We are not an ATS, Agency or Resume Repository
I am often asked, by both engineering job and resource-seekers, to explain how our system works. The fact that we are radically different from traditional recruiting systems catches some folks off-guard. People have been educated their whole lives about job boards, resumes, cover letters, cold calls, agency commissions, etc. so when you hit them with something outside that box, it throws them for a loop.
The other factor in play here is the world that we currently live in. A deep mistrust of the ‘system’ seems to have permeated our culture, and for good reason. It seems at times that every institution that we interact with is trying to slip something past us, so everyone’s guard is waaaay up.
I recently had a conversation with a senior Mechanical Engineer who was creating a new jobseeker profile on our site. After he had completed the contact info section, he was expecting to upload his resume. When that didn’t happen, and he was presented with our Education section, he stopped and asked for a live phone call via our live chat on our Home page. His concern was that he was about to be drawn into one of those sites that attempts to build a profile for you with ‘fancy’ software as he put it.
I knew exactly what he was referring to. Those ATS sites that either force you to fill out a ridiculously long form by cutting and pasting paragraphs from your resume or try to build your profile ‘automatically’ after scanning your resume and attempt to break out your work experience etc. (which never works). He made it clear that he strongly dislikes sites like this, and who can blame him?
Now if this gentleman had this concern that our site was another one of those high input, zero output blackhole sites, then I suspect there are many others like him. So, I wanted to address this head-on.
Our site is nothing like that!
We are a Candidate Sourcing System (CSS) not a job board, not a resume repository and not an agency. What exactly does that mean? Well, in a nutshell we use an embedded engineering skills database that stores all the education, skills and industry experience for each engineering jobseeker that can be easily filter-searched by resource-seekers, either by placing a job ad with us or by executing a direct quick-search.
Yes, it takes a few minutes to create a jobseeker profile using our pull-down menus. But if it takes you longer than 10 minutes, you’re doing something wrong. After you put in your education, add half a dozen of your topmost relevant skills and an industry experience field or two. Boom! You’re done.
By having your Czar profile screened for actual skills by a computer instead of having your resume scanned by either an ATS or the eyes of a non-engineering recruiter, you end up on a qualified short-list of typically less than 20 competitors compared with over 200 resumes that usually pour in for each job opening.
We at Engineering Job Czar have all been in the same position as everyone else who needs a job from time to time. And we were frustrated with the current systems available and thought that there must be a better way. Since none existed, we decided to create one.
We’re not scammers and we aren’t out to trick anyone. Our platform is a simple, no nonsense solution to a complex, ineffective, inefficient system that makes Billions for a few companies while the rest of us chase each other in circles.
STEVE NOVAK
Steve is an Industrial Automation Technologist with over 30 years experience, working mostly in Oil & Gas. He created a job search/recruiting site after becoming frustrated with platforms like LinkedIn, Monster and Indeed.