Inside the Recruiter’s Inbox: What Happens After You Apply
You hit “Apply,” upload your resume, and then… silence. Days pass, maybe weeks, and you’re left wondering what ever happened? Did anyone even see my resume? It’s not that no one saw your application; it’s because of what happens next inside the “recruiter’s inbox,” or as most of us call it, an Applicant Tracking System.
Today, Alison Passino and I compare notes to provide you with a behind-the-scenes look at what happens on the recruiter’s side. We’ll show you how resumes are stored, filtered, and prioritized - and what you can do to improve your odds of getting seen.
Your Application Lands in the ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems)
Most of the time, your resume goes straight into an ATS after you apply. If you’ve worked in sales, you can think of an ATS like a CRM (customer relationship manager). You could also think of it as a project management software. It keeps everything organized and usually has a pre-defined workflow where candidates move into stages along the hiring process.
An ATS helps recruiters sort, search, and manage applications more efficiently.
Now there are exceptions to this. Smaller companies or companies that don’t hire very often may not have their own ATS. In that instance, your resume usually lands in someone’s inbox.
Also, while most job boards integrate with most ATS, that’s not always the case. For example, when posting promoted jobs on LinkedIn, many recruiters have to manually enter resumes into their ATS (if they have one). In this case, LinkedIn sends an email to the recruiter after you apply with your resume attached and a link to view your application within the LinkedIn Recruiter platform itself.
Many job boards also have their own ATS built into them. LinkedIn and Indeed both have an ATS built in that recruiters can use when they pay to post their jobs.
Below is what LinkedIn’s built-in ATS looks like. It shows each person who applied. It shares some basic information about each applicant and then gives options to accept them or reject them. Furthermore, it has pre-determined stages that you can move candidates into.
The Recruiter’s Initial Scan
Once your resume has landed in either an email inbox or an ATS, recruiters typically do a quick scan of your resume.
This may occur within an ATS. If this is the case, the ATS may parse information from your resume and applications into fields where recruiters can quickly scan for skills, job titles, and other information; however, most recruiters I’ve worked with prefer to view your resume themselves and gauge if you have the right “stuff” to give you more time.
You’ll notice in my previous image that LinkedIn’s ATS gives you the option to filter candidates. Every ATS I’ve worked with has this ability. Most recruiters I know only use it when their candidate pool is too large to review every single resume and applicant.
In the example above, there are only 33 applicants. At that volume, each applicant is most likely being looked at by the recruiter. However, I’ve had other times (usually for remote roles) where there are 200 applicants within the first few days. In those instances, depending on my overall workload, I’m more likely to use filters.
So, if you’re applying for high-demand roles, like those remote ones, it’s especially important to ensure you have the right job titles, skills, software, industry, and keywords that a recruiter might use to filter down the applicants into a manageable number.
Do Recruiters Review Every Resume
Recruiters approach this differently. Some recruiters want to find the absolute best candidate in the group and will scan every single resume. Others may stop scanning resumes once they feel good about their initial shortlist. In other words, once they’ve identified 5 or 6 good matches for the hiring manager, they may stop looking at new resumes for the time being.
Much of this depends on how a role is prioritized by the hiring manager. If they need people as fast as possible, the latter may be true. If it’s a critical high-level role, the former may be more likely the case.
What Do Recruiters Look for at This Stage
It may surprise you, but it’s not what you probably think. Here are some of the most common things recruiters will look for in an initial resume read:
Job titles
Tenure
Industry match
Software match
Specific job duties
Notice I didn’t say anything about accomplishments and metrics. That’s because the initial scan is really more about whether you have the basic qualifications to be considered a match for this job.
Later, when I review your resume more in-depth and decide if I’m going to interview you, that’s when I’ll look at accomplishments. Accomplishments make you stand out, but the stuff I listed here will get you in the door so you have the opportunity to stand out.
When Does Someone Look at My Resume
If a role is listed as high-priority, a recruiter may look at it within hours or days. There are times that I’ve called applicants within an hour of them applying.
