Checklist
What to have ready before you start an employer ATS application
Most stalled applications are not mysterious. The portal asks for facts you do not have in one place: exact dates, a phone that receives SMS, work-authorization answers, or a resume that still describes last year’s job. Gather those once. Every later form gets faster — whether you type it yourself or a concierge fills a supported ATS flow.
This is a preparation guide, not a promise that every employer question will already be in your packet. Custom questionnaires still happen. Details of typical sections: ATS application field guide.
A master resume you can defend
Keep a long master with every role, tool, and metric you can speak to in an interview. Per application, you cut and rephrase — you do not invent. If a number is a range, keep it a range. HireConcierge’s Aria rewrites from what you provide; it does not fabricate employers or skills.
Work history the parser will re-ask
Employer sites often parse your PDF, then make you confirm company, title, start/end month, and location. Have those dates written down. Gaps are normal; unexplained blanks on required fields are what time out a session. Include internships or contract names exactly as a W-2 or offer letter would show them if you have them.
Work authorization and location constraints
Know how you will answer sponsorship, citizenship/work-authorization, and location or hybrid questions before the form. Guessing mid-flow is how people submit something they cannot stand behind. HireConcierge collects these in onboarding so supported applications do not stall on the same question forty times.
EEO fields (usually optional, still present)
Gender, race/ethnicity, veteran, and disability questions appear on many U.S. employer flows. They are typically optional and used for reporting, not as a skills test. Decide your answers (including “prefer not to say”) once so you are not improvising at submit. We do not publish anyone’s EEO answers in marketing or SEO content.
A contact path that survives verification
Workday-class flows often email or SMS a code while you are mid-form. A personal inbox you check tomorrow is how sessions die. If you use HireConcierge, a dedicated apply mailbox can intercept those codes during the session. If you apply yourself, keep the phone and inbox open until submit succeeds.
Target roles and a no-list
Write the titles you want, the titles you will not take, commute/remote rules, and compensation floor if you have one. Matching software and humans both waste less time with constraints. Aria scores openings against preferences you set — garbage in, noise out.
Have the packet ready? Start free and let Aria use it on supported employer portals.
Free trial, no credit card