Here's Why Resume Apps Create ATS Unfriendly Resumes

Some resume apps make it easy to create a resume by answering some questions, or loading your LinkedIn profile. Some of these are offered for free on job boards or LinkedIn.

Other resume apps assist in customizing your existing resume to a job description.

But neither one of these types of resume apps create resumes that are friendly to resume screening databases.

Here are 3 reasons why resume apps create resumes that fail to get through Applicant Tracking Systems:

1. Too Basic: Resume apps are designed to be easy, rather than good. They create resumes with the goal of appearing qualified and if the app has AI capabilities, AI can suggest wording from average resumes on the internet to tailor your resume. However, when employers expect 5-10 qualified candidates competing for each interview spot (like they expect in 2024), qualified = average, so employers don't need to select average candidates for their limited number of interview spots.
2. Uses The Wrong Information To Customize: Resume apps can help you pick keywords from the job description to use on your resume. Sounds good, right? Except that job descriptions are standardized, written by HR and Legal to provide legal protection, rather than describe an individual hiring manager's current needs. Using the job description as the input for resume apps to tailor your resume won't reflect the hiring manager's current needs (The ATS search criteria will be based on the hiring manager's needs, not the criteria in the job ad). This will get you screened out.
3. Incompatible Formatting: Resume building apps include formatting that is incompatible with many ATSs, causing your resume to be rejected, placed on hold, translated (which can introduce errors), or moved to the bottom of the search pile (because your resume didn't load information into the correct fields).

Resume building and customizing apps do make the process seem easy ... but it is really easy if the result is a resume that won't work well with many Applicant Tracking Systems?

An easy resume process that causes your resume to be blocked more often, instead will make your job search harder - because it will increase the number of times you're screened out.

During my next free Resume Webinar, I'll teach you more resume/job search strategies to get you through/around the ATS more often, get more interviews, and find a great job by year-end 2024. While we're at it, I'll also show you ways to double your interviews, whether you're currently employed, unemployed, age 40+, changing careers, or have other job search challenges.

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