How to Identify Resume Rejection Causes

I’ve reviewed 500+ applications as a recruiter at Amazon, Microsoft, and TikTok. This is the kind of resume that gets rejected in 3 seconds. I'll break down why such resumes fail to create an impact and how you can avoid such mistakes. Problem 1: Too much, too soon Two degrees, 15+ courses, and 30+ tools listed - all in the top half. Recruiters don’t need a tech stack dump upfront. Instead: ➡️ Start with a skills summary tied to impact-driven achievements. ➡️ Highlight tools you’ve mastered, not dabbled in. Problem 2: Responsibilities ≠ results Worked with IT to maintain PC and network health. Okay... but how did it matter? Reduced downtime? Saved costs? Improved performance by X%? Instead: ➡️ Write impact-focused bullets — e.g., “Reduced network downtime by 35% through system upgrades.” Problem 3: Irrelevant experience Amazon Prime Shopper role at Whole Foods is listed in detail. Unless applying for retail or logistics, this distracts. Instead: ➡️ Group unrelated roles under a single “Other Experience” section. ➡️ Focus on transferable skills like teamwork, deadlines, or inventory handling — but keep it brief. Problem 4: Projects without purpose Projects sound impressive but lack outcomes. E.g., “Built an AI model to detect human emotion.” Questions recruiters ask: What accuracy did it achieve? Was it deployed? How did it solve a problem? Instead: ➡️ Add metrics — e.g., “Improved emotion detection accuracy by 20% and reduced processing time by 15%.” Here’s the hard truth: Most resumes don’t fail because candidates lack skills. They fail because they fail to communicate impact. If you're not receiving calls from recruiters despite applying to 100s of jobs, it could be due to your resume. Repost this if you found value. P.S. Follow me if you are an Indian job seeker in the U.S. I share insights on job search, interview prep, and more.

People love to think that the ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is out here scanning resumes and auto-rejecting candidates based on keywords, but that’s actually one of the biggest myths on the internet. It’s a recruiter (yes- a real human!) reviewing resumes and making the decision to move someone forward or not. So when I am reviewing a resume, this is what I look for: 1️⃣ Relevant Experience – Does this person have experience that aligns with the role? If not, do they have transferable skills that make sense for the transition? 2️⃣ Industry Experience – Have they worked in our industry before, or in a similar space? While not always required, industry knowledge can be a huge plus. 3️⃣ Work History & Companies – Where have they worked before? Are there recognizable companies, or companies in our sector? Does their work history show growth and progression? How much experience do they have? 4️⃣ Value Add – What else could they bring to the team beyond the core job description? Leadership experience, process improvement expertise, niche skills—anything that adds extra value. 5️⃣ Overall Impact – What is the actual impact they had in their previous roles and could they handle the responsibilities of this role? Numbers, results, and achievements help paint a clearer picture of what they have done and could do if we hire them. 6️⃣ Basic Requirements – Of course, I’m also checking the non-negotiables like do they meet the minimum qualifications, certifications, or education and specific hard skills needed for the role? Remember, it’s a recruiter making these calls, not some robot filtering you out. By learning to look at a resume like a recruiter, you’ll be able to optimize your resume in a way that better stands out in a crowded candidate pool. #resumetips #recruitertips #jobsearchstrategy

Your resume was rejected 8 seconds after you applied. (Never mind that you only received the rejection email 24 hours later — courtesy of "smart" ATS automation.)   This happens to thousands of qualified candidates every day — and it has nothing to do with their experience.   We've integrated with 100+ applicant tracking systems and discovered something that should concern both job seekers AND hiring teams: many qualified candidates are being rejected before a human ever sees their profile.   ATS systems ruthlessly filter out talented people due to simple formatting issues. Here's what's happening and how candidates can fix it:   🛑 Using tables and columns that render resumes gibberish to ATSs ✅ Use a single-column format with clear section headings and simple bullet points   🛑 Keyword matching is simplistic but critical as most ATS don't understand context or synonyms ✅ Use industry-standard terminology that matches the job description while staying honest about your actual experience   🛑 PDFs with images are a disaster as most ATS can't parse it ✅ Submit a text-based PDF or Word doc, save creative stuff for your portfolio   No fancy Ivy league resume-writing techniques will help if you don't get this foundational stuff right. Once you've fixed these, sure, go on and replace / compliment responsibilities with "X to Y by Z" achievements (e.g., "Increased conversion rates from 2.3% to 4.8% by redesigning the checkout flow") etc.   𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: The resume format that performs best with ATS systems looks like it was created in 1997. Plain text. Simple bullets. No design elements.   𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀: Your ATS might be silently rejecting your ideal candidates. The most qualified person for your role could have been filtered out last week without you ever knowing.   The result? The hiring process becomes a formatting contest rather than a true evaluation of talent.   P.S. This is exactly why we built Mokka. Our AI processes resumes in any format, enriches profiles with company data, standardizes formatting, and even gives every applicant a fair chance via online interviews in a supportive environment – all without overwhelming your team. Candidates don't need formatting expertise, and hiring teams see every qualified applicant.

