What do you do if your resume isn't getting past applicant tracking systems (ATS)?

This is a sloppy question from LinkedIn, and a terrible way to continually perpetuate a falsehood in Recruitment and Talent Acquisition. An ATS is a digital filing cabinet. Anyone telling you otherwise is trying to get you to pay for some services that they are offering. This is clickbait-y and takes our industry backwards every time this topic comes up.

Keywords: Carefully review the job description and identify relevant keywords and skills. Incorporate these keywords throughout your resume, especially in your summary, work experience, and skills sections. However, avoid keyword stuffing, which can make your resume appear unnatural. Formatting: Use a simple and ATS-friendly format with clear headings, bullet points, and consistent font size and style (11-12 point font). Avoid fancy fonts, graphics, or tables, as they can be misread by the ATS. File format: Save your resume as a plain text (.txt) or Word document (.docx). Avoid using fancy file formats like .pdf, as some ATS systems may struggle to process them accurately.

If your resume isn't getting past applicant tracking systems (ATS), consider optimizing it for ATS compatibility by incorporating relevant keywords and formatting techniques. Tailor your resume to closely match the job description and requirements, ensuring that key qualifications and experiences are prominently featured. Additionally, avoid using images, graphics, or unconventional formatting that may hinder ATS parsing. Finally, consider seeking assistance from a professional resume writer who specializes in optimizing resumes for ATS, ensuring your resume effectively bypasses these systems and reaches human recruiters.

If your resume isn't clearing Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), simplify your format to avoid complexity. Tailor it straightforwardly to match job descriptions, using keywords that ATS can recognize. Quantify achievements with numbers or percentages. Stay persistent and positive in your job search journey, and avoid canvas format that inwardly looks appealing but outwardly not recognized by ATS. Seek professional assistance from HR experts to optimize your resume by contacting me. <3

If your resume isn't getting past the applicant tracking system, then you need to really look closely at both the format and the writing. The ATS tends to read from a top down approach, and doesn't parse information if your resume is separated into columns. It is also important to ensure that you are sprinkling in keywords directly from the job description. So read that darn JD closely, and integrate keywords, phrases, etc. into your professional experience section.

Yes, the ATS is more sophisticated than it was 10 years ago. This is true, but it still does have issues with parsing information with certain formats. It is perfectly fine to incorporate design elements into your resume to make it a bit more flashy, but I always avoid a resume that has columns from top down. For example, education and skills section on the left and professional experience section in the center. Always choose a top down format, and Microsoft Word is the best software on the market to create your resume. Good luck!

Format your resume for an ATS with simplicity using standard fonts like Arial or Times New Roman. Employ bullet points and headings for clarity, and steer clear of tables, graphics, or columns. Save it as a PDF, named with your name and the job title for easy identification.

"Ensure a clean and straightforward format is selected, avoiding graphic-driven designs which may look visually appealing but could potentially fail ATS scans. Utilize common fonts and accurately label sections to enhance ATS compatibility. For instance, naming the 'Professional Experience' section appropriately ensures it isn't missed during the scanning process.

K.I.S.S. is important but content is still much more important than the format. You don't need three columns, four text boxes, five fonts, and eleven colors. FirstNameLastName.docx or pdf and that's it.

ATS is sophisticated enough to read various formatting styles, including tables, columns and graphics. Your resume is probably not getting past the ATS because it uses the wrong file format. Upload your resume in .pdf format and it will get past the ATS.

A KEY is to put it out there. It's not bragging if it's your real experience and the reader can't know it unless they can see it. If you have a job there's a way to quantify it. It doesn't matter if you are a janitor, a state congress person, or a QA engineer.

Now that your resume is in a great ATS-friendly format and you have sprinkled in keywords, it is time to focus on your achievements. The goal is not to stuff your resume full of too many keywords. You also want to integrate those keywords strategically throughout your achievement-focused bullets. You should also customize your achievements to align with the requirements and responsibilities of your target position. If you have a super long list, then prioritize those that are most relevant so that the ATS and hiring manager sees it right away.

