Can an Algorithm Get You a Job? The Career Center Thinks So.

On Monday, Dec. 21, the Yeshiva University Career Center, YU Investment Banking Society and YU Finance Club hosted their annual “What is Wall Street… Other than Investment Banking?” speaker and executive panel, where students were introduced to Jobscan, a tool that allows users to strengthen their online applications and make their resumes stand out.

According to Joshua Meredith, Director of Career Advising and Technology with the Career Center, there are currently 75 students using Jobscan, with hundreds of additional accounts available. Students can email careercenter@yu.edu to receive access to an account or to schedule a live chat for assistance.

James Hu, founder and CEO of Jobscan, developed the platform after his job hunt in 2013 led to the discovery of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), software that companies use to automatically analyze resumes based on keywords. Jobscan provides users with the power of ATS before applying to jobs and internships. Users have the opportunity to optimize their resumes and cover letters with suggestions on which skills to emphasize and what terminology to utilize. Jobscan displays the percentage that the resume matches the job description put forth by employers, which increases as users incorporate the suggested edits to their resume. There is no limit to using the system; applicants can scan their resumes and cover letters to match any description as many times as they would like.

The sign-up process is simple and automated, even including an option for users to connect their LinkedIn accounts. Users can update their profile with personal information, education, and even job-match preferences. Included also is an option to browse job listings and filter by job type (i.e. full-time, part-time, internship) as well as by location. The Jobscan dashboard features the user’s most recent resume scan, Linkedin scan, as well as the option to create new scans. Users can view their scan history to quickly access and update past submissions. The website interface is approachable and the different features are easy to navigate, which helps reduce some of the stress associated with the job application process. 

Shmuel Adler (SSSB ‘22) landed an internship for the summer of 2021 after using Jobscan to align his resume with the internship description. “In an increasingly competitive job market, Jobscan is a powerful tool that allows YU students’ resumes to stand out. The world of ATS is highly unintuitive, and many standard resume suggestions often fall short of what ATS are looking for in candidates. These suggestions are aimed at appealing to a hiring manager, but due to the prevalence of ATS, resumes rarely make it that far,” Adler explained. “Jobscan does a terrific job helping students understand the methods behind ATS and properly editing their resumes accordingly. I found Jobscan to be a great resource in getting my resume into the hands of hiring managers, and believe it could have a similar impact when made available to all YU students.”

Meredith believes “This is important for all students at YU to use in order to increase their ability to be competitive in an ever-competitive marketplace for jobs and internships. Jobscan gives students the ability to get their resume in front of more employers at a higher rate but also improve the language on their resume so it’s more aligned to the industry they are going into.” 

The service is applicable and valuable for all fields, whether in liberal arts, STEM or business, all of which are competitive and use ATS in their online applications, making it key for students to utilize the platform to their advantage.

Susan Bauer, Executive Director of the Career Center, explained the importance of Jobscan best: “Targeted resumes that address the specific needs of the employer, showcase how you can and will meet the goals of the role, and are optimized with the keywords from that job posting, are the resumes that land interviews. We already have students who attribute using Jobscan to landing an interview – we want all students to use it.”

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Photo Caption: The YU Career Center’s Joshua Meredith is excited to bring Jobscan to students.

Photo Credit: Jobscan/Yeshiva University