WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.179 The email came in at 9 .02am. Subject line. Regarding 00:00:04.179 --> 00:00:07.320 your application. I clicked it. Heart pounding. 00:00:07.580 --> 00:00:11.060 This one felt different. It was after a referral. 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:14.500 Someone I respected had put their name on the 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:16.679 line for me. I tailored my resume to perfection. 00:00:17.620 --> 00:00:20.039 Triple checked every word. I thought I had a 00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:22.420 real shot. It took me exactly 4 seconds to read. 00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:25.719 And about 4 hours to stop staring at my screen. 00:00:26.089 --> 00:00:28.410 Thank you for your interest in the role at Company 00:00:28.410 --> 00:00:31.250 X. After careful consideration, we've decided 00:00:31.250 --> 00:00:33.990 to move forward with other candidates. No feedback, 00:00:34.270 --> 00:00:38.829 no explanation, just silence where hope used 00:00:38.829 --> 00:00:41.390 to be. But here's the part that stung even more. 00:00:41.729 --> 00:00:43.689 It wasn't a person who rejected me, it was a 00:00:43.689 --> 00:00:47.170 machine. And that night I decided to fight back 00:00:47.170 --> 00:00:49.630 the only way I knew how, by building my own. 00:00:49.789 --> 00:00:51.929 Hey everyone, welcome back to Dita Niyai with 00:00:51.929 --> 00:00:54.869 Mukundan. We're talking about rejection today. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:57.159 but not the kind that you can recover from with 00:00:57.159 --> 00:01:00.280 ice cream and a Netflix binge. This is the cold 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:03.679 algorithmic kind. The kind that arrives in your 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:07.519 inbox without warning and wipes out weeks of 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:10.780 hope in one click. And in my case, it was after 00:01:10.780 --> 00:01:14.519 referral as the part that really hurt. Let me 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:17.239 ask you, have you ever had that job, that one 00:01:17.239 --> 00:01:21.379 job where you felt like you had everything lined 00:01:21.379 --> 00:01:25.310 up? The connection, the timing, you had the relevant 00:01:25.310 --> 00:01:28.430 experience as well. And maybe someone inside 00:01:28.430 --> 00:01:32.349 the company that you so dream about has been 00:01:32.349 --> 00:01:36.010 rooting for you. And then you don't just get 00:01:36.010 --> 00:01:38.790 rejected. You get rejected without ever speaking 00:01:38.790 --> 00:01:41.409 to an actual human. Today, I want to take you 00:01:41.409 --> 00:01:44.810 inside the world of applicant tracking systems, 00:01:45.269 --> 00:01:49.730 ETS for short, and show you how exactly they 00:01:49.730 --> 00:01:52.400 make these decisions. But more importantly, I'll 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:55.620 share how I built my own AI -powered ATS simulator, 00:01:55.980 --> 00:01:59.819 why it failed my resume, and how I turned that 00:01:59.819 --> 00:02:02.519 failure into a win. And along the way, I'm going 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:05.579 to challenge you to think about your own career 00:02:05.579 --> 00:02:08.979 storytelling. Because beating the bots isn't 00:02:08.979 --> 00:02:11.879 just about keywords. It's about making sure that 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:15.780 your story makes it to real human eyes. Before 00:02:15.780 --> 00:02:18.219 we get into the tech, take a second and think. 00:02:18.340 --> 00:02:21.090 If a machine was judging your resume, right now 00:02:21.090 --> 00:02:24.409 would it pass what's the one skill or project 00:02:24.409 --> 00:02:27.969 you've never put on paper because you didn't 00:02:27.969 --> 00:02:30.550 think it mattered hold on to that we'll circle 00:02:30.550 --> 00:02:34.990 back so let's talk about the villain in our story 00:02:34.990 --> 00:02:40.370 the ats applicant tracking systems or ats aren't 00:02:40.370 --> 00:02:43.650 new they've been around for years quietly filtering 00:02:43.650 --> 00:02:46.990 resumes before they even reach a human recruiter 00:02:46.990 --> 00:02:49.620 but in recent years they've gotten even more 00:02:49.620 --> 00:02:52.740 advanced. Of course they had to, right? Everything 00:02:52.740 --> 00:02:55.639 evolved toward the 80s and they've gotten a lot 00:02:55.639 --> 00:02:59.360 more ruthless. Picture a digital gatekeeper that 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:01.939 reads your resume like a database, not a story. 