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Here are the last few comments that have come through.  Some are even positive.

A friend is conducting research regarding online application systems and seeks input from job seekers.

If you are a job seeker, please complete this simple, 10 question survey.

Thank you!

Thank you for asking Dan. I agree with all of the comments I read, the online system is terribly inefficient and cannot serve the recruiters (nor the applicants) well – which is the opposite of what it is supposed to do. When I was hiring I would usually start with a screening call, addressing a few points that were usually a ‘deal breaker’. If both the candidate and myself were interested in pursuing things further after the brief screening, further time and energy was put into going forward. For a site to require one to fill out an entire application for a position is ridiculous, especially if (based on the job description provided) I have no clue whether I am actually fully interested in, or even whether I am qualified to apply for the position to begin with. Both parties would be better served with a multiple step system – starting with a response to several brief screening questions to qualify the applicant to go further with the application. Unless the only traits the recruiters are looking for in employees are stubborn persistance, the patience of Job, people with too much time on their hands, etc. They can’t be getting the best of what they are looking for with the time invested. I agree with Tom who says basically ‘life it tough’ and ‘things are different now’, but I think both parties would benefit from examining this potentially terrific recruiting tool to better benefit all parties.

I’ve had few good experiences with online application systems. Too often I find myself entering the information that is easily found on my resume. Not many of these online application systems offer the option to parse, so I find it very time-consuming to constantly have to re-enter my information for each application. Some systems I have encountered have serious issues and wouldn’t even let me upload my resume. There is little opportunity to follow up with these online applications and I’ve received few satisfactory responses from employers.

Thank you for taking our comments into account as you continue designing applicant tracking software. Most of my issues have been with Taleo and there is never a soul to talk to. Calling the employer results in being told, “We can’t accept any applications or resumes unless they come through the website.” There seems to be no shades of gray in this process and I have missed out on really good opportunities due to the website fortress.

Having someone with your experience will be the beginning of needed change in applicant tracking and I appreciate it.

As a vendor of Applicant Tracking software (and thus purveyor of online applications), I greatly appreciate this discussion and comments. Our customers (HR and recruiters) have to balance collecting the proper amount of data to evaluate a candidate, with making the application process quick and painless. We designed our software (ApplicantStack) to be easy for the recruiter AND the candidate, and I hope this is the case in practice.

Univita’s website wants me to fill out their entire online form for EACH position that I apply for with them. They don’t save any of the information from the last time that I filled out the entire online form, which was just last week. I’m just not willing to do that, so I decided not to apply there today.

I’ll keep working with you, both employers and job seekers, to help you both find a way to meet everyone’s needs.

Thanks for tuning in and listening!

Univita’s website wants me to fill out their entire online form for EACH position that I apply for with them. They don’t save any of the information from the last time that I filled out the entire online form, which was just last week. I’m just not willing to do that, so I decided not to apply there today.