600 Resumes, a Broken ATS, and My Quick Solution

Hi everyone,

I work in a fintech company where our HR recruiter recently faced the daunting task of reviewing 600 resumes for a single data analyst role. I was stunned by that number, especially since we’re investing tens of thousands every year on an ATS. It turns out that while the ATS is supposed to rank candidates, it’s so unreliable that upgrading to the enterprise version would cost an additional $10k.

To address this issue, I created a simple tool that assigns a matching score to each applicant and highlights why they may or may not be a suitable fit for the position. Our recruiter shared it with some colleagues in HR, and they’re now interested in developing it into a full-fledged product.

Before diving deeper, I’d love to get your thoughts on its potential. I understand that hiring is fundamentally a human process, but the sheer volume of applications—many of which are spammy or automatically submitted—is overwhelming. I’m also considering incorporating a Kahoot-like quiz (with 10 seconds per question) for ‘matched’ applicants to help weed out those who indiscriminately send out CVs without being genuinely qualified.

Do you see this approach as overly mechanical, or could it actually streamline the hiring process? I’m eager to hear your insights!

Additionally, if you have ideas for features that could offer more value at a fraction of the cost of traditional ATS systems, I’d love to hear them!