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Jane Janniere remembers when hiring used to start with a handshake.
“I have watched the hiring process transform into something almost unrecognizable from where it started,” she says.
After decades working in staffing and career coaching, Ms. Janniere, who lives in Ontario, has witnessed a seismic shift. What was once a human-driven process has evolved into one that is largely filtered by artificial intelligence and automated systems.
The result, she says, is that great candidates are too often unseen by the system.
“The system is built to eliminate, not discover. Being qualified isn’t enough any more – you have to be seen,” she says.
That visibility, she explains, now hinges on a resume’s ability to pass through applicant tracking systems (ATS), which scan for formatting, keywords and phrasing. If a resume is too creative, too cluttered or too vague, it’s screened out before a human ever reads it.
“There’s a frustrating paradox,” she says. “We tell people to be authentic and show personality, but if they go too far with bold design or clever language, they confuse the technology. On the flip side, overly generic resumes packed with keywords might get through the scan but fall flat with a recruiter.”
Data from recruiting firm Robert Half supports this. According to a recent survey, 21 per cent of Canadian job seekers said crafting application materials that stand out is their biggest challenge right now.
So, how do job seekers walk that tightrope to get past the AI and also a human?
Ms. Janniere’s advice is to aim for strategic clarity. That means clean formatting: no text boxes, no graphics and no fancy fonts. But it also means anchoring the resume in truth and relevance.
“You’re not writing a biography, you’re writing a search result. Who are you? What problems do you solve? And where have you done that before?” she says.
Ms. Janniere encourages clients to use AI tools such as ChatGPT to support the resume-writing process, but with caution.
“Use it as a co-pilot, not a replacement for your thinking. AI can help with structure and phrasing, but you need to fact-check everything. Don’t let it write fiction for you,” she says.
For those struggling to get that elusive first interview, Ms. Janniere offers a five-point checklist:
- Is the top third of your resume aligned with the job description?
- Are your achievements clearly qualified or quantified?
- Is your LinkedIn profile current and consistent with your resume?
- Are you customizing your resume for each role?
- And crucially, are you connecting with actual humans?
“The resume is one piece, but the hidden job market is real. Relationships can bypass the system altogether,” she says.
Ms. Janniere urges job seekers to go beyond online applications by engaging with industry groups, commenting on LinkedIn and sharing their thoughts.
“Your voice matters and showing up authentically, whether online or in person, can be the key that opens a door,” she says.
Fast fact
Travel trouble
31.9 per cent
Amid tariffs, a weak loonie and worries about getting held up at the border, Canadians are thinking twice about heading south. Road trips to the U.S. dropped 31.9 per cent last month, compared to March 2024.
Career guidance
Subcontractor, silenced?
After one worker quit their job as a subcontractor, they received an e-mail from the company stating that they could not contact former clients or colleagues, or the company would start legal proceedings. They’re wondering if this is legal.
According to experts, the company is unlikely to be able to enforce those demands if the subcontractor hasn’t already signed some sort of documentation that included non-disclosure, non-solicitation or non-disparagement clauses. However, to mitigate risk, they advise keeping records of the e-mail.
Quoted
Thrift therapy
“Working in a charity shop would be an uncomplicated, low-stakes mini-adventure. No virtual meetings. No timesheets. No PowerPoint slides. No KPIs. No jargon. Just accomplishing something through normal interactions with regular people,” writes Mark Bessoudo in this first-person essay.
Mr. Bessoudo shares how volunteering at a local thrift shop became an antidote to the alienation he felt from building a career at multinational companies where he spent a lot of time e-mailing people he would never meet and working on projects he would never see fully come to fruition.
On our radar
Employee engagement
According to a new report from Gallup, global employee engagement dropped to 21 per cent in 2024 – the lowest since 2021 and only the second decline since 2009 – reflecting a dip in workers’ enthusiasm and involvement at work.