Resumes get rejected in seconds. Here’s why most never make it past a glance A recruiter once told me: “If I can’t scan it in 8 seconds, I move on.” That stuck with me. It’s not about your experience — it’s how fast your value jumps off the page. ❌ Wall-to-wall paragraphs ↳ Skim-proof. Eyes glaze over. ✅ Turn duties into 3 clear impact bullets. ❌ Photo on your resume ↳ Bias risk. ATS rejection. ✅ Remove it. Use a sharp LinkedIn pic instead. ❌ Outdated objectives section ↳ Feels stuck in 1999. ✅ Replace with a crisp 3-line value summary. ❌ 4+ pages long ↳ Signals lack of focus. ✅ Trim to 2 pages max. Link your portfolio. ❌ Tiny font avalanche ↳ Squint = rejection. ✅ Minimum 10-pt font. Embrace white space. ❌ Generic skills list ↳ No proof, no punch. ✅ Back each skill with a metric. ❌ Duties without results ↳ “So what?” vibe. ✅ Show the % gains, $ saved, time cut. ❌ Inconsistent dates ↳ Raises honesty questions. ✅ Align your month/year format. ❌ Acronym overload ↳ ATS & human confusion. ✅ Spell it out once, then use the acronym. Takeaway: Your resume isn’t your biography — it’s your billboard. Make it impossible to ignore. ❓ Which red flag do you see the most? ♻️ Repost to help someone avoid these red flags. 👋 Follow me (Dr. Chris Mullen) for leadership and job search tips.

I’ve reviewed a lot of applications when I worked at Amazon. This is the kind of resume that hiring managers reject in 30 seconds. I'll break down why such resumes fail to create an impact and how you can avoid such mistakes. Problem 1: Too much, too soon Two degrees, 15+ courses, and 30+ tools listed - all in the top half. Recruiters don’t need a tech stack dump upfront. Instead: ➡️ Start with a skills summary tied to impact-driven achievements. ➡️ Highlight tools you’ve mastered, not dabbled in. Problem 2: Responsibilities ≠ results Worked with IT to maintain PC and network health. Okay... but how did it matter? Reduced downtime? Saved costs? Improved performance by X%? Instead: ➡️ Write impact-focused bullets — e.g., “Reduced network downtime by 35% through system upgrades.” Problem 3: Irrelevant experience Amazon Prime Shopper role at Whole Foods is listed in detail. Unless applying for retail or logistics, this distracts. Instead: ➡️ Group unrelated roles under a single “Other Experience” section. ➡️ Focus on transferable skills like teamwork, deadlines, or inventory handling — but keep it brief. Problem 4: Projects without purpose Projects sound impressive but lack outcomes. E.g., “Built an AI model to detect human emotion.” Questions recruiters ask: What accuracy did it achieve? Was it deployed? How did it solve a problem? Instead: ➡️ Add metrics — e.g., “Improved emotion detection accuracy by 20% and reduced processing time by 15%.” Here’s the hard truth: Most resumes don’t fail because candidates lack skills. They fail because they fail to communicate impact. If you're not receiving calls from recruiters despite applying to 100s of jobs, it could be due to your resume. Repost this if you found value. Comment if you'd like me to rewrite this resume, so that it starts landing interviews. P.S. Follow me if you are a job seeker in the U.S. I share real stories and frameworks to help you land your dream role.

Ever wonder why you never heard back from that job you applied to? It might not be what you think. Here are some real reasons candidates fall through the cracks—none of which are fair, but all of which happen more often than they should: 📭 The ATS parsed your email wrong. So when the recruiter bulk rejected everyone after making a hire, you never got the message. Some ATSs are better than others. 📄 Your resume had no contact info. It’s rare, but I see it: no email, no phone number, no LinkedIn. 📬 You applied to an email list-serv or catch-all general application pool. These often aren’t actively monitored—so your application sat untouched. 🚪 The recruiter marked the role “filled” and doing so auto-closed the role, so it no longer shows in active pipelines or dashboards around which all candidate workflows are built. But there were still candidates in the pipeline who never got a follow-up. I’ve made this mistake before. I felt awful when I discovered it months later. 🖇️ Your resume didn’t load. Happens multiple times a day. All we see is a name and maybe a few application question answers. No resume, no email, no phone—no way to figure out which of the dozens of Amy Adams in the world you might be (I hope you’re the actress, let’s meet). 🌀 A recruiter rejected an internal candidate without an email because they thought the hiring manager was going to talk to them. But, the hiring manager thought the recruiter was reaching out via email, so they never contacted the candidate either. If you’ve ever felt ghosted by a job you were excited about—it might not be because you weren’t qualified. Or because people don’t care. But because systems break. People miss things. Tech fails. And volume overwhelms process. This doesn’t excuse it. But I hope it gives you context—and helps you take it a little less personally. 💡 Tips: Always include your contact info on your resume. Double-check that your email parsed from the resume into the application form correctly. Upload a PDF not a word document, webpage, or other weird format. Good luck, the job market is tough right now.

