I hear from job seekers all the time about how time consuming the online job application process is and how aggravating it can be to submit dozens of online job applications and never hear back.   You wonder if your resume even made it through the Applicant Tracking System.

Because of the highly competitive job market, you need to sell yourself stronger than ever before to stand out from the other candidates.   It is crucial that you answer every single question as well as possible, making sure your grammar and punctuation are perfect.   This is difficult because the input fields you type into are so small that it can be hard  to see what you are typing, and many of these online application systems do not even have a spell check feature.   One typo and you are out of the running.

Many jobseekers skip over the salary question, because they do not want to be eliminated with a figure that is outside of the salary range – but you can’t do this. Make sure you answer every question, as many companies use incomplete applications as a way to weed out candidates. Continue reading →