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:04.639 It's scanning for specific keywords, formatting 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:08.759 compatibility, file structure, and metadata. 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:11.180 Even it's checking for word order in bullet points. 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:14.539 It doesn't care about your potential. It doesn't 00:03:14.539 --> 00:03:16.520 care that you once saved your company six figures 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:19.050 in revenue. or even built a team from scratch. 00:03:19.270 --> 00:03:22.250 It's not personal, but it feels personal. And 00:03:22.250 --> 00:03:23.969 here's the part most people don't know. Many 00:03:23.969 --> 00:03:28.729 rejections in jobs happen automatically. No human 00:03:28.729 --> 00:03:31.030 eyes, no manual review. Nobody is seeing it. 00:03:31.550 --> 00:03:34.930 Just a set of if -then rules that decide whether 00:03:34.930 --> 00:03:37.710 you're in or you're out. I've learned a lot of, 00:03:37.729 --> 00:03:39.770 oh, I would say, not a big reader, but I would 00:03:39.770 --> 00:03:43.710 say I've listened to a lot of Audiobooks, podcasts, 00:03:44.050 --> 00:03:46.409 this is the podcast generation anyway. And all 00:03:46.409 --> 00:03:48.889 the famous people, can't remember which particular 00:03:48.889 --> 00:03:51.469 person this was, but anyway, they would normally 00:03:51.469 --> 00:03:53.909 say like, stop taking it personally and start 00:03:53.909 --> 00:03:56.050 playing the game. The game is keywords, then 00:03:56.050 --> 00:03:59.050 you need to play the keywords. The game is structure, 00:03:59.150 --> 00:04:02.610 play the structure. Complaining doesn't get you 00:04:02.610 --> 00:04:05.569 a job. Optimizing your resume or, you know, that 00:04:05.569 --> 00:04:08.550 would definitely get you in the door. Let's take 00:04:08.550 --> 00:04:11.879 a quick break to talk about rss .com. If you 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:13.939 ever wanted to tell your story, whether it's 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:16.360 about career wins, personal struggles or industry 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:20.000 insights, rss .com is where you start. It's how 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.300 I published this podcast and here's why I love 00:04:23.300 --> 00:04:25.819 them. Every episode comes with a free transcript. 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:28.500 I can take that transcript, drop it into an AI 00:04:28.500 --> 00:04:30.860 tool and see how to make my delivery even better. 00:04:31.220 --> 00:04:34.220 The same way I optimized my resume. And here's 00:04:34.220 --> 00:04:36.180 something cool. Even if you're just starting 00:04:36.180 --> 00:04:38.680 out and you get like 10 downloads a month, you 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:41.370 can start earning Ad revenue. That's unheard 00:04:41.370 --> 00:04:44.610 of. I don't think any company does this. So links 00:04:44.610 --> 00:04:47.870 in the show notes. I love RSS .com for podcasting. 00:04:47.910 --> 00:04:51.009 Oh, did I forget to mention they are amazing 00:04:51.009 --> 00:04:55.990 at their distribution network. So they have distribution 00:04:55.990 --> 00:04:58.829 ranging from not just Spotify, Apple Podcast. 00:04:59.250 --> 00:05:02.610 They also have Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, 00:05:02.689 --> 00:05:07.670 Deezer. And you can also publish. your own podcast 00:05:07.670 --> 00:05:10.230 into youtube as well with one with one button 00:05:10.230 --> 00:05:13.930 that's it that's how simple that is so coming 00:05:13.930 --> 00:05:16.649 back to the show let's look at a night that i 00:05:16.649 --> 00:05:20.769 tried to build the ats ai is what i called it 00:05:20.769 --> 00:05:23.329 i remember the night that i hit my limit another 00:05:23.329 --> 00:05:26.290 referral rejection another email with no feedback 00:05:26.290 --> 00:05:28.889 i opened my laptop and i created a new folder 00:05:28.889 --> 00:05:32.870 and i started coding in python i didn't just 00:05:32.870 --> 