When Getting a Job Starts Feeling Like You Have to Prove Yourself to a Machine
Editorial: This article reflects my personal experiences and opinions while searching for work. It is not intended to describe every employer or every applicant tracking system. These are my observations as a worker navigating today’s hiring process.
How Did Applying for a Job Become This Complicated?
Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of advice about Applicant Tracking Systems.
ATS.
Everywhere you look, somebody is talking about keywords.
Resume optimization.
Beating the algorithm.
Formatting tricks.
ATS-friendly templates.
And after hearing all of that, I found myself asking a simple question.
How did applying for a job become this complicated?
Because when most people are looking for work, they’re not trying to outsmart software.
They’re trying to find a job.
They’re trying to pay their bills.
Support their families.
Keep a roof over their heads.
Move forward with their lives.
But somewhere along the way, it feels like finding a job became a game.
A game where nobody explains the rules.
You find a position that matches your experience.
You update your resume.
You tailor it to the job posting.
You write the cover letter.
You fill out pages of information that are already on your resume.
Then you click submit.
And wait.
And wait.
And most of the time…
Nothing happens.
No interview.
No phone call.
No explanation.
Sometimes not even a rejection email.
Just silence.
And after enough silence, your mind starts trying to fill in the blanks.
Was it my resume?
Was it my age?
Was I missing a keyword?
Did a human being ever see my application?
Did the software reject me?
The truth is…
Most of us never find out.
That’s what makes modern job searching so frustrating.
Not just the rejection.
The uncertainty.
This Isn’t Just Theory for Me
I’m dealing with uncertainty myself.
I’m currently a seasonal employee whose hours and income have been cut.
I wonder how long before it’s just eliminated entirely.
I’ve been unemployed before.
I’ve had to rebuild before.
I’ve had to start over before.
So when I talk about job searching, I’m not speaking from the perspective of someone who figured it all out.
Especially the way things are currently.
I’m talking about something I’m actively navigating myself.
I have worked blue collar to white collar, full time to part time.
I’ve seen different sides of the working world.
And right now I’m watching how difficult it has become simply to get an opportunity to talk to someone.
My Father’s Advice Doesn’t Fit Into an Algorithm
When I was younger, my father gave me advice about working.
Work hard.
Show up.
Being there is half the battle.
Get an education.
Do the tasks nobody else wants to do.
Volunteer for overtime to show your worth.
That was the basic idea.
You showed an employer what kind of worker you were by actually being a worker.
You showed up.
You did the job.
You took responsibility.
You learned.
You worked your way up.
There was a human element to it.
Today, before you ever get the opportunity to demonstrate any of those things, you’re often trying to get past software.
You have to make sure your resume contains the right words.
You have to format it correctly.
You have to make sure your experience matches whatever the system is looking for.
You have to figure out what the employer wants to see before you ever get the opportunity to explain what you can actually do.
And that makes me wonder:
Aside from the humanity and dignity what else are we losing in this process?
The Application Process Keeps Getting Longer
Think about everything job seekers are expected to do now.
Upload resumes.
Create accounts.
Complete assessments that seem like they are getting free work from you.
Answer screening questions.
Take personality tests.
Record video interviews.
Apply through multiple websites.
Build LinkedIn profiles.
Some of the current applications I’ve completed actually required me to provide a link to my LinkedIn profile.
There was no way to skip it.
I couldn’t put “not applicable.”
You were required to have one.
So now it’s not just about having a resume and qualifications.
You have to do more things to make sure you’re jumping through their hoops.
Now you’re required to have what is basically a glorified Facebook profile.
And then you still might not hear anything.
On the rare occasion that someone sends an email, sometimes they can’t even complete the template they’re using.
They’ll send a rejection email with the wrong job title.
Sometimes it looks like they didn’t even bother to finish editing the message before sending it.
And I’m expected to take the time to prepare a resume, tailor an application, answer questions, complete assessments and potentially spend hours interviewing…
Only for someone to disregard that effort with a half-assed attempt at sending an email.
If I did any job like that, I would have never had one. Even now I barely have employment.
Look at Everything Applicants Are Expected to Do
The amount of work involved in applying for a job can be ridiculous.
You research the company.
You tailor your resume.
You write a cover letter.
You answer screening questions.
You complete assessments.
You prepare for an interview.
Sometimes you complete assignments or projects.
You build your LinkedIn profile.
You make sure your online presence looks professional.
You do everything you’re told you’re supposed to do.
After all that effort…
You just worked for that company for free.
Then you might not hear a single word back.
My time is money too.
I am not doing this for free.
The time I spent here could have been used more productively.
That time could have been spent applying somewhere else.
Learning something.
Working on something that actually produces an income.
Or simply dealing with everything else that comes with trying to survive while looking for work.
Instead, we’re expected to keep giving our time away with no guarantee that anyone will even look at what we’ve prepared.
