By CMG Coaching Staff
Want better job search results? Then you need to understand how applicant tracking systems (ATS) read your resume and how to use keywords.
Confusing? Yes. But educating yourself is the most powerful weapon.
An ATS is used by human resources departments to manage the recruitment process and organize and place candidates. Plus 98% of Fortune companies use them.
Designed to help manage recruitment, these programs triage resumes based on keywords that match a job description.
How it reads your resume
More than 75% of resumes are rejected and never seen by a recruiter.
Contrary to popular belief, an ATS doesn’t scan a resume. Like an axe chopping a tree, it parses a resume by analyzing it by fields and how it relates to the role and words. When an applicant uses a resume that lacks the right keyword content or an ATS-friendly format, the system sends it to the abyss, where it triggers an auto rejection letter.
Many companies use older systems with outdated parsing algorithms. This means that even the most-qualified candidate can slip into the auto-rejection pile. This is why networking is critical.
What resume formats do I need?
Although some recruiters read each resume, it is rare.
You should always have two versions of your resume:
Presentation format: This is a Word version reflecting a professional layout and design. It sets a tone regarding your credibility and financial worth.
ATS format: Also known as your electronic resume, this is a stripped-down version of your presentation version. A resume writer will do this for you.
How do I beat the system?
There is never an ATS-proof guarantee.
If you attempt it on your own, here are some formatting rules for your e-resume only:
Customize every resume to the job description. No exceptions. Titles and keywords vary from company to company. A lot of work? Yes. But critical.
Locate the keywords in the job description. Phase frequency counters, resume and job description comparison programs, resume optimization programs, and word clouds are worth saving as favorites.
Focus on hard skills. Since hard skills are quantifiable, ATSs rank them heavily. Employers assess soft skills during the interview.
Don’t use tables, tabs, columns, text boxes, headers, or footers. An ATS can’t parse them.
Use ATS-friendly fonts. Fonts such as Arial, Georgia, and Helvetica are easier to read.
Use standard section headings. An ATS uses traditional fields such as “Experience” and “Education” rather than creative section headers.
Avoid all special formatting and characters. No bold, underline, bullets, or special paragraph spacing. ATS-friendly characters such include *, ~, or -.
Apply left justification to the entire document. It’s cleaner.
Save it using the latest Word format. Avoid PDFs because not all are ATS-searchable.
Some internet sites claim that their resume templates are “ATS-friendly templates.” Newsflash: It doesn’t matter how “friendly” your template might be. You will always need to strip it down.
If career writing isn’t part of your wheelhouse, then do yourself a favor and hire a professional. Not only will they save you precious time, but they have the strategic knowledge and skills to produce a well-written, competitive, and keyword-rich resume.
Bottom line: don’t skimp. This could mean the difference between a four-month and a 24-month search.