Create a Application Tracking System (ATS) Friendly Resume

What many job seekers don't realize is that 75 percent of job applications are rejected before they are seen by human eyes. Resumes uploaded to an ATS are only viewed by a human if the system matches the resume to the job ad. The others get dumped into an electronic black hole where recruiters don't have the time to take a look for great talent. You want to ensure your resume doesn't disappear into cyber world and actually makes its way into the hands of a human, you need to know how to outsmart an ATS.

It’s worth understanding that an ATS is programmed to scan for keywords as well as other information such as former employers, experience, universities, and qualifications. They categorise candidates automatically in order of potential interest for the recruiter. An ATS may reject more than half the resumes they scan.

Recruiters and employers are increasingly relying on technology and keywords to help them scan resumes, so make sure that you’re set up to stand out.

So .... here is a list of ways to get your resume to the top of the list. Lets make you a stand out candidates ‼

What are the keywords from the companies advertisement

Every company has its own terminology for their advertised roles and you should grab some of those key words and put those in your resume, doing this will always familiarise yourself with the language that the company uses when you land yourself a face to face/phone/teams interview.

Do Not apply to a bunch of jobs at the same company unless its job specific

The ATS believe it or not actually let the recruiters know all the roles that you've applied for at their company and notifies them as "duplicate". If you weren't shortlisted the first time why would you be shortlisted the next time - instead tailor each resume that you submit to the specific job.

File Types

Yes we all know that PDFs are the best because it keeps all your formatting intact overall but to be honest a simple word document is absolutely the most accurately parsed by the ATS system.

Formatting

So now you think putting a picture, images, symbols and shading on your resume is a good idea, yes visually pleasing looks awesome BUT the ATS system doesn't know how to read it - so please don't. Recruiters don't care about your graphic design skills they are about your skills and so does the ATS system. Just use simple VERY Simple heading; Education, Qualifications, Experience, Hobbies and References. NEVER use a header or a footer ATS system dont know how to read and parse information stored in the header and footer sections of a word document. Stick to a universal font like Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Garamond, Georgia, or Cambria. Avoid fonts you need to download, which the ATS may have trouble parsing.

Language

In different industry's we all use acronyms but the ATS system is programmed to look for full keywords and please do not use lingo and proof - proof read your resume for spelling mistakes. "Hosiptal" vs "Hospital" which one do you think the ATS system is going to identify correctly and shortlist.

Ultimately recruiters just want to find the info they’re looking for as quickly as possible, So making a resume ATS friendly will actually help your resume be more readable to recruiters as well. 👍