00:05:36.220 want to guess what what the ats is doing I wanted 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:38.560 to actually see it. Here's what I used. I used 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:41.319 Python for all the logic and the backend. Streamlit 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:44.600 so that it would be easy to run and share. OpenEI 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:48.319 API to generate plain English feedback. Scikit 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:51.120 -learn, which is a Python -based library to calculate 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:55.019 cosine similarity between my resume and a job 00:05:55.019 --> 00:05:59.899 description. PyPDF2 and docx2text to handle the 00:05:59.899 --> 00:06:03.399 different file types that candidates use. And 00:06:03.399 --> 00:06:06.610 then I tested it on my resume. uploaded the PDF, 00:06:06.829 --> 00:06:10.129 based on the job description, and then I clicked 00:06:10.129 --> 00:06:12.889 run. And the result? It said cosine similarity 00:06:12.889 --> 00:06:19.230 with a 43 .43%, GPT -4 score of 85 out of 100, 00:06:19.410 --> 00:06:22.829 and verdict? Fail. My own AI had rejected my 00:06:22.829 --> 00:06:25.050 resume. So here's some food for thought for you. 00:06:25.189 --> 00:06:27.329 Your best work was being evaluated right now 00:06:27.329 --> 00:06:30.889 by a system, not a person. What would it miss 00:06:30.889 --> 00:06:33.610 about you? And more importantly, what would you 00:06:33.610 --> 00:06:36.339 miss? about yourself. Let's take another break. 00:06:36.519 --> 00:06:39.060 If you're listening to this and thinking, I wish 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:41.439 I had an AI assistant to help me figure this 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:45.480 out, you need to check out Sider .ai. It's S 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:49.720 -I -D -E -R .ai. It's an AI -powered research 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:52.579 and productivity tool that lives in your browser. 00:06:53.060 --> 00:06:55.620 I actually used it to test some of my parsing 00:06:55.620 --> 00:06:57.899 logic for this project. It's perfect for breaking 00:06:57.899 --> 00:07:01.160 down complex job descriptions into Actionable 00:07:01.160 --> 00:07:03.379 keywords. Links in the show notes. And back to 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:06.379 the podcast. Here's what my resume, which failed, 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:09.540 taught me. Lesson 1. Never assume that your resume 00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:12.899 speaks for itself. You might think that your 00:07:12.899 --> 00:07:16.079 achievements are obvious. The machine doesn't. 00:07:16.100 --> 00:07:21.180 Lesson 2. Keyword alignment matters more than 00:07:21.180 --> 00:07:23.540 clever phrasing. Again, this is all an opinion. 00:07:23.660 --> 00:07:26.439 You can still be creative, but match the language 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:31.160 of the job description. Lesson 3. Formatting 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:34.240 and structure aren't cosmetic. They're functional. 00:07:34.420 --> 00:07:37.279 Fancy designs can break parsing. So I took these 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:39.759 three lessons and I made the changes. I did missing 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:42.639 keywords like Google Analytics 4 and site measurement. 00:07:43.540 --> 00:07:45.819 Rephrased, collaborated with product teams to 00:07:45.819 --> 00:07:48.779 lead A -B tests with product and marketing teams 00:07:48.779 --> 00:07:51.699 using SQL and BigQuery. Quantified wins wherever 00:07:51.699 --> 00:07:55.019 possible. Same resume, same person. Just a different 00:07:55.019 --> 00:07:57.959 language. Ran it again and lo and behold, of 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:00.459 course, there was a pass. I believe this is storytelling, 00:08:00.660 --> 00:08:03.519 but for machines. Every bullet point here is 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:05.879 a mini story. And if you tell it in the right 00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:08.639 order, with the right words, it opens doors. 