A Disconnect Maybe? (HR vs. Hiring)

I do quite a bit of reading, especially when I'm job-seeking, since I feel it's important to keep skills up-to-date. Most of my reading is professional-based -- in the communications arena -- but I also make a point of reading job-seeking and HR blogs (to get a better idea of what hiring managers are looking for).

I came across this blog from Careerealism a few weeks ago, and, although the topic line didn't pertain to me too much, I still wanted to look it over.

One thing struck me completely, as a disconnect:

"When you’re in an interview, you’re being evaluated on three things: Personality, Aptitude, and Experience. What is outdated about job application these days? You send a resume with your past experience on it! That has almost nothing to do with your personality or aptitude, because it’s very hard to have them shine through (even on a great resume)."

So, hiring managers and HR folks admit that personality is the most important aspect in hiring a new employee,  yet, we've simultaneously seen a monumental growth in the usage of applicant tracking systems (and, more damning, scanning resumes for keywords to determine if the applicant should even be advanced to have his/her resume viewed by an actual human).

Wow.

I cannot blame the companies for this, entirely. With unemployment (and, more damning, *under*employment) at all-time highs (for my lifetime), what is the alternative? To interview hundreds (maybe thousands) of applicants, just to check on personality? The easiest way to cut down the number of interviews needed is to find some way to eliminate candidates; may as well be via something automated (so, I can set a filter that will eliminate 90 percent of the applicants, if they don't have a particular skillset or keywords on their resume).

I know the post says to use networking to pave the way; but I've found that's not necessarily a magic bullet. I know there have been situations where I've called upon my network to tap into their connections. That has rarely paid off the way this article suggests (even though my personality and aptitude are vouched for by my network). Ironically, I see those same positions re-posted repeatedly, so, perhaps ignoring the personality and aptitude and focusing entirely on what the computer scanning and tracking system advises isn't the best way to fill the role, either.