Here is everything yous need to know nearly bidder tracking systems and how to trounce them.

Nosotros've all been there: You observe the perfect job opportunity, customize your resume and cover alphabetic character, submit your application to a task listing online, and so pray information technology will pass the infamous six-second resume review test. Unfortunately, more than ofttimes than non, your job awarding is lost in the resume "black hole" and you lot're left wondering why the employer or hiring manager wasn't that into you.

What many job seekers don't realize is that 75 per centum of job applications are rejected before they are seen by man eyes. Earlier your resume reaches the hands of a live person, it often must pass muster with what is known equally an applicant tracking arrangement.

Below is everything you need to know well-nigh applicant tracking systems — and what best practices you lot can practise to optimize your resume and beat these bots.

What is an applicant tracking system?

An applicant tracking system — or ATS, for curt — is a type of software used past recruiters and employers during the hiring procedure to