Have you ever applied to a job you were sure you were qualified for, but didn’t get so much as a call back? It might not be you. It might not even be a person that saw your resume. Companies increasingly rely on technology, including automated recruiting systems, to parse through the first round of candidates and save hiring managers time, before any human eyes even look at a stack of resumes. But the system is far from perfect. Anything from incompatible formatting, font size, or lack of key words can knock out even qualified candidates.
This is a challenge that Austin-based software startup Intry is looking to tackle. The Austin startup, which was founded in 2017, says it makes a platform that helps job seekers break through automated recruiting systems and find companies that better fit their values and skills.
“When you start a new job you enter into a new phase, new beginnings. We believe that Intry will open the doors you need to be successful,” said Intry’s CEO and founder Jennifer Sethre.
Many companies use applicant tracking and recruiting systems, but few work the same way, or use the same software or parameters, Sethre said.
“Every job that you apply to the expectation is that you create a specific resume for that specific job posting,” Sethre said. “Statistically, you have to apply to 100 jobs to get two or three interviews. So you’d have to customize 100 resumes. That’s insane.”
The Austin startup's platform works to customize resumes to the job, and increase the chances of an application making it to a call back and interview. The software adjusts resumes to job description key words, and identifies skills and elements that are missing. Templates are adjusted specifically for the technology. The platform also posts job listings and helps track where a job seeker applied and what resume they used.
Sethre said while most hiring managers don’t think there are enough qualified candidates to fill positions, research also shows than about 75 percent of applicants never make it past the tracking system.
“Are there really not enough qualified applicants out there,” Sethre said, “or is that your applicant tracking systems are parsing out so many different candidates that you’re getting a handful of people that may or may not be the right fit for your company?”
She said Intry’s platform has about an 80% success rate in helping candidates get past these barriers and actually get a call back.
Currently 18,000 registered users use the platform which works on a subscription service for about $19.99 a month. It lets users adjust their resumes and use the full range of tools Intry offers.
Intry, which has been largely bootstrapped so far, employs nine people. Sethre said the company is working on raising a round of funding.