Taleo is the hiring system behind many of the largest and oldest employers' postings: banks, utilities, governments, universities, big manufacturers. It is the form people mean when they describe an application that took an hour. One account per employer, a form in many steps, a resume parse that works on plain text and little else, and a session that expires while you type. It is also being replaced, employer by employer, by Workday and Oracle's newer system. Until it is, the method is to write everything outside the form first and paste it in.
Key points
- One account per employer, at
company.taleo.netorcompany.taleocloud.net. - Many steps. Each saves when you press "save and continue". The session expires after about twenty minutes idle.
- The parse reads plain text. Upload a one-column PDF or paste plain text.
- Write every long answer outside the form. Paste.
- The "my submissions" page shows status, in Taleo's own vocabulary.
The steps
| Step | What it asks | What goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Sign in or create | Username, password, security questions | A username that is not your email, lost |
| Resume | Upload or paste | The parse: everything in one field, or nothing |
| Personal information | Name, contact, address | Address fields that expect one country's format |
| Work experience | Entries, from the parse or by hand | Dates in the wrong format, roles merged |
| Education | Entries | A degree the dropdown does not have |
| Questions | Authorisation, availability, the employer's own, sometimes a long list | Timeout mid-list |
| Attachments | Cover letter and more | A file name with a character the system rejects |
| Voluntary disclosures | Demographics | Optional |
| Review and submit | One long page | Submitting without reading the parse |
Taleo rewards the person who wrote the answers first and pastes them in.
The account
Taleo asks for a username, which is not always your email, and security questions. Write the username down with the password. A lost username at Taleo is a support ticket, not a reset link. Use the same email everywhere.
The parse
Taleo's parse is the oldest and the weakest. A one-column PDF with plain headings and no tables parses into entries. Anything else parses into a single text block, or into entries with the dates missing. Two fixes: upload the plainest PDF the builder on this site exports, or paste the resume as plain text in the box the form offers. Then open each entry and check it.
The guide on ATS-friendly resumes has the rules, and Taleo is the system they were written for.
The timeout
About twenty minutes idle, and the long question list is where it strikes. Write every answer in a text file first. Paste. Press "save and continue" at every step, because that is the save, not the typing. If the page comes back empty, sign in and the saved steps are there.
The questions step
The longest of any common system. Knockouts first: authorisation, licence, availability. Then the employer's own, sometimes twenty or more, sometimes a self-rating per skill. Answer truthfully and with the same rating you would defend in an interview. A row of top ratings reads as noise.
My submissions
After you submit, "my submissions" lists applications with a status. The vocabulary is the employer's, often several steps long and not always clear. "Under consideration" is the default and can mean nothing happened. A change from it is the signal. Withdrawing is a link on the same page.
On this site
Tailor rewrites your resume and cover letter against the posting before you open the form, so the words you paste in are the ones the posting used. When you send it, add the row in Track, with the ATS score you sent it at. We do not fill the form for you: the pledge on this site says we will not apply on your behalf.
Before you open the form
Three things on the desk before the first page: the tailored resume as a plain PDF and as pasted text, the answers to the standard questions in a text file, and the username and password for this employer if you have applied to them before. Then a cup of something, because the form takes forty minutes to an hour. Starting the form without the three is how an hour becomes two, and how the timeout wins.
Questions
Why is this form so long?
It was built for a different decade and employers configured it over years. It is being replaced. Until it is, the method above is the method.
The degree dropdown does not have mine.
Pick the closest level and put the exact degree in the field of study box. The resume file carries the truth.
Can I paste the resume instead of uploading?
Yes, and for Taleo it is often the better choice, because plain text parses into entries that a formatted PDF does not. Export plain text from the builder on this site and paste.
The status has said "under consideration" for a month.
Then nothing has happened, or the recruiter has not moved it. The guide on how long until you hear back has what a month of silence means at a large employer.
The system rejected my file name.
Letters, numbers, hyphens. No spaces, no apostrophes, no accents in the name.