Your first day at a new job can be one of the exciting events of any person’s career. You meet new people, are exposed to new systems and are introduced to new skills that allow you to grow as a professional. However, if you are a typical American job seeker, the journey to placing your family photos on your new desk is fraught with frustration. Many of those in the job market are exposed to a candidate selection process that is deeply flawed.

This is an incredible challenge for the increasing number of job seekers out there, and there are a record number of them. The New York Federal Reserve’s latest poll of consumers found 28.4% of respondents were looking for a job. That’s 19.4% higher than a year ago. 

However, at the same time, the labor market has tightened considerably. Fears of recession have led many companies to cut back on hiring, and the slowdown in venture capital activity has limited the number of openings in startups. The result, according to LinkedIn statistics, has been two applicants for every job opening advertised on the site. As recently as 2022 that figure was one-to-one.

The sheer number of job seekers in the market for local jobs, and limited job openings mean that organizations should be able to pick and choose from a stable of qualified applicants. At the same time, applicants are subject to opaque hiring practices and a laissez-faire attitude towards applicants. 

The result is dysfunction. Applicants are treated as numbers, rather than potentially valuable human resources during the recruitment process.  

Optimizing the Recruitment Journey

One woman who has made it her mission to disrupt and revolutionize hiring practices, and make the local recruitment process less stressful for job seekers is Sarah Springsteen Trumble. 

A qualified astrophysicist (she obtained her BSc from the University of Michigan, majoring in Physics and Astrophysics), Trumble is used to seeing the big picture, while still focusing on the details. It’s a skill that she leveraged when launching The Job Applicant Perspective, an applicant-centric solution that addresses the needs of applicants, often a silent stakeholder in the hiring process. 

“Anyone active in human resources knows that recruiters and academics can offer job seekers insight into the hiring company. But in so many instances, that’s not as valuable to the job seeker community as the lived experiences of fellow job seekers. Just as athletes and new parents seek advice from  professionals and peers, job seekers benefit from the collective wisdom of their equals as well.” 

Trumble emphasizes that keeping job seekers connected and allowing them to interact with one another doesn’t mean recruiters or hiring firms are being left behind. With her at the helm, The Job Applicant Perspective will offer a transparent view into the hiring process of companies across the U.S., based on verified insights from real job seekers who exchange actionable insights with each other that also benefits small business owners or HR on the platform. 

These experiences will be gathered, organized and shared to benefit everyone involved. The platform also allows recruiters to engage with job seekers, which is vital given the symbiotic relationship between the two parties. 

The Job Applicant Perspective platform addresses major challenges faced by job seekers such as scam jobs, junk postings scraped from free job boards, and ghost jobs that flood the job market, overwhelming job seekers and fueling the idea of a talent shortage.

“Lack of transparency is a huge issue. Job seekers are frustrated by outdated or fake listings on regional job boards, making the process unnecessarily stressful. Worse yet, some companies post nonexistent jobs as part of brand awareness campaigns to impress investors—it’s a form of professional catfishing.”

Trumble highlights that many job seekers experience ‘decision fatigue’ due to a frustrating job search. Often, job site listings don’t reflect a genuine intent to hire and can even be scams or identity theft schemes, with postings scraped from other platforms and organizational websites.

Photo Courtesy: Sarah Trumble

The Future of Applicant-Centric Recruitment

Trumble’s research shows that job seekers only receive feedback on their applications about 10% of the time. HR departments are flooded with resumes, often sent in response to zombie jobs – those scraped from a posted job platform that were already taken down by HR on the original platform, or spammed by job seekers using software because they are so desperate without actionable data points to improve.

By offering a platform for sharing experiences, HR can gain better insights into the job market, helping them target genuine candidates and ensure that candidates are fully aware of the requirements for employment, and the reputation the hiring organization has built for engaging with applicants.

This transparency helps job seekers manage their time better and set realistic expectations, easing the stress and frustration that often come with job hunting. Trumble’s vision also includes helping small businesses, which often struggle to find local talent amid the noise of larger job boards.

Industry Buy-In

For Trumble one of the exciting developments in the journey to bring to life has been that the recruitment industry has greeted the upcoming launch of the platform with active enthusiasm. 

“To date, we’ve onboarded 28 employees. When our platform launches on September 15th, it will feature searchable local jobs with transparent listings, including salary details. Job seekers will also be able to interact. We’ve created a community that humanizes the application process and offers actionable insights into hiring practices across the U.S., based on verified job seeker experiences, all organized and published for everyone’s benefit.”

“The Job Applicant Perspective platform will offer a clear and actionable look into the hiring process of companies across the U.S. to job applicants. These insights will be shared by job seekers and organized for the benefit of stakeholders, creating a supportive community where job seekers can share their stories anonymously and receive honest, actionable feedback.”

To learn more about the launch of The Job Applicant Perspective platform and Sarah Springsteen Trumble’s work in streamlining the connection between roles and job seekers, visit her website or follow her on LinkedIn.

Published by: Nelly Chavez