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “If everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.” That rings true in recruitment, too. Every recruiter prioritizes the roles they’re working on. Some roles have a longer hiring window or may have a high volume of applicants. Those might get kicked down the road a bit farther while we work on more pressing vacancies.
Alison has also seen companies that batch review applications weekly and daily. In those cases, all applications are batched at the end of the week or the end of the day and then reviewed in bulk.
What I think is important for job seekers to know is that delays may have nothing to do with you or the quality of your resume. Everyone has a different internal process and depending on how an opening is prioritized, that can affect your timeline of when you’ll hear back. Keep in mind that priorities often shift, too. There are many days when I think I’m going to work on one role, but something happens and I end up pivoting to another.
Timing, urgency, and bandwidth all play a part in how quickly you’ll hear back after applying.
What Role Does AI Play In All of This
AI has been evolving rapidly over the past few years, and more companies are integrating AI programs into their recruitment process. Here are some of the ways we’ve seen AI deployed so far.
Alison uses it to transcribe her interview notes and summarize text. I’ve known a lot of recruiters who use AI this way.
One recruiter I spoke with, who asked to stay confidential, mentioned that her company has AI match potential candidates in their database to openings when they open a new job requisition. This doesn’t affect you if you’re applying directly to a job; of course, it only finds existing candidates in their ATS and tells the recruiter who they could call in addition to those who applied.
Many companies have deployed AI to scan your resume and fill in skills in a field where they can quickly see which skills you have.
Another recruiter I spoke with, who works for Robert Half, a large staffing firm in the US, told me that they have an AI program that screens resumes for keyword matches and delivers a shortlist of applicants to contact for each job. This is the closest I’ve heard of AI making decisions about who gets called and who doesn’t; however, I’ll also add that this recruiter told me the AI frequently makes mistakes. So, while they may view those AI-pre-selected candidates, they also still go through each applicant and review the resumes.
I have yet to meet one recruiter or hiring manager who has told me they rely on AI to make decisions about applicants or candidates. The closest I’ve seen is the Robert Half example, but even then, they admit that it’s not fully reliable. It’ll be interesting to see how AI continues to impact recruiting as its capabilities rapidly improve.
Recruiter Interview
If your resume gets passed the recruiter’s initial scan, typically an interview with the recruiter is next. This may be a quick phone screen or it may be a more in-depth virtual or in-person interview. Everyone has a different process. But most recruiters will do more than simply scan resumes. Most are going to speak with you at some length before sending you to a hiring manager for review.
It’s hard to say what to expect from these interviews, because they’re all different. For example, I specialize in accounting recruitment and my recruiter interviews tend to be very technical in nature. I want to know that you can back up what you said on your resume and that you truly understand the job.
Others are more behavioral or “cultural” in nature. In these interviews, recruiters are trying to determine the soft skills and personality traits that cannot be found on a résumé.
And others are a blend of all of these. Regardless, I would expect to spend at least 20 minutes with a recruiter before any hiring manager ever sees your application and resume.
Shortlist and Hiring Manager Review
Next, the recruiter will move their best matches into a shortlist of candidates to send to the hiring manager. In my experience, this list is typically around 5 or 6 candidates, but I’ve seen up to 10 included. These are the candidates that the hiring manager reviews.
Sometimes recruiters will sit in a meeting with the hiring manager to review why they think each candidate is a fit. Other times, they’ll send the shortlist to the hiring manager for independent review, usually containing your resume and the recruiter’s notes.
From here, the hiring manager will then select who they wish to interview.
The Waiting Game
Sometimes the hiring manager review stage requires some patience. Remember that while a recruiter’s main job is to find talent and communicate with talent, a hiring manager has a separate full-time job running their department. Sometimes it takes some time before a hiring manager provides feedback on a shortlist. I’ve waited nearly 2 weeks for some lower-priority openings.
If a recruiter has told you that they are going to submit you to a hiring manager for review, ask them when they expect to hear feedback, and follow up with them the day after that date if you haven’t heard anything.
