A New Way for Creating Better Job Search Experiences for Employers and Job Seekers

Allan Brown

Professional Resume Writer ~ Yelp - 4.8★ Rating (320 Reviews) Google 4.9★ Rating (100+ Reviews) LI Profiles ~ Custom Resumes ~ Job Search Strategies ~ Career Transitions ~ Career Assessment ~ No “AI” Ever Used

July 31, 2025

The system is broken - is any company bold enough to disrupt the status quo? Everyone will win (Hiring Managers, Candidates and Companies).

(A bit provocative but nonetheless important to think about).

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) has changed the game drastically for job search and online applications.  The majority of the resumes fall into a black hole. The “black hole” is real, and it hurts everyone:

1.       The overwhelming number of candidates have no understanding of why this happens.  ATS creates mistrust, deception and stress, not to mention bewilderment

2.       Employers do not have the best candidates in the talent pool because most resumes are not ATS compliant. The interview process ends up being inefficient, ineffective, often resulting in “bad hires,” which are costly to the employer.

3.       With 100+ ATS systems used in the United States, there are no standards; each system has its own criteria. The status quo simply does not work.

Given the statements above, when a high school student applies for college, he/she pays a non-refundable application fee to the school.  The fee is not put towards tuition, housing, books, etc. However, in return, the student gets a response (verbally or written).  (Please continue – the rationale will fall into place).

In the world of ATS, the candidate gets an auto-response “or ghosted” if the resume ATS score is does not meet the algorithm’s requirements for qualification.

Here is my idea:

Let’s create a system where the candidate and employer both have “skin in the game”:

1.       The candidate is required to pay $10 via a digital payment platform of the company’s choice to submit a resume and cover letter under the auspice that the employer will provide a verbal response back indicating reasons for rejection or better yet, offering timeslots for a phone interview?

2.       The company begins the hiring process and chooses who they deem as the best candidate.

3.       The company does not keep the money.  The money is donated to the candidate’s (or company’s) charity of choice.

4.       The company also releases an internal memo / social media announcement stating that they have hired <name> and that <$xxx> were donated to <name of charity>.

Example:

Casa Way Associates, the parent company of Resumes by Allan Brown, is proud to announce that Saundra B. Zoe has accepted an offer to become the firm’s new project manager.  Saundra, a graduate of the Northern Lights University with an MS in Lighting Technology brings a wealth of experience managing technology based programs and is excited for her start date of May 15).  Saundra is a dog lover and the $560 that the firm collected as part of the process will be donated to the City of Malvern’s ASPCA.

Get the picture…?

As a candidate, you need to make an investment in your job search as opposed to "spray and pray".  For the company, better candidates, faster turnaround, improved organizational performance and improved employee relations and engagement, esp. since the application fee goes to a charity.

If the employer charged for applications submissions (colleges do and have for decades), the employer would get less applications, but the candidates who applied would be more qualified.

To the candidate: Would you budget $200 for 20 submissions if you were guaranteed a response, as opposed to the status quo?

To the company: Is there an organization out there willing to try a new idea as opposed to relying on ATS algorithms in order to get motivated, better candidates?

Think about it…