Why diverse job seekers should apply on the employer’s career site and not via easy apply buttons on job search sites

The “easy apply” function on job search sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Handshake is a feature designed to streamline the job application process. It allows candidates to apply for jobs quickly, often with just a few clicks, without the need to fill out lengthy application forms or upload multiple documents for each individual job posting. There are some downsides, however, particularly for candidates who are diverse for any number of reasons.

Although the technology varies a little from site to site, typically job seekers create an account with the job search site and pre-save their resume, cover letter, and sometimes additional information like their LinkedIn profile or a brief personal statement. When they find a job they want to apply for, they can use the easy apply feature to submit this information instantly. It should be noted that a key difference between College Recruiter and Handshake, as well as sites like those listed above, is that we chose about 2.5 years ago to move to a privacy-first model. We do not collect personally identifiable information (PII) about candidates. Cndidates using our site better control who has access to their personal data and share it only with those they want to, when they want to, and how they want to. With those other sites, just about any individual can access all of the information on your resume. That’s fine if they’re a legitimate employer and you’re interested in working for them, but you’ve got no control over whether they’re legitimate or a scammer, or an organization that is of interest to you or which you don’t want anything to do with.

Why do many job search sites choose to push candidates toward easy apply functionality? There are some benefits, some of which benefit the candidate but most of which benefit the job search site. Traditional applications require candidates to enter details about their work history, education, and skills manually. Easy apply bypasses this step by sending the pre-saved information directly to the employer through the job site’s system. That saves the candidate time but the primary motivation for many of these sites is that time-saving translates into the employer receiving more applications. Employers often evaluate the effectiveness of a job search site by the number of applications received, so the more applications the job search site generates, the happier the employer will be, and the happier the employer will be, the more the employer will spend with the job search site.

However, all of that speed and convenience comes at a significant cost both to the candidate and, in the long run, the employer. In a nutshell, that cost is quality. Easy apply systems typically do not allow for much if any customization of the application for each specific job. This can be a disadvantage when applying for roles that require a tailored resume or cover letter to stand out. And it is that inability to stand out that is at the core of the problem for candidates who are diverse, including those who are LGBTQ+, first generation, Black and African American, Latinx, economically disadvantaged, women, international students, students with disabilities, veterans, neurodiverse students, student athletes, Native American & Indigenous, Asian American & Pacific Islander, or a member of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

As we’ve already touch on, one of the primary challenges with easy apply features is that they encourage a high volume of applications, often with minimal tailoring to the specific job. For employers, this influx of applications can lead to an overwhelming number of submissions, making it harder for any single applicant to rise above the noise. When recruiters sift through hundreds, if not thousands, of applications, they often rely on automated systems to filter candidates. These systems, while efficient, can inadvertently perpetuate biases. For example, they might prioritize resumes that closely match predefined keywords or favor candidates from certain educational backgrounds or geographical locations. Diverse candidates, who may have non-traditional experiences or unique qualifications, can easily be overlooked in this process.

Moreover, easy apply features can dilute the quality of the applicant pool. When applying becomes as simple as clicking a button, many candidates may submit applications for positions they are not fully qualified for, hoping that something will stick. This flood of unqualified applications can make it more difficult for genuinely qualified candidates, particularly those from underrepresented groups, to be noticed. Recruiters, overwhelmed by the sheer volume, might not have the time or resources to dig deeper into applications that don’t immediately meet their criteria, missing out on diverse talent that could bring fresh perspectives to their organizations.

Easy apply features often strip away the opportunity for candidates to showcase their individuality. Many of these systems use standardized forms that may not capture the full breadth of a candidate’s experience or qualifications. Diverse candidates, who might have taken unconventional paths or have experiences that don’t fit neatly into standard categories, can find it challenging to convey their true potential through these one-size-fits-all applications.

The ease of applying can lead to a homogenization of applications. When candidates are not required to tailor their resumes or cover letters, their submissions can start to look very similar. This lack of differentiation can be particularly harmful to diverse candidates, who may already face an uphill battle in standing out due to unconscious biases in the hiring process.

Many candidates believe, and many recruiters will tell them, that recruiters review every application. That may be true in very small organizations that hire only a handful or perhaps a couple of dozen people a year, but simply isn’t the case when you look at organizations that hire hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of candidates a year. It is these organizations with large hiring needs that employ the majority of early career candidates including students and recent graduates, and so it is particularly important for us to discuss how their hiring massively differs from that of organizations that do not hire at scale.

When you’re only hiring a person here or there, you may only receive five, ten, or 20 applications for an opening. An experienced recruiter or hiring manager can tell within seconds if a resume is of quality, meaning that they’ll want to interview the candidate. If you’re only hiring a person or two a month, that initial screening process therefore only takes minutes. But let’s say that you’re hiring 100 people a month. Give that employers receive, on average, about 20 applications per hire, you’re going to need to review about 2,000 resumes to hire 100 people. Even if your review of a resume takes only 15 seconds, that’s 500 minutes just to scan the resumes, which is an entire workday. The answer for these high volume hiring employers is to use technology to filter, match, sort, and even select which applications should be reviewed or even moved forward in the hiring process, which typically means the candidate is offered the opportunity to interview with a recruiter.

Fortune 1,000 companies, government agencies, and other employers who hire at scale need to streamline their hiring practices in order to be efficient enough to be able to hire the people they need. They understand that efficiency sometimes comes at the cost of effectiveness, meaning that they’ll save time but sometimes will miss out on the best candidates. And some of those best candidates are going to be those who are diverse.

These large employers, by necessity, use hiring processes which are rigid and standardized. In that kind of environment, the impact of easy apply features can be even more pronounced. These employers typically follow strict hiring protocols and rely heavily on automated systems to filter candidates. For diverse candidates, breaking through these barriers requires more than just meeting the minimum qualifications; it requires demonstrating unique value. However, easy apply features can make it difficult for these candidates to convey the nuances of their qualifications, leading to missed opportunities for both the candidates and the organizations.

To mitigate these challenges, both job seekers and employers need to be more intentional in their approaches. Candidates should resist the temptation to use easy apply for every job and instead take the time to tailor their applications to highlight their unique qualifications and experiences. How do you do that? For starters, don’t use the easy apply option offered by the job search sites. Instead, go directly to the employer’s website, find the job that is of interest to you, and apply on the employer’s website. When you do that, you’re applying directly through the employer’s applicant tracking system (ATS) instead of a short form hosted by the job search site. The ATS will often provide you with optional questions that allow you to then highlight your diverse skills and value to the organization.

When College Recruiter chose to send all candidates to the application pages of the organizations advertising their job openings, we knew that we were making it a little slower and, therefore, a little less convenient for candidates to apply to those jobs. Some candidates might then apply to only half as many jobs. On the surface, that seems like a recipe for disaster as half the applications mean half the likelihood of being hired, right? Wrong. An application that is better tailored to the job posting is an application that will be more likely to be seen by a recruiter given the automated systems, and there’s no chance of being hired if your application isn’t considered. Even if you apply to half as many jobs, you’re far, far more likely to be hired by those employers.

Always keep in mind that your goal when applying to jobs is not just apply to a bunch of jobs but, instead, to be interviewed and then hired. So anything that you can do to increase your chances of being interviewed should be your goal, and that’s why candidates should prefer to apply on the career sites of employers instead of via easy apply functions.