Man auto-rejected from job six minutes after applying — it's his own company and he's a manager

A manager says he was automatically rejected from a job posting from his own company just six minutes after applying. LinkedIn user Ram T, who works as an Architect & Consulting partner for "AI-powered SAP solutions" uploaded a post detailing how tons of candidates qualified for a position had their CVs automatically rejected, leaving the business with a very shallow pool of prospective employees to choose from.

Their confusion was compounded by the fact that they, themselves, were exceedingly capable of fulfilling the roll. But due to the software filtered designed to assess applicant resumes, they weren't selected for an interview.

Ram T. wrote: "Rejected in a minute? That's not you — that's the bot," they explained. Next, they delineated what went down with the job application they sent to the company that they not only work at, but manage a team of nine employees in.

"Applied to my own company's job posting under a fake name, rejected in 6 minutes. I lead a team of nine. We've had a desperate need for a senior associate role since April and HR keeps telling me the pipeline was thin, nothing passing screening," he stated.

This is when he decided to take matters into his own hands and see if there was a problem with the company's screening process. And indeed, there was: "So last month i made a new email, changed my name, tweaked the dates, and applied to my own req with essentially my own CV, the CV of the person who wrote the job description and brother I was auto-rejected in six minutes!" he wrote.

According to the poster, it "took a week to work out why." Ram T. explained: "the filter was set to require React.js and my CV says React. That's it. That's the whole thing. A full stop."

As it turns out, due to the nomenclature in writing down the name of a particular Javascript, a myriad of acceptable candidates were probably told they they had no chance of securing a job at the business.

Even more infuriating is that no one thought to check the screening software as to why there was a dearth of qualified applicants responding to the open job posting. "We have been rejecting every qualified applicant since April over punctuation, while I saw in weekly meetings being told the market was tough."

Towards the end of the message, he included words of encouragement for dejected job seekers. "If you've been getting instant rejections from places you're clearly qualified for, it is very possibly not you."

He added: "Anyone else tested their own funnel? I'm no scared to look at the other two requirements," he added.

The Instagram account @entrepreneursonig, this different LinkedIn user, along with this other person on the platform highlighted the same application conundrum. It appears that the same message also popped up on Reddit/s r/recruitinghell sub by a user who uploads under the @Fast-Application5391 username.

Online commenters who replied to the posting shared their own fixes for the automatically rejected applications. One person wrote: "Use humans to review resumes. Problem solved." Another person said that in their own company they "always ask for HR to send ... every single resume with no screening. Do the screening personally, rating every resume on a spreadsheet."

But there were others who said that the real problem is human resources, calling the vocation obsolete and a detriment to companies. "I knew it wasn't me all those times. HR needs to remember its place ... were they fired?" one said. Another wrote: "Make HR obsolete."

NPR wrote in October of 2026 that Americans who've lost gainful employment are finding it harder to secure a new job. In fact, in the previous month, US employers added 29,000 new jobs, but that's just one position for every 244 unemployed people.

While the outlet attributed high application volumes as a major contributing factor to joblessness, Harvard Business School published findings that point to another culprit: AI application screening software.

The University wrote: "A large majority (88%) of employers agree, telling us that qualified high skills candidates are vetted out of the process because they do not match the exact criteria established by the job description."

So how does one navigate these pitfalls to ensure that they secure the job? If businesses are going to utilize AI in screening your resume, then use AI right back. This Meta Intro piece directly references the React vs React.js conundrum presented it Ram T.'s post.

In it, the author says: "Align your keywords. Mirror the exact phrasing in the job description, so if a posting says React.js, write React.js rather than just React.. Weave those terms naturally across your summary, skills, and experience sections instead of stuffing them, because modern tools flag unnatural repetition and can penalize it."

So if you have an AI tool that you enjoy using, set up a dedicated chat (or Notebook in Google's Gemini AI) and train it to craft resumes and cover letters that can give you the best shot at landing an interview. For those of you searching for a job — good luck, and god speed.