What are Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)?

ATS consists of AI software programs that aid companies in recruiting and hiring. ATS serves as a medium between the applicant and the company’s hiring body, filtering resumes before they reach employers. The purpose of ATS is for employers to narrow down wide applicant pools to the most qualified candidates.

Why are ATS important?

Nearly 70% of large companies use ATS as a means of candidate screening. In the process, most applications are thrown out by ATS before they even reach an employer’s eyes. Ensuring your resume passes through ATS parameters can significantly improve your chances of being considered and hired for positions.

What does an ATS process look like?

Applicant submits resume AI converts to TXT parsing algorithm gathers relevant skills/experience aligns skills/experience with job role

Note: 80% of resumes get rejected at the 2-3rd stage!

What can I do?

Do

  • Create your resume from a blank Word document instead of a template
  • Convert your Word document straight to a PDF and submit
  • Stick to standard title sections. Keep it simple!
  • Include the word “experience” in your title sections, as this will tip off ATS to register and prioritize that information (e.g. project experience, professional experience, relevant experience)
  • In the skills section, make sure to use either bullet points or commas to separate skills (vertical lines will not work), or else all skills will be read as one
  • Add the same skills from the skills section to your experience section; this will make them more meaningful to the AI and provide a timeframe

Don't

  • Use a resume template: Templates will often trigger ATS to throw out a resume. The software cannot gather the text it needs to analyze, so your resume will be removed from the applicant pool. Stick to blank word documents!
  • Change between software when creating/exporting your resume
    • Google Doc Word pdf = will not pass ATS
    • Word pdf = will pass ATS (recommended way)
  • Paste bullet points from chatGPT; they will not be read

Helpful Tips

To check if your resume will be read by ATS, copy the text and paste it into a blank Word document. It should read in the same sequence with no errors. If the formatting gets slightly changed but is overall still similar, it will be partially read, but may not pick up on everything. If the text can’t be copied at all, ATS will not be able to gather any of that information.

If you’ve created a graphic or templated resume that you would like to share, add this to the “additional documents” section in the application, and submit a basic resume that will pass ATS

Review resume guidelines and samples to see an outline that passes ATS parameters.