Update: ffs I'm not defending hr, they're usually incompetent buffoons. But they're the incompetent buffoons you need to get past if you want to get hired. And I don't know about you, but when Frito Pendejo said "I like money" I kinda agreed with him. Anyway back to my OC:
Why? They're HR and hiring managers, not IT specialists.
Try seeing it from HR's perspective. They post a job and get +200 applications. The success criteria is not hiring the best candidate, it's hiring a suitable candidate. Given that premise, why would you read through all 200 applications, when there's someone with a nice website and cool sounding software, who promise that their product can sort through the resumes and only pick the relevant ones for you?
Heck, I'm definitely going to be looking for an ATS testing site for my CV now. It really doesn't matter what we think of it. If you want to communicate you'll have to do it in a way that your recipient will understand, and if my recipient is a PoS software that can't read PDFs, then writing my CV in latex is probably not the most effective way to communicate.
Tbf I've done that with first joblistings. Like "ask questions that a suitable candidate for the following joblisting should answer in a job application". And then pasting my cover letters asking for relevancy and phrasing help. Maybe I should try for ATS optimization.
You can be outraged all you'd like, but if you choose to, then we're not really competing for the same jobs.
I get that they're busy, but it's their problem, not mine.
So? What are you going to do about it? They're making it your problem, and you can comply or not get hired.
IDK about you, but I've got a family to feed, car payments to make, a mortgage, and no self-esteem. It's clearly hyperbole, but if I have to go down on a clown to make it easier to meet my income requirements, then I'm not gay but I'll still be looking for some tictacs.
Not setting standards for yourself is holding you back. I see people with your attitude get underpaid, passed over for deserved promotions, and get mistreated. You are enabling shitty companies to stay shitty.
It IS sad, and shitty, that companies treat people like trash. But when you're on your third layoff in 18 months for reasons completely out of your control, clown knob starts looking mighty appetising. Not everyone gets to live the same reality you do.
Yeah, you live in the reality you create for yourself.
Why would you stay in an industry that's in a period of layoffs? Do you have no transferable skills? Did you make a series of financial decisions that mean you require a specific salary level?
Do you not invest time in continuing education? Did you spend a decade working for people that didn't invest in you? Gave you no opportunities to grow? Why would you tolerate that?
Encouraging people to take abuse doesn't fix anything.
Encourage people to do things to insulate themselves from the risk of "reasons completely out of their control".