Why do I have to apply on a different site?

Moish asks:

“Why is it when you are looking for a job, even after you’ve signed up and completed a profile with your resume on Snagajob, you STILL go to that company’s website to do the same thing all over again…?”

My answer is below, but if you want to join in on the conversation you can jump right in!

Great question, Moish! Here’s the lowdown on the whole “sending you off site” thing.

We’ve got an application built into Snagajob that’s pretty awesome (note that I’m completely biased). If you’ve filled out your profile info it pre-fills the app for you. You just answer some additional questions, click “Apply” and we send your application off to the hiring manager’s inbox.

We know you’d love it, and we’d love it, too, if all your job applications worked this way, but some of our employers (okay, quite a few of them) have their own corporate Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). That means when you apply to those companies, all we can do is sigh heavily on your behalf and hope the process isn’t too annoying. We’re aware that there’s a certain amount of inevitable frustration that comes with having to create a new account, fill out yet another application and remember for the millionth time the street address of your high school.

I know it’s a pain, and we’re hoping to create ways to make it less mind-numbing in the future, but right now the best we can do is give you a heads up when you’re about to leave our site. Don’t let it keep you from applying for a job you want, though. If as a standard procedure you avoid going off site to engage with an ATS system, you’ll drastically reduce the number of jobs available to you. I know I haven’t been able to offer you a solution, but I hope I’ve answered your question!

-Amy