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:12.319 Let's take another break to talk about Riverside 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:15.060 .fm. And speaking of telling your story well, 00:08:15.259 --> 00:08:19.060 Riverside .fm is how I record this podcast in 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:22.259 studio quality audio and 4K video. Even when 00:08:22.259 --> 00:08:24.519 my guests are halfway across the world or even 00:08:24.519 --> 00:08:26.920 on spotty Wi -Fi, if you've ever thought about 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:29.339 starting a podcast to share your own career lessons 00:08:29.339 --> 00:08:32.139 or talk about your favorite shows, start with 00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:34.980 Riverside .fm. Link in the show notes. One more 00:08:34.980 --> 00:08:37.720 thing about Riverside .fm, they have AI editing 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:41.580 as well. So AI can magically create clips from 00:08:41.580 --> 00:08:44.600 your podcast. So you can use these clips to promote 00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:49.019 your podcast on Spotify or any other podcasting 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:51.870 platform. Actually, you can even share it on 00:08:51.870 --> 00:08:54.450 YouTube, right? So that's another way to share 00:08:54.450 --> 00:08:57.929 these AI generated clips. These clips could be 00:08:57.929 --> 00:09:00.110 as short as like, you know, your TikTok clips, 00:09:00.129 --> 00:09:03.309 like all your YouTube shots. That's what these 00:09:03.309 --> 00:09:06.070 clips are. And Riverside .fm really helps you 00:09:06.070 --> 00:09:10.049 creating it using AI. So back to the podcast. 00:09:10.330 --> 00:09:13.629 Here's my challenge to you. This week, take your 00:09:13.629 --> 00:09:16.440 resume and run it through a tool. Whether it's 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:19.220 mine or another ATS checker. Don't just look 00:09:19.220 --> 00:09:21.279 for a score. Look for the gaps. Look for the 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:24.299 parts of your story that aren't making it through 00:09:24.299 --> 00:09:27.639 the filter. Because here's the truth. You can't 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:30.399 control whether a company hires you. But you 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:32.919 can control whether your story ever makes it 00:09:32.919 --> 00:09:35.059 to a human. Don't let a machine decide whether 00:09:35.059 --> 00:09:38.000 you're invisible. Tune your story for the gatekeeper 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:41.080 so that the human on the other side can finally 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:45.129 see you. Clarity comes from engagement. not thought 00:09:45.129 --> 00:09:49.110 you learn by doing so take action see what happens 00:09:49.110 --> 00:09:52.029 adjust your resume and repeat the process if 00:09:52.029 --> 00:09:54.549 this episode resonated with you share it with 00:09:54.549 --> 00:09:56.470 someone who's in the middle of the job search 00:09:56.470 --> 00:10:00.029 grind in this crazy job market finding a new 00:10:00.029 --> 00:10:02.350 job is really hard right now it's a very unfortunate 00:10:02.350 --> 00:10:05.149 situation we are in do remember this like here's 00:10:05.149 --> 00:10:09.350 my disclaimer for you yes this AI based tool 00:10:09.350 --> 00:10:13.009 to evaluate your resume. It's not foolproof. 00:10:13.129 --> 00:10:16.029 Nothing is, right? It's AI at the end of it. 00:10:16.149 --> 00:10:18.830 The advice given by it is, you know, take it 00:10:18.830 --> 00:10:21.889 as you will. It has helped me and I believe it 00:10:21.889 --> 00:10:25.769 will help you. It is my belief, right? AI is, 00:10:25.850 --> 00:10:28.250 I would not say it's a hundred percent fact. 00:10:28.470 --> 00:10:30.549 That's something to always remember, but it will 00:10:30.549 --> 00:10:33.370 make your job easier if you use it the right 00:10:33.370 --> 00:10:36.490 way. So try this tool. It's in the, link is in 00:10:36.490 --> 00:10:38.870 the show notes. And as always, if you've enjoyed 00:10:38.870 --> 00:10:42.960 this, subscribe, drop a review, and I'll be back 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:46.379 soon with another real -world AI journey. But 00:10:46.379 --> 00:10:49.740 until next time, stay curious, and most importantly, 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:50.679 stay seen.