a few, actually. I asked what an ATS is, and what an ATS-friendly resume looks like in practice. Very few could answer.
The majority said they’re counting on getting a professional to do it for them. Now, I recommend that people seek assistance. A fresh pair of eyes can make all the difference. Someone who knows how to tell stories well can help you tell yours better, can pull out details you might have overlooked and arrange them in ways that land.
But here’s what concerns me: people are ready to buy something without having any idea how it should come back looking. Not knowing how to tell a good story is perfectly fine. We can’t be good at everything. But if you’re going to buy a resume, you need to know how to tell a good writer from the rest. You need to have an expectation of what a good resume looks like. You need to know the difference between something written with care and something thrown together by someone who just happens to have Canva and some free templates. You cannot do it blindly and hope for the best.
That is why I’m concerned about how people are okay with not having an idea about how a good resume looks like. To them what’s good is what the most recommended writer did, and if they’ve been applying for some time without any success, they hop on to the next one who’ll change things up a bit. While throwing all these bait applications and waiting to see what sticks, most people pay close attention to the interview preparation stage. Again, it makes sense because that is a stage you can’t pay your way out of, you must do it yourself.
But the stages before the interview, the resume screening, the ATS filters, the first few seconds a recruiter spends scanning your document, those feel like something you can pay your way out of. So, people don’t study them the same way. They don’t get curious about what happens on the other side of the send button. They find someone offering resume services, hand over their money, and hope for the best.
The problem, however, is that you might end up spending months, even years, applying without ever reaching an interview stage simply because you never took the time to understand what happens to your application before it gets you an interview. All that interview preparation you’re so invested in never gets used. The door never opens because the first filter has already closed it.
So today, the message I want to leave with you is this: preparing for an interview might be understanding the steps that will get you in an interview.
If you’ve been applying unsuccessfully for months without even a single interview, it’s worth pausing before sending the next one. Not to lose hope, but to look more closely at the document you’re using. To ask whether it’s doing the work you think it is, and whether it’s structured for the system and the people who receive it.
You most likely will need a professional to work on it with you—and I say with intentionally. This is a document you should know well enough. You should understand when it sells your skills well, and when it falls short. You should know why certain choices were made in presenting your story, and what those choices are meant to achieve. You must be a part of the process of improving it.
This understanding matters when choosing who to trust with your application. Social media is full of people calling themselves resume writers. Some of them are skilled while some of them are learning in public. And some of them have never seen what happens to an application on the receiving end but because resume writing has quietly become one of those “easy business ideas,” regardless of whether the person offering the service knows what they’re doing or not.
When we don’t understand this stage of the process, we assume too much. We assume that being unseen means we are unqualified. We assume rejection when, in fact, no decision was ever made about us at all. Yet many applications don’t fail because the candidate lacks ability. They failed because the document meant to represent that ability never translated it clearly enough for the applicant to be recognized.
So, let’s be more intentional in how we apply. Let’s spend time understanding what happens before the interview. Because before anyone assesses your talent, they must be able to see it. And often, being unseen is not a reflection of who you are—but of how your story was designed to be received.
SIDE NOTE: Please note that Khuluma Eswatini offers a comprehensive suite of career services, like resume building, job application letters writing, interview preparation and career pivoting. Feel free to reach out to Communications@khulumaeswatini.com
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