Auto-rejected? Here's why.

This is going to hurt, but your resume likely isn’t the reason you were auto-rejected.

I see a lot of frustration shared on this platform when candidates get an auto-reject email and assume their resume was not viewed. They may be right, but not for the reason you think - the system isn't against you. Often, it’s simpler than that: you missed something in the application instructions. HR and talent recruitment colleagues reinforce this.

For example, a recent job posting I saw clearly (and strongly stated) “𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 — 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨” and included “𝘗𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯,” It's all there and take it literally.

Skipping a requested document, ignoring a screening question, or entering a salary figure way outside the range doesn’t have the potential to remove you from consideration immediately — it signals to the hiring manager that you didn’t read the posting, follow directions, or care about the details.

These early steps are part of the evaluation. The hiring team is asking: Can you follow the application process, or to put another way, can you handle the responsibilities of the job?

Use the instructions as your roadmap to make it through the first screen and then use your materials to show fit and interest. Here’s a quick example opening for a required cover letter:

Dear Hiring Team,
Engaging readers begins with understanding their needs and delivering relevant content that informs, inspires, and supports their goals. Throughout my career, I have developed a nuanced understanding of the academic community and the principles of high-quality scholarly communication. I am drawn to this work because it upholds the integrity of scholarship while making it accessible to those who can apply it.

I offer [X years] of experience in editorial publishing bringing ...

Follow the instructions. Answer the questions. Submit exactly what’s requested. That’s how you make it past the first gate.

𝗣𝗦 — 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 “𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹” 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱.