By J.M. Auron, Expert IT Resume Writer—Providing Professional IT Resume Writing Services for More than 15 Years.
ATS Paranoia and Application Burnout
These are, obviously, topics I hear a lot of as an IT resume writer—and they're closely related.
Many of my prospective clients are terrified of the ATS—and many feel that if they're not getting calls back it's because of the ATS. As I wrote for Irish Tech News, the ATS is the bogeyman of the current job search.
I don't blame people for feeling this way. The drumbeat of ATS paranoia is nearly as loud as that of the AI apocalypse. I see a huge number of posts saying that the most important thing you can do as a job seeker is to tailor your resume to please the unpredictable ATS. These are usually followed by anxiety attack inducing warnings of what will happen if you don't heed the advice, and dare to not spend your time and energy to please the all-powerful ATS.
Unfortunately, as with the ongoing AI apocalypse, the concerns about the ATS are (mainly) hype.
There are a lot of problems with ATS Systems
Now, don't get me wrong. ATS solutions aren't great. They slow the hiring process down more than expedite it. They put yet one more layer between the job seeker and the hiring authorities. They add another step to already cumbersome and inefficient decision making process.
So no. I don't like the various ATS, and I think we'd (largely) be better off reducing their use significantly.
The ATS isn’t the Dark Overlord of the Job Search
But the ATS aren't a kind dark overlord of the job search, malevolently trying to keep people unemployed and poor. Yes, they're yet another hoop to jump through—and job seekers have way too many. But there's no evil will there. Just poor design and an HR culture that chooses to rely far too much on them.
And while ATS aren't perfect, or terribly efficient, neither are they that hard to get past.
Any reasonably well written, reasonably well formatted resume is very likely to "get past" the ATS.
So, if you're not hearing back, the ATS is probably not the reason. I'll write more on this topic soon—it's an important one, and deserves a full article.
Issues with the ATS, though, do lead to another problem that is both very real and very serious for job seekers—and that's application burnout.
Job Application Burnout
This is a big problem for almost everyone looking for a job these days. I wish I could give you some brilliant advice that would make the burnout go away, that would make the job search in 2025 and 2026 easier, that would make things what they were pre-Covid.
Feeling Burned Out? It’s just you
But I can't. All I can say is this. It's not you.
The hiring system is badly broken at this point. There are a lot of reasons for that. The ATS is one, but there are others. The adoption of the Amazon / Google fraternity hazing approach to hiring (which is dehumanizing, vile, and above all, deeply inefficient), by many other companies. The current culture of committee-think, in which no individual wants to take responsibility for a decision for fear of repercussions.
We need to get back to three interviews max, scheduled within one month. We need to get back to recruiters, hiring authorities (and candidates) being transparent and not ghosting the other people involved in the hiring process. We need to get back to respecting one another's time.
Since that's not gonna happen—at least not in 2026—we need to find ways do deal with the situation, with all the problems and challenges.
Because there are things you can do that can help make the process at least a little easier.
Strategies to Beat Job Application Burnout
First, get the best IT resume you possibly can. A really good resume does make a difference; you're more likely to be seen, and more likely to get a call. And given that most of your competition these days is using ChatGPT resumes? A really solid, human-crafted IT resume will help you stand out even more than it did in the past.
Second, submit as much as you can. Back when I was a headhunter, a long time ago, I was making 100+ cold calls a day. I have no idea how I did it, nor would I want to ever do that again.
There is one lesson I learned from that, though. Some things in life really are a numbers game—and in many ways, getting a job is one of those things. So submit as much as you can. If you're the sort of person who likes goals, set a number of resumes to get out on a daily or weekly basis.
One very important caveat, though. If you're feeling completely burned out? Take a few days off.
Third, be patient. Getting a job is a long haul in 2026, but it is doable. I'll occasionally have clients who remember the good old days—when people got jobs in a couple of months. That does happen—I had a couple of clients last year who got interviews and offers within a few weeks from the start of the process.
But it's a lot more rare than it used to be. So if you haven't heard back for a few weeks? It doesn't mean, necessarily, that there's anything wrong. To paraphrase Longfellow (who was paraphrasing a number of Greek thinkers), "Though the mills of HR grind slowly: Yet they grind exceeding small." Keep applying, keep up the momentum, and over time, there's a good chance you will start hearing back.
Fourth, don't take it personally. If you've got the best resume possible for your career, you're applying as much as you can, and not hearing back for awhile? Unfortunately, it's normal these days. So if you've done everything you can to prepare, it may not be the ATS, you resume, or your career. It may just be clogged pipes, as it were.
Fifth, persistence really does pay off. I've had clients get great jobs—even in this hiring market. So don't give up.
In my next article, I'll talk about broader issues impacting IT professionals—broader job burnout, uncertainty, and loss of connection.
And if you'd like to set up an initial conversation to discuss my IT resume writing services or tech career coaching, do get in touch