When and How to Bypass Online Applicant Tracking Systems

http://www.timsstrategy.com/blog/go-direct-and-get-to-the-hiring-manager/

Here's a thought, once you're convinced a job is perfect for you, but you haven't heard after you sent in your stuff online: go direct. Contact the manager directly.

This guest entry by Randy Block on the blog Tim's Strategy explains how to figure out if you really have a chance with this strategy--how to evaluate whether you really, truly, objectively are exactly the person with the right mix of skills and aptitudes the ad describes. (If you aren't, your recipient may find your direct contact efforts annoying.)

If you pass a rigorous check--if you think the job is perfect for you, and if you have reason to believe the hiring manager will, too--then step #2 is to make contact. Here's how and why to do so.

And for additional goodness on Tim's Strategy blog, see this page for a range of free ebook and template downloads: http://www.timsstrategy.com/blog/resume-sample-cover-letter-example-job-interview-prep/