And somehow this has become normal.
LinkedIn Has Become Part of the Process
This is another part of the process that bothers me.
Some applications are now requiring applicants to provide a LinkedIn profile.
Not asking.
Not giving you the option.
Requiring it.
That means applicants aren’t just expected to have qualifications anymore.
We’re expected to maintain an online professional identity.
A polished version of ourselves.
A profile designed to make us look employable.
A place where we have to present ourselves in exactly the right way.
And for me, LinkedIn has no value because it is full of liars, sycophants, and desperate people thinking that this is a legitimate networking site and not basically professional Myspace.
I am sick of the fake popularity contest.
To me, it feels full of liars, sycophants, and desperate people looking for work and trying to convince everyone else that they’re more successful, more important, or more connected than they really are.
Some are doing it in hopes of finding a way out of a bad employment situation.
Some are doing it because they’re unemployed.
And they’re doing all of it while trying not to say anything negative about the employer or former employer that has caused whatever situation they’re in.
The Professional Version of Yourself
If you’re looking for work, you learn pretty quickly that there are things you’re not supposed to say.
You’re not supposed to criticize an employer.
You’re not supposed to talk negatively about a former workplace.
You’re supposed to present yourself in the best possible light.
Not necessarily because you’re afraid of what a particular employer thinks.
Because you know it could turn off potential employers.
So you modify your behavior.
You modify what you say.
You modify how you present yourself.
You create a better version of yourself—or at least a version you think employers want to see.
And increasingly, it feels like you’re required to have this phony or “professional” version of yourself simply to participate in the hiring process.
Because apparently your qualifications aren’t enough.
You’re not allowed to simply be yourself.
You can’t always think for yourself.
You can’t smoke.
You can’t drink.
You can’t cuss.
Literally, some places won’t hire you if you’re a smoker.
Some employers look at your credit.
Some make judgments based on things that have little to do with whether you can actually perform the job.
You’re increasingly being treated like a number.
Interchangeable.
Replaceable.
Processed through a system.
That’s one of the reasons this blog is called The Exploited Worker 138.
What Happens When You’re Over 40?
This becomes even more complicated when you’re an older worker.
You might have decades of experience.
You might have skills that took years to develop.
You might have spent your entire career working and adapting to different environments.
And then you apply for a job and never hear anything.
You might never know.
It could be your age.
The unspoken discrimination.
Ageism.
You know your worth, and that’s something that can work against you.
You can’t necessarily prove it.
You don’t get a rejection email saying:
“We didn’t hire you because you’re too old.”
Instead, you get silence.
Or some generic rejection.
Or you never hear anything at all.
And you’re left trying to figure out what happened.
Maybe it was your qualifications.
Maybe it was your resume.
Maybe another applicant was better.
Maybe the company had an internal candidate.
Or maybe your age played a role.
You may never know.
That’s one of the most frustrating parts.
The System Isn’t the Same Thing as Your Value
I understand why companies use applicant tracking systems.
It takes time to read a resume.
When hundreds or thousands of people apply for a position, companies need some way to sort through them.
I understand why they do.
It takes time to read a resume and when you can’t even be bothered to fill in the rejection email template properly why would you take the time to actually read what someone took the time to prepare?
That’s what bothers me.
We’ve created a system where applicants are expected to spend hours preparing themselves for an opportunity while the other side can sometimes dismiss them with a template.
And then we’re supposed to believe that this process is somehow measuring our value.
It’s not.
A hiring system is not the same thing as our value.
A rejection isn’t your value.
An algorithm isn’t your value.
A keyword search isn’t your value.
We are more than a resume.
We are more than a job title.
We are more than a number.
We are more than an application sitting in a database somewhere.
We are human and deserve more than cold robotic dismissal.
The Problem With Not Knowing Why
That’s what makes modern hiring so difficult.
You don’t know what happened.
Maybe your resume wasn’t formatted correctly.
Maybe you missed a keyword.
Maybe the company had hundreds of applicants.
Maybe they already had someone in mind.
Maybe the position was frozen.
Maybe the position disappeared.
Maybe the recruiter never got around to reviewing your application.
Maybe an algorithm filtered you out before a human ever saw your name.
Maybe it had nothing to do with you.
But you don’t know.
And that’s the problem.
We’re constantly told to improve ourselves.
Improve your resume.
Improve your interview skills.
Improve your LinkedIn profile.
Improve your personal brand.
Network more.
Tailor every application.
Optimize for applicant tracking systems.
But eventually you have to ask:
How much of this is actually helping?
And how much of it is just teaching workers how to become better at navigating an increasingly complicated system?
We’re Expected to Know the Rules
The more I look at modern hiring, the more it feels like we’re expected to understand a system that nobody actually explains.
What keywords should I use?
How many?
Which ones matter?
What experience is important?
What should I say in an interview?