Recruiters may not always know if you’ll make the shortlist, so they may not be able to tell you when you ask. Sometimes, a recruiter doesn’t know what that shortlist will look like until they finish most of their recruiter interviews and screenings. In that case, I would follow up with them after a week has passed since your last conversation.
Many people panic when they have to follow up with someone. I personally prefer the short, polite, but direct approach. It’s always gotten me the most feedback. You could write something like this:
“Hi (Recruiter name), thanks again for your time last week to discuss the (specific role). Could you please provide me with an update? Thank you!”
The Hidden Wins
Even if you don’t make the shortlist or a hiring manager rejects you from the shortlist, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for you. Almost every good recruiter I know tags candidates in their ATS for future roles.
What does this look like? I’m glad you asked.
I often tag candidate profiles in an ATS for roles I think they’d be a good fit for in the future. This helps me later when I have an opening because the first place I’ll look is in my ATS. After all, I’ve already met you and know quite a bit about you.
Let’s say I’m hiring for a Senior Accountant opening, and you shoot your shot and apply for my job. You only have a year of experience and aren’t quite at the level my hiring manager needs for the Senior job title. I then tag your profile in my ATS with something that indicates “good future Staff Accountant”.
Then two weeks later, a Staff Accountant role opens up (one level below the Senior). The first thing I do is go into my ATS and look at anyone I’ve tagged “good future Staff Accountant.” And wa-bam! Your name pops up; I give you a call.
Almost every good recruiter I know operates this way. They’ve always got future roles on their minds.
Standard Recruiting Workflows
In general, there is a standard workflow for recruiting. We’ve talked about much of it already. It looks like this.
Application
Recruiter Scan/Screening
Recruiter Interviews
Shortlist and Hiring Manager Review
Hiring Manager Interviews
Decision
But every company changes it a little bit. Some skip steps, and some add extra steps (you know, like those assessments and loop interviews that we all love). Alison also brought up a really good point in our discussion that the process isn’t always linear. Sometimes things stall at different stages with shifting priorities.
A hiring manager may conduct a few interviews and realize that they need to change the job scope based on the feedback from those interviews, and so things move backward and forward in a natural ebb and flow. There are many things that can affect the workflow.
Company size can also impact this. Larger companies often have more structured processes, more sophisticated ATS systems, and more bureaucracy around approvals. Smaller companies can sometimes be more nimble and move the process quickly. Larger organizations usually have a more predictable process.
But company size isn’t always an indicator of what to expect. I’ve seen large companies that are very efficient, and I’ve seen smaller ones drag their feet through the process. But I would say generally speaking, smaller organizations tend to have the ability to move faster (if they want to).
What Recruiters Wish Job Seekers Knew
“The goal isn’t to beat the system. It’s to make it easy for the recruiter to see you’re the right fit.”
First, let’s be real for a minute. Not all recruiters are equal. Some are good at their jobs; some are not. Some will care more about their work and the impact it has on you; some will not. As with any profession, there’s good and there’s bad. But the majority of recruiters I know, the good ones, will tell you this:
We really want to find the right fit for both you and the hiring manager.
We’re not ghosting on purpose. Sometimes things get busy, take the initiative to send us a message, and we’ll reply if we know who you are already.
We remember polite, professional follow-ups. Show off your communication skills - it’s okay.
If your resume is hard to read, we’re going to skip it.
If your experience is close but not an exact match, we might still flag you as a potential for future roles.
If you’re qualified for a job, apply and then send a message. If you can clearly articulate why you’re a match, we’ll respond quickly.
Other Articles In This Edition
How Recruiters Find You On LinkedIn (And How to Show Up More Often)
How to Be Thankful at Work (Even If You’re Ready to Quit)
What Recruiters Are Looking for Right Now (Before Year-End)
Fall Hiring Trends 2025: Which Industries Are Still Adding Jobs?
Cole Sperry has been a recruiter and resume writer since 2015, working with tens of thousands of job seekers, and hundreds of employers. Today Cole runs a boutique advisory firm consulting with dozens of recruiting firms and is the Managing Editor at OptimCareers.com.
