Why Experienced Job Seekers Get Overlooked

[00:00:01] The world of work is changing. AI, automation, and technology are reshaping how we find jobs, build careers, and connect. But behind every resume and career transition is a human story. And the mental and emotional impact is real. This is Ghosted by the Machine. Welcome. I'm your host, Mark Lane. You know, over the past year, I've talked with a lot of people who are looking for work.

[00:00:28] One thing that continues to surprise me is how many experienced, talented people are having a tough time finding their next opportunity. People who spent years building successful careers now wonder why it's so hard to get noticed. And believe me, I know the feeling. My guest today is Jim Gallagher. Jim has spent much of his career in the automotive industry. And like so many others, he's been trying to find his next opportunity for quite some time.

[00:00:51] So today we're going to hear a story, talk about what he's experiencing, and hopefully give hiring managers something to think about. Jim, welcome to Ghosted by the Machine. It's great to have you here. Thank you for that introduction, Mark. So Jim, before we get into the job search, let's give everybody a chance to get to know you. Tell us a little bit about yourself. What have you been doing throughout your career? And what are you hoping to do next?

[00:01:14] Yeah, thank you, Mark. So throughout my career, I've had my 30 years plus of experience in the automotive supply chain, mainly with tier one automotive suppliers. More recently, I've been in leadership roles, but I came up through the ranks, starting from product development and product engineering into team lead roles, morphing eventually into advanced engineering roles.

[00:01:41] And then finally, into the engineering leadership roles that I've done most recently in the last eight to 10 years. So how long have you been looking for work now? And when you first started looking, did you think it'd be taking this long? That's a great set of questions. So I've been looking for a permanent position for over two and a half years now. Never expected it to take this long.

[00:02:07] Based on my past search for positions, say, five, 10 years ago, I expected maybe three to six months at the most for a turnaround. Right. I never imagined it would take two years. So from what I see, part of what's changed is how hiring actually works. Many of the current companies are using AI based ATS or applicant tracking systems.

[00:02:35] And that technology is still maturing. As a result, I believe qualified candidates never get the first look from an actual human being. It's actually a machine. So here's something I hear from job seekers all the time. I know I can do the job. I just can't get someone to give me a chance. Did you ever or do you ever find yourself thinking that, wondering what employers are looking for that maybe they're not seeing in you? Yeah. Yeah, for sure. All the time.

[00:03:04] And for example, what I've learned in the last two and a half years is that employers often weigh quite a few factors heavily. For example, when you're applying online, an exact skills match, maybe recent upskilling.

[00:03:19] If you've been out of the workforce for the last year or so, willingness to relocate to a different physical location, maybe a change in your salary expectations and sometimes perceptions about your current experience level, meaning recency bias.

[00:03:39] What they're not seeing is the one-on-one connection that you have with them, primarily because the front end of their business or recruiting, it's just getting past the ATS. It's the half the battle. If your resume doesn't closely match the keywords in the job description, it may never reach a recruiter or a hiring manager, let alone the hiring manager.

[00:04:05] So let me do a little deeper dive into this and unpack it. To be frank, I've been in the business for over 30 years. Everything from hands-on prototyping and fabrication, laboratory and field testing, right through product engineering, design, development, even production launch. Over time, this organically led into leadership roles. I see these skills.

[00:04:33] It's a good skill set that is a strong skill set that's transferable into other opportunities. In other words, practical know-how, team development and mentoring.

[00:04:44] So the employers don't necessarily get to see this background, partly because they have a system in place that doesn't facilitate that for the hiring manager or the human recruiter that's actually going to be bringing you in and having that one-on-one discussion. Yeah, it seems that transferable skills are very difficult to get through this tracking system. I agree.

[00:05:12] But again, that's for me looking from the outside. I wish I knew how these ATS systems really, really work. We don't know. I think we talked earlier, it's like winning the lottery. I know most companies use, well, I'll say off-the-shelf products and they modify like Workday and other off-the-shelf products. They modify those front ends to meet their specific needs. Right. So you looked for work before, right? Of course. Yeah.

[00:05:43] Does this time feel different? And what are you seeing now that you didn't experience the last time you were in the market? So the biggest difference is the human element. So in the past, your first contact was usually a recruiter or a headhunter, often by phone, or even with an in-person meeting at Starbucks, for example.

[00:06:05] From there, you might make that next connection where you meet the hiring manager, maybe even meet the team you'd be working with. And then you'd hear back each step of that process, each step of the hiring process. Quite often back in the past, a recruiter would say, yeah, we think your skill set might not be a match and it might be three or four days into the process. And you knew exactly where you stood.

[00:06:33] And that was easy to move on and go from there. Today, your first step is usually online, doing an application on a computer screen. So there's recruiters still out there, but the process rarely starts with that human conversation. And unfortunately, because there's a machine on the other end, ghosting has become much more common.

[00:07:01] For ghosting, both from, we'll say the ATS, as well as maybe some of the first stops along the way, the human stops. Honestly, I see that as a big missed opportunity for a lot of the companies that say, I can't get people in the door. Well, the system might be fighting you. So candidly, I've spoken with other applicants.

