The most challenging part of the job search isn鈥檛 always the interview 鈥� it鈥檚 getting past the applicant tracking system, which scans and filters resumes based on keywords.
Justin Press 鈥�24, a 麻豆原创 photonic science and engineering major, may have developed a solution that benefits both employers and applicants. His brainchild, Hire Match AI, is an analytics layer that integrates with existing applicant tracking systems to better analyze and interpret hiring data.
鈥淲e reparse resumes, structure candidate data more accurately and use statistics to identify which combinations of skills and experiences tend to stay longer and perform better in a company over time,鈥� Press says. 鈥淭hat helps teams look past what I call 鈥榗hecklist champion鈥� resumes, where a candidate appears perfect on paper but is really just optimized for a filter.鈥�
Press says what sets his digital tool apart is its focus on analytics, fit and compliance.
From Frustration to Framework
He developed the idea as head of professional development for the Engineering Leadership and Innovation Institute 鈥� part of 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Engineering and Computer Science 鈥� where students develop professional skills through a certificate program, specialized courses, maker spaces and mentorship. In that role, he helped students optimize their resumes for job listings and quickly realized the process wasn鈥檛 as straightforward as it seemed.
鈥淎t 麻豆原创, I was going through hundreds of applications and postings each year, and it became obvious how much of the process was turning into a game,鈥� Press says. 鈥淭hat gave me a firsthand look at how inefficient and frustrating the process was for both applicants and the people trying to help them.鈥�
Launching What Hiring Lacks
From that frustration came Hire Match AI. Press brought the idea to the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, where he received guidance on turning the concept into a business. Now, as he prepares for launch, several businesses have already expressed interest in using the platform to analyze their hiring data more deeply. Press says the goal is to make data analytics more accessible, no matter which ATS a company uses.
“The bigger vision is to make hiring more data-driven, more transparent and less dependent on surface-level filtering.”
鈥淲e want Hire Match AI to plug into every major ATS so companies can get better visibility into candidate fit, hiring patterns and compliance risk without having to switch the systems they already rely on,鈥� he says. 鈥淒own the line, that means expanding into larger platforms like Workday and other major enterprise systems. The bigger vision is to make hiring more data-driven, more transparent and less dependent on surface-level filtering.鈥�
Engineering with Purpose
Press says he was drawn to the field of photonic science and engineering by a desire to create technology that improves people鈥檚 lives. His advice to students with similar ambitions: focus on what makes their idea unique.
鈥淔or engineering students especially, having a wide range of experiences is a huge advantage,鈥� Press says. 鈥淎 lot of the best ideas come from [understanding] how technical problems connect to business problems, user behavior or broken systems in the real world. That matters even more now, with tools like large language models making it easier to build quickly.鈥�
Companies interested in using Hire Match AI can or sign up for early access.