A real story on why keywords matter & the power of FOLLOWING UP. Even w/ the best intentions, recruiters make mistakes. A recruiter friend was hiring an Account Exec. The manager wanted someone with CPG experience - ideally food. So the recruiter posted the role, received hundreds of apps & filtered the ATS for: “CPG” OR “Consumer Packaged Goods.” She personally reviewed every single match. & rejected the rest. The matches were great & they interviewed lots of qualified candidates. Just as they were nearing the offer stage, the recruiter got a DM on LinkedIn: “Thanks for reviewing my application for the Sr. Account Executive role and letting me know you were moving forward with other candidates. I noticed the role’s still posted and wanted to express my continued interest. Are you available for a quick chat this week?" She clicked his profile. He worked at a major food company - one that just *screams* CPG. ((Okay, fine ... it was Lance.)) His background? Spot on. He met EVERY. SINGLE. QUALIFICATION! He was the perfect candidate. How could she have missed this app??? He must have applied to a different role. She searched the ATS for his app. And there it was: She had personally rejected him. Three weeks ago. 🫠 And get this: he’d been referred by someone ON THE TEAM!!!!! So why did he get rejected??? BC his resume didn’t include the magic keywords so he never showed up in the search results. He was rejected along with hundreds of others who didn't meet the preferred qualifications based on her keyword search. When the rejection email came through: The candidate was disappointed (probably pissed) but figured this is par for the course these days. The referrer assumed if he *was* a fit, he’d get flagged to the team. *They must have better candidates*, he thought. The referrer didn’t want to “bother” anyone so he didn't ask the hiring manager why they'd rejected his friend. They trusted the process. And it failed everyone. So what happened next? Recruiter reopened the application. Sent it to the hiring manager. They expedited his interviews. He was back in the game. And this whole saga? It’s not some wild one-off. It happens ALL THE TIME. When I was recruiting, I hired *plenty* of people who were initially rejected by the screening team - even some who were referred by Directors and VPs. ...And that was before the market got this competitive. So here’s your reminder: ➡️ ATS filters are human-made. ➡️ If you meet the preferred qualifications/nice-to-haves, INCLUDE the key words in your resume. ➡️ IF YOU'RE REFERRED, ASK THEM TO ELEVATE YOUR APPLICATION TO THE HIRING TEAM. ➡️ If your resume doesn’t spell it out, no one’s connecting the dots for you. Stop assuming they know what you mean. Make it obvious. Then follow up anyway. --- Follow me, Sarah Goose, for job search strategies and career musings. Like, share or comment to help someone else get back in the game.

📌The 7 Deadly Sins of Job Hunting (Why You're Still Unemployed) You update your resume. You apply religiously. You even network... Yet here you are - still job hunting. After placing +100 professionals last year, I've found these 7 self-sabotaging mistakes keep candidates stuck: 1. Pride: "My Experience Speaks for Itself" Reality: Hiring managers spend 7 seconds on your resume. What Works → Start bullets with results (e.g., "Cut onboarding time 30%") → Add a "Key Contributions" section above work history 2. Greed: The 100-Application Myth Truth: 5 tailored applications > 100 generic ones Fix → Identify 10 target companies → Research their pain points (check earnings calls/news) → Customize your "About" section to mirror their language 3. Lust: Chasing Brand Names Blindly Warning Sign: Applying because "Google sounds cool" Smarter Play → Target companies where your skills solve urgent problems → Example: A cybersecurity pro should prioritize banks hit by recent breaches over "sexy" startups 4. Envy: "They Only Got Promoted Because..." Hard Truth: Office politics = career oxygen Coaching Insight → Map power structures (Who advises the CEO?) → Volunteer for visibility projects (Task forces, onboarding) 5. Gluttony: Certificate Collecting Hiring Manager Confession: "We ignore certifications without real-world impact" Pivot Strategy → Show before/after metrics from past roles → Create a 1-page "Business Case" doc for interviews 6. Wrath: Burning Bridges After Rejections Career Suicide: Ghosting recruiters Pro Move → Send this email after rejections: "Thanks for considering me. If any roles open up requiring [specific skill], I'd love to discuss how I [relevant achievement]. Keep in touch!" 7. Sloth: Waiting for Jobs to Find You 2025 Reality: The best jobs never get posted How Winners Play → Identify 2nd-degree LinkedIn connections at targets → Message: "[Name], I noticed you work on [project]. I helped [Company] solve [similar challenge] by [result]. Would you have 15 minutes to share your insights on [topic]?" I've helped clients land $150K+ roles in 8 weeks by fixing these exact mistakes. DM "SINNER" for a free career strategy PS: The job market rewards strategists, not just workers. Which sin is holding you back? #JobSearch #CareerTips #JobHunting #LinkedInTips #JobSearchStrategy #CareerDevelopment #InterviewTips #PersonalBranding #LinkedIn

