Shadowing Practice: Recruiter Secrets: Why You Get Rejected in the Middle of the Night - Learn English Speaking with Video

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So, you got rejected at 2 in the morning and you think all recruiters are vampires and zombies.
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For the record, I'm just a part-time vampire and zombie.
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We all got a side hustle, right?
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Anyway, it's 2 in the morning, you got rejected by a recruiter, recruiters are zombies and vampires, and you're like, what is going on?
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There is no way that everybody who's rejecting me at 2 in the morning is like, I mean, this has to be a conspiracy, right?
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I mean, that's what it is.
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I've been hearing this for many, many, many, many years, And I'm going to tell you exactly why it is
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that you get rejected at 2 in the morning and what's actually going on because I actually understand the mechanics of hiring.
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Because I've actually been a real recruiter, unlike some of the people that you see here on YouTube.
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I won't name names, but other ones who are making claims like AI bots, these algorithms are the ones auto-rejecting you.
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Anyway, let's get into why you get rejected at 2 in the morning.
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So, first and foremost, companies do not spend a ton of money on applicant tracking systems.
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Now, for those of you who don't know what those are, our applicant tracking systems are basically systems that track applicants, hence the name Applicant Tracking System.
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And all it is is just an Excel spreadsheet with a fancy GUI on the front of it, right?
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So I as a recruiter can go into my ATS, set up a job that I want to post, and I can put in things like what we call knockout questions.
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Now knockout questions are not questions about things like your race, your sexuality, those kinds of things.
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That information actually gets sent directly to the Department of Labor.
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I as a recruiter cannot go into my system and actually view the answers to that information.
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So none of that has any bearing on whether or not you get hired by a company.
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Those are not the knockout questions.
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Things that are knockout questions are things that a recruiter will set up themselves when they set up a job.
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For example, if you are applying to a company and you require a visa, but the company can't sponsor it, they're going to ask you the question,
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will you now or in the future require visa sponsorship?
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If your answer is yes and it has to be a no, you're going to get an automatic rejection.
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Companies don't spend a lot of money on applicant tracking systems, hence the Workday lawsuit, which if you want me to make a video on that, I'm happy to do it, but it's not what you think it is.
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Companies don't spend a whole lot of money on it, and if they don't spend a whole lot of money on applicant tracking systems, applicant tracking systems have no incentive to really give that many updates in a timely fashion.
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During COVID out of nowhere all of a sudden it went from bots to AI bots
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or from bots to AI and all this rhetoric of like why am I getting rejected, right?
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Like there has to be some kind of easy explanation as to why I'm getting rejected.
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So yeah, that's really it.
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Not much more than that.
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I mean, I really wish that there was, but yeah, I think some of y'all think
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that there's a lot more nefarious things going on when it comes to job search and recruiting.
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We as recruiters want to hire you.
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We don't want systems that automatically reject candidates because we've seen these tools in action.
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They kind of suck and they don't do a very good job of analyzing resumes
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because job descriptions don't fully encapsulate everything that is going on with the job search, the team, all of that.
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Companies don't want reveal everything that's going on behind the scenes so they can't put everything in their job descriptions.
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Because of that, like I as a recruiter, if I'm getting applications, I want to see your application, right?
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I want to see the resume.
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I want to find the right person because that's my job.
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In order for me to do my job effectively, I have to hire you.
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So when you think, why am I getting rejected?
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It's about your resume.
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It's not about you as a person.
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And I have a ton of videos on how to write a resume, how to make it applicable to the job, not just about you showing off your skills and what you care about, it's what they care about,
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not what you care to talk about.
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Now another thing that's not quite so nefarious, especially with older, more enterprise systems, okay?
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Now before you guys go, well the newer systems don't do this.
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You're right, the newer systems don't do this.
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But you know, go ahead and complain in my comment section because it just helps with my engagement.
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Thanks for the AdSense payments.
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In some applicant tracking systems, when you reject someone, what it does is it basically creates this stack
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or a pile of rejection emails that don't get sent out throughout the day.
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Instead what the system does is it holds on to all of these emails
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and it batch sends them all at one time, could be at 2 in the morning.
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The most real life example I can give of this is, have you ever heard that you should run your dishwasher at night, like overnight?
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Yeah?
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Yeah?
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Okay, why is that?
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Because so many people are using their sinks throughout the day, they're taking showers, using their sinks, the toilets, but when everyone's asleep,
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water's not really running now is it? Is it?
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No. Okay, so it's a little easier for the system to be able to process that information.
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Now another reason why you might be getting a rejection at
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two in the morning is let's say you're applying to a very large company.
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Now I'm just using it as an example, I don't know if they do this or not, so don't put any accusations out there, okay?
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Let's say there is a recruiting team that sits in India and in the the United States, right?
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Two completely different time zones across the world.
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And let's say there is a recruiter or somebody screening out resumes who is in a completely different time zone than you.
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They could be looking at your application and going, okay, let's go ahead and send the rejection, right?
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And you could be asleep by that point.
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Not any more nefarious than that.
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I kind of wish it was, but it's not.
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Just a little short video, hope you enjoyed it.
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Why This Video Is Perfect for English Speaking Practice

The video’s casual, conversational tone makes it ideal for honing real-world English skills. The speaker uses relatable humor (“part-time vampire and zombie”) and explains complex ideas (like applicant tracking systems) in simple terms, mirroring how native speakers communicate in everyday professional contexts. This mix of informality and clarity helps learners practice natural pronunciation and intonation, key for exams like IELTS speaking practice. Plus, the dialogue flows naturally, with pauses and emphasis that mimic real speech—perfect for mastering the shadowing technique.

Breaking Down Natural Speech Patterns

Let’s analyze a few lines to see why they sound authentic: 1. “We all got a side hustle, right?” The contraction “got” and tag question “right?” create a friendly, conversational vibe. Native speakers often use contractions to avoid formality, and tag questions invite connection—great for practicing casual fluency. 2. “I won’t name names, but other ones who are making claims…” The phrase “I won’t name names” is a common idiom that softens a critique, showing how to navigate sensitive topics politely. 3. “It’s not about you as a person.” The emphasis on “you” and “person” adds empathy, demonstrating how intonation can convey meaning beyond words. These nuances are crucial for improving English pronunciation and sounding natural.

A Simple Shadowing Routine to Master the Dialogue

Use the shadowing technique (or “shadowspeak”) to practice:

  1. Play a 5-second clip of the video, then pause. Repeat the line aloud, mimicking the speaker’s pace, tone, and stress. Focus on copying pauses (e.g., after “Anyway”) and emphasis (e.g., “exactly why”).
  2. Record yourself, then compare it to the original. Note differences in pronunciation (e.g., “nefarious” vs. “nefarious”) and adjust.
  3. Once comfortable, extend clips to 10 seconds. For IELTS speaking practice, focus on the speaker’s ability to explain ideas clearly—this will help you structure answers coherently.
This loop trains your brain to process and reproduce English in real time, making you more confident in conversations.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.