[00:07:25] And the impression that I get with the way the system is now is that they're going to remember how they were treated during this process. And today's applicant could be tomorrow's customer. They could be your customer. And they might be even a partner or even a decision maker of how that business looks going forward. A short, courteous reply goes a long way.

[00:07:52] A reply or it would be nice is to get some feedback and not just a canned feedback, real feedback. Absolutely. So this process can wear on you. It's war on me. You apply for jobs. You reach out to people. You network. You go through interviews. And after that, you hear absolutely nothing. You've been dealing with this for a long time now.

[00:08:18] What's been the big, what's the toughest part of all of this for you? And I think one of the toughest things, and you alluded to, the silence is definitely one of the hardest parts. It can be tough to stay upbeat when most days bring no response. And after a while, you start to question your own value and your own decision making. So it's a lot of work.

[00:08:44] And early on, for example, I was applying from five to 10 positions a day, tailoring resumes and cover letters for each one of the jobs I was applying to. And quite often, I'd have to reenter the same information on a company's career site because the TS front end wouldn't pick up the details of my resume or the cover letter. It was easily an eight to 12-hour day just doing that.

[00:09:13] So it certainly affects your mental health, without a doubt. And because of that, it affects the people around you and the relationships you have with them. And occasionally, I've noticed that friends and families start wondering why it's taking so long to find a job. And especially when they hear the job market, at least the numbers in the market are doing well. Open jobs does not translate into putting people into those jobs.

[00:09:43] Just my side comment. So the other hard part is even networking can go quiet. And I've experienced that. That is offers, contact offers from friends and industry contacts to make an introduction with somebody in a company. Sometimes it leads to nowhere. It's a dead end. So I know everybody is busy, and I understand that in particular.

[00:10:08] But it's part of what makes a search like this challenging, that human element gone. And you try to talk to your friends. You network. You do everything that you've done in the past. And then there's silence. And you've got family issues. You've got a wife. You've got kids. You've got family. And they're like, you know, what is going on? You know, we've got bills to pay. The stress of that. It compounds everything.

[00:10:36] And I'm with you in that same boat doing the o-ring with you. Right. So I like to lead or I like to end on a positive note. And I know it's not been easy when you've been looking for this long. What keeps you going? What gets you up every morning and makes you think, okay, let's give this another shot? And is there anything that gives you hope right now? Yeah, for sure. Sure.

[00:11:03] So what keeps me going is, first, my family. I do have people counting on me. So that's the impetus to get up every day. I do it at 530 and put my foot in the gas and go. Second, I know I have a lot to offer an employer, right? Over the past two years, I've even taken on a few temporary projects that I've really enjoyed. One of them was outside of the automotive industry, which means my skill set was transferable to a different industry.

[00:11:31] I'll give you a little aside here. I managed part of an estate sale that included selling a very large collection of over 400 guitars. So those transferable skills were used in that estate sale. And I used my project management experience, my leadership, and my hands-on problem solving that I gained throughout my automotive career.

[00:11:55] And eventually, we found a professional buyer, professional buyer meaning a company that sells guitars online, who was able to meet. Actually, they met and exceeded the reserve price for the seller. The experience reminded me that my skills will travel well given the right opportunity.

[00:12:19] So if you had an hiring manager sitting across from you right now, what's the one thing you would want them to understand about someone who's been out of work for a while? What do you wish they knew? Sure, sure.

[00:12:32] So the one thing that I can certainly easily talk to is the fact that being out of work for over more than two years, I'm understanding not only how the industry is working today, but how the industry has changed. And I've certainly taken the opportunity to upskill. Obviously, AI is a large driver and will be a large driver going forward.

[00:13:00] And I've upskilled with anthropic products, AI meaning cloud AI. So how does that look going forward? And what can I offer to an employer? I can bring to the table 30 plus years of hard experience, knowing not just what to do, but knowing what not to do.

[00:13:23] And couple that with a most recent skill set of where the market is shifting in terms of artificial intelligence. I can be the full package to that employer to help them get to where they need to be and mentor the employees that are up and coming. Well, Jim, I really appreciate coming on today and sharing your story. I've said this before, and I'll probably keep saying it. Just because someone's out of work for a while doesn't mean they've forgotten how to do their job.

[00:13:51] And their experience is still there. Their talent is still there. And they still have a lot to offer. And sometimes all they need is somebody willing to give them a chance. So, Jim, thanks again for being here. And I hope that your next opportunity is right around the corner. And everyone watching, if you're going through the same things and you're saying, this is me, I hear that same story, I'd love to hear from you. Send me a message. Don't forget to follow and subscribe to Ghosted by the Machine. I'm Mark Lane.

[00:14:18] And this is Ghosted by the Machine because behind every application, there's a human. Jim, thank you again today for sharing your story. Thank you, Mark. It was my pleasure. Now let's make hiring human again. Have a great day.