Be specific of what you've performed that contributed to an impact for the company. Yes, there's no single person behind an impact. Each individual in an organization contributes from their behalf to bring an impact. What matter is how you contributed. The metric provides an absolute value of how much you've impacted.

To distinguish yourself, highlight quantifiable achievements and demonstrate problem-solving skills. This showcases you as a results-driven individual.

Use numbers. Numbers do a great job quanityfing achievement. How much did you increase sales by? How much was that deal you closed worth? How much time did your process change save across the company?

Tailoring your resume doesn't have to be difficult. It can be as simple as matching your language and keywords to theirs. For example: searching vs. sourcing, implementation vs. roll-out, advise vs. consult. I recommend having a base-line, non-tailored resume to work from, then saving each edited copy as Name Name Company Resume, to differentiate your tailored copies from the master version.

The best way to tailor your resume is to not tailor it. Hear me out-- Before you start applying for jobs, look at the everything you are about to apply for and sort them into a few broad categories. Let's say: Team Lead Architect And Senior Dev roles Then make a slightly different resume for each category job. Then you can avoid having to tailor each time that you apply (which wastes time and often just adds errors to your resume). This can save a little time with just a bit of preparation.

To optimize your resume for ATS, tailor it to each job by customizing it according to the employer's requirements. Research the company and industry to understand their goals and values. Review the job description to identify key skills and qualifications. Adjust your resume to highlight relevant skills and achievements using the same language as the job ad. Remember, your resume is just one aspect of the job search process; be prepared for interviews and follow up with employers to demonstrate your capabilities.

In the European job market, apart from being ATS compliant, proficiency in foreign languages, can significantly enhance your resume's attractiveness. Highlight your language skills, including fluency level and any relevant certifications or experiences, for international clients or stakeholders. To ensure your resume is ATS compliant and resonates in the European job market, give emphasis to : Highlighting Achievements: Apart from listing responsibilities, emphasize your quantifiable achievements to showcase your impact. Provide specific examples of accomplishments to business success. Tip : To Incorporate Relevant Keywords , Format , aligning resume vis a vis to JD do use Hyresnap, Lebenslauf, CVwolf etc.

You don’t get “past” or “around” the ATS. It’s a database - literally Excel on steroids. (Most ATS’s are SaaS products built on SQL - a Microsoft technology developed from Excel… I hired for SQL when it was first starting out back in the day.) If you want an offer - you WANT to be “in” the ATS - because that is where offer letters are drafted, approved, and sent (I am working on 3 right now.) All this hype is sbout PARSING (scanning) your resume so you don’t need to re-enter information. And guess what? The key is K.I.S.S, on format. Stay away from icons/photos/graphs/columns…use a traditional, reverse chronologic order.

Here's what else to consider: As you consider your Linkedin feed each week, unfollow and/or block anyone who tells you that the ATS is something to be beaten. Or, that the ATS is somehow making it harder for qualified candidates to get to the interview stage. These are people who don't know the ATS first hand. And, they are not worth your precious self.

First off, don't freak out! An ATS is not some sinister genius trying to flunk you. Use a simple format (Word or PDF) without fancy columns or graphics and use the job posting as your "cheat code" for what keywords/skills to include. Tweak your titles too, if you need to. And remember - NETWORK. After you apply, try to find that hiring manager on LinkedIn, or, check your personal network for connections in that company to help stand out from everyone else also applying for that role.

To improve your resume's performance with applicant tracking systems (ATS): Optimize for keywords from job descriptions. Simplify formatting for readability. Customize your resume for each job. Avoid graphics and images. Use a standard file format. Seek feedback for improvement. Consider professional resume help if needed.

An ATS system isn't something to fear or worry about, you just need to know what it is so that you can work with it, rather than against it! Keeping your resume format simple, and utilizing keywords from the job description into your own resume will help you! ATS is just a database, that tries to do its best to match how good of a candidate you are to the job posting - and this is why it's very important to tailor each resume to the job posting you are applying for versus using one resume for every role you apply for!