ATS Scams and Other Deceitful Marketing Practices

A great reason to seek advice from career pros affiliated with two or more major industry associations is to minimize your risk of falling prey to online job scams, ATS scams (ATS: Applicant Tracking Systems), fake job postings, and bad advice.

Bad advice can mislead and shake your confidence. The other traps can steal your identity, waste your time, take your money, AND mislead and shake your confidence.

Here are just a few of the scams floating around on the internet today. Please be aware many of them look very legit.

I never recommend engaging with companies claiming to check your resume against ‘ATS Checkers.’ If you have built your resume or LinkedIn profile to the roles you want, your documents will automatically include the keywords and phrases that are needed for such software and it will honestly and ethically match up with your skills. Furthermore, if you use a certified resume writer, please note that most all of the certifications require training and understanding of how to provide clients with an ATS-friendly version of the resume, formatted in ASCII Text – before a resume writing certification can be granted.

Executives, please use care when seeking advice with your career transition. For resume writers, associations where writers can earn memberships, certifications and awards include:

Mary Elizabeth Bradford is the Founder and Executive Director of CEOresumewriter.com and Maryelizabethbradford.com and a past executive recruiter. A thought leader in the career services industry for over 20 years, she holds 5 distinct advanced certifications for senior-level resume writing, online branding and executive-level job search coaching (CERM, CMRW, CARW, MCD, NCOPE). She has been seen and heard in major media including Forbes, Time, WSJ, Newsweek and NBC affiliate stations. She holds 2 CDI TORI awards and is a top tier judge for the elite CDI TORI awards for four consecutive years. Mary Elizabeth Bradford’s elite team of award-winning, certified, top executive resume writers, former top executive recruiters, and global HR executives help many of the world’s premier C-suite, board members and thought leaders secure the transitions and compensation packages they want. She works with clients all over the globe.

If you are a Director, VP, CxO, or Board Member interested in an executive resume package or working directly with Mary Elizabeth, click to schedule a complimentary 15-minute call.