You're objectively really really qualified for that role and your STILL got rejected?! Here are some possible reasons: 💡 Applicant volume This is probably the reason the vast majority of the time. Openings can easily get a few hundred apps within a few days. We usually have some historical data that tell us we need to screen 10 or 15 or 20 people to make a hire. If we've got say 50 qualified people in the pool, we're going to have to prioritize who to interview. That's where we start focusing on applicants who might exceed the minimum qualifications and have some of the nice-to-haves. Other differentiators like referrals or hiring manager outreach can help as they give the candidate more advocates in the process. And some people who certainly meet the qualifications to do the job will end up being declined simply because we have more qualified applicants than we have openings. 💡 Flags/concerns This is a smaller number, but sometimes, you can be really well qualified, but there will be something that can raise concerns for the hiring team. This could be things like job hopping, it could be that your experience is in a very different environment and they worry the experience won't translate as well (for example, large well-resourced enterprise company vs a scrappy startup). It could be a less ideal location/time zone or that you would need to relocate for the job. It could be phoning it in on the open-ended, skills-based application questions (everything is clearly AI-generated or you just said, "see resume" instead of responding to the questions). With a limited applicant pool, they'd probably be willing to set up a screen to learn more. But if they've already got a bunch of highly qualified folks, these seemingly small things can be enough to decline someone. 💡 Knockouts and automations This is going to be a still smaller number. But I have seen people accidentally indicate that they lack work authorization or select the wrong country from a list which can result in being disqualified for a role. 💡 Human error App review for most recruiters who have a high volume of applications starts with a quick scan - 10 seconds where we're checking industry, job titles, etc. If we have a tool that does key word matching or leverages generative AI to identify alignment, they can glance at that. And then they may make a quick decision without digging in further, and end up missing the mark. Or they may even click the "NO" when they meant "YES". So what can you do? 1. Don't take rejection too personally; realize it's often more about the market than anything you did/didn't do. 2. Leverage your connections or things like portfolios/video intros/HM outreach to stand out 3. If you think a decline may have been a mistake, a polite follow up asking for feedback or affirming your interest in the future may get your app a second look and on rare occasions, get that decline overturned.

1600 people applied for a job → ATS rejected 1570 applications in 5 seconds → the hiring manager approved only 8, and the recruiter shortlisted just 5. Now this is why you are not able to land interviews. I’ve heard this so many times from job seekers, even from senior professionals: - ATS is BS - It’s all about luck - It doesn’t really matter how your resume looks Let me be honest with you it does matter. Almost every company, including top tech giants, uses some form of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to filter and organize resumes. Hence, 90 out of 100 people get filtered out before their resume gets seen by a human. Now it's easy to blame companies for having such systems, but when you receive 100s of applications for a single role, you need automation to help. Blaming won't crack the system, but a strategy will do it. If you are not hearing from hiring managers and recruiters, maybe your resume is stuck in the ATS. Here's how I've helped 500+ professionals pass the ATS screening and land interviews. 1. Make your resume role-specific Most resumes try to be versatile for every role, but that doesn’t work. I helped candidates match their resumes to the exact job description. For a TPM role at Amazon, we used phrases like: → “Led ambiguity-heavy programs across 4+ teams using Agile/Scrum” → “Owned program execution tied to customer-facing delivery and ops efficiency” This mirrors what the JD asks for - and gets picked up by the ATS. 2. Replace tool-stacking with outcome-driven bullets Listing tools (Python, Docker, GCP…) isn’t enough. We rewrote those into impact. Example: → “Used GCP and Airflow to automate data pipelines, reducing report latency by 60%” Now the tools are backed by value. 3. Fix formatting issues that break parsing Many resumes get rejected because they use tables, columns, or PDFs that ATS tools can’t read. We cleaned layouts, used bullet-based formatting, removed visual blocks, and ensured each resume passed ATS parsing tests before sending. These aren’t hacks. They’re systems, and they work. Repost this to help someone struggling to land interviews. P.S. Follow me if you are a job seeker in the U.S. I share practical advice like this that helps you land your dream role.