What shouldn’t I say?
How should I explain a gap in employment?
How do I make myself look experienced without looking overqualified?
How do I make myself look professional without looking fake?
How do I get past the software?
How do I get a human being to actually look at my application?
These shouldn’t feel like secret rules.
But they do.
And that’s frustrating when you’re simply trying to find work.
The Hidden Cost Is Self-Doubt
The longer the silence lasts, the easier it becomes to blame yourself.
Maybe I’m not qualified anymore.
Maybe my experience doesn’t matter.
Maybe I’m too old.
Maybe I’m falling behind.
Maybe I’m doing something wrong.
I’ve had those thoughts.
I suspect many of you have too.
And honestly, I think that’s one of the hidden costs of modern hiring.
Not the technology itself.
The self-doubt it creates.
Because when you don’t understand why something happened, it’s easy to assume the worst.
You start treating every rejection as proof that something is wrong with you.
But sometimes the reality is much simpler.
Sometimes there were hundreds of applicants.
Sometimes the company already had an internal candidate.
Sometimes hiring was frozen.
Sometimes the job posting wasn’t serious to begin with.
Sometimes the position disappeared.
And sometimes the system simply wasn’t designed with workers in mind.
We’re More Than a Number
I think that’s what bothers me most.
Not that companies use technology.
I understand why they do.
It takes time to read a resume and when you can’t even be bothered to fill in the rejection email template properly why would you take the time to actually read what someone took the time to prepare?
The problem is what happens when efficiency replaces humanity completely.
So many of us feel invisible.
We’ve created a hiring process where people can spend hours applying for jobs and never know if another human being looked at their application.
When you stop and think about that, it’s kind of strange.
Especially for people who remember a different world.
A world where you could walk into a business.
Shake someone’s hand.
Have a conversation.
Introduce yourself.
I’m not saying that system was perfect.
But it was more human.
Today it often feels like we’re trying to prove our value to software before we’re allowed to talk to a person.
And I think a lot of workers are tired of that.
Because we are more than a resume.
We are more than a job title.
We are more than a number.
We are more than an application sitting in a database somewhere.
We are human and deserve more than cold robotic dismissal.
What Are We Actually Losing?
That’s the question I keep coming back to.
We’re told this is progress.
We’re told technology makes hiring more efficient.
We’re told artificial intelligence and automated systems can help companies find the right people.
Maybe they can.
Well I am not seeing it, all I see people trying to figure out why they are getting ghosted or rejected without an explanation.
But efficiency isn’t the only thing that matters.
What happens to the person on the other side of the screen?
What happens to the worker who spends hours preparing an application?
What happens to someone who is unemployed and desperately needs income?
What happens to someone over 40 who doesn’t know whether age is working against them?
What happens to the person who has spent decades building experience only to be reduced to keywords?
What happens when a person starts believing they’re worthless because a computer didn’t select them?
That’s where I think we need to start asking harder questions.
Aside from the humanity and dignity what else are we losing in this process?
I Don’t Have a Magic Solution
I’m not going to pretend I know how to fix the entire hiring system.
I don’t.
I still have to use it.
I still have to apply.
I still have to update my resume.
I still have to navigate these systems because I need a job.
But I can question it.
And I think workers should be allowed to question it.
We’re allowed to say that something doesn’t feel right.
We’re allowed to say that the process is frustrating.
We’re allowed to say that our time has value.
We’re allowed to expect basic respect.
And we’re allowed to talk about what this process is doing to people.
Because the hiring process isn’t just about companies finding workers.
It’s about workers trying to survive.
If You’re Going Through This Too
If you’re applying for jobs and hearing nothing back…
If you’re wondering whether anyone is even seeing your resume…
If you’re constantly changing your resume because you don’t know what the system wants…
If you’re over 40 and wondering whether your experience has somehow become a disadvantage…
If you’re spending hours jumping through hoops just to get the possibility of a conversation…
You’re not the only one.
I’m dealing with it too.
A lot of people are.
And maybe that’s why conversations like this matter.
Because the more we understand how modern hiring works, the less likely we are to blame ourselves for every outcome.
The system may be broken.
That doesn’t mean you are.
Let’s Talk About It
Have you ever applied for a job and felt like your application disappeared into a black hole?
Have you ever wondered whether a human being actually looked at your resume?
How many applications have you submitted before finally hearing back from someone?
Have you ever changed your resume simply because you thought an algorithm might reject it?
And do you think applicant tracking systems actually make hiring better—or have they simply made it easier to reject people without ever talking to them?
Leave a comment below.
Tell everyone your story.
The Exploited Worker 138 exists because I believe workers deserve a place where we can have honest conversations about what we’re experiencing—even when the answers aren’t simple.
These are my personal opinions and experiences. They are shared to encourage discussion, not to speak for every worker or every employer. If your experience has been different, I’d genuinely like to hear it.