Setting yourself up for success: Tailoring your resume for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

The hiring process in our digital world doesn’t look anything like what it used to be 7-10 years back. Gone are the days when you would see an opening in the newspaper or a pamphlet, and you’d reach out to the number or email in it and baaaam! You have a chance at getting an interview. Now the famous (or infamous!) ATS rules the hiring world and getting your resume to be ATS-proof is almost a necessity to landing an interview.  

But, what’s an ATS?   

At a time when companies receive thousands of resumes for each opening, hiring managers have shifted towards using artificial intelligence to manage the large volumes of applications. By employing the services of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), all a hiring manager needs to do is enter a job posting into the ATS, including information about the job such as the job title, description, required skills, relevant experience, and other qualifications.  The ATS then uses this information to build a profile of an ideal candidate for the role which it will then use to compare and rank candidates when they submit their resumes for that role. In the end, hiring managers get a ranked list of desirable candidates that they can then shortlist for interviews and complete the hiring process much faster.  

This may sound dreadful, but it really is not, if you follow the pointers below to optimize your resume for the ATS. Let’s walk you through the steps: 

• Identify key words to add relevant experience and skills  Examine the job posting carefully to identify key words and relevant experience and skills needed for the role. Keywords can include qualifications such as minimum education required, years of experience, technical and soft skills, for example, ‘problem-solving,’ ‘leadership,’ ‘project management,’ or action verbs like ‘managed,’ ‘analyzed,’ ‘developed,’ and so on. This will help you to determine what to highlight either in the summary or professional experience section of your resume. 
  

• Formatting your resume Format your resume to make it easier for the ATS to identify the different sections it has. Your resume should clearly have these sections: contact information, educational background, professional experience, and skills. Some other sections like relevant coursework, certifications, achievements and awards, volunteer work, publications and hobbies may be added depending on the job for which you’re applying.  In general, use professional font types for your resume, for example, Arial, Calibri and Times New Roman. 
  

• Match the job title as advertised in the job description  Some job titles have industry standard versions that are synonymous to other commonly used titles. For instance, software engineer and software developer are used interchangeably to refer to similar roles. In such a case, you should modify the job title in the professional experience section of your resume to match the job title as advertised in the job description as this title is probably a key word being used by the ATS. 
  

• Quantify accomplishments  Include a brief summary of your responsibilities and accomplishments using action verbs, such as the ones described above (‘managed,’ ‘raised,’ and so on) which you can get from the job description. Quantify these accomplishments and incorporate the keywords naturally into your description. For example, for a performance marketing position, you can quantify your experience by writing - Increased the ROAS by 25%.
  

• Eliminate typos and Grammatical errors  You should keep in mind that since the ATS is a software scanning through your resume, incorrectly spelt words could deter it from identifying relevant information in your resume. This could lead to your resume being outranked by others. So before hitting that submit button while applying for any job, you might want to ensure that your resume is thoroughly checked for any typos and grammar errors.
  

• Saving your resume with the right Name and File Type Finally save your resume as a plain text or .doc/.docx format, as ATS’s have had trouble in the past with parsing information on PDF-formatted resumes. As a test, you can submit your resume to ATS tools available online to confirm that the information picked up by the tool is ordered correctly. Also, naming it appropriately including your name and the job position you are applying for is a best practice. For example, rather than saving your resume as resume01.dox, rename it to (your name).dox.

Applicant Tracking Systems are not perfect and there is research showing bias in ATS, depending on how unrepresentative the data they are trained on is. However, you can work around these biases through networking with people in your desired career field and asking for referrals to get your resume to recruiters directly. 

We feel you – it can get tedious to repeatedly customize your resume for the roles you really want and are likely qualified to get. But I believe it is a bigger disservice to have the necessary skills and expertise and never get a chance to showcase them. Recruiters want to make good hires, and the companies they’re recruiting for want a chance to attract the best. These interests are aligned. So why not give yourself a better chance of being discovered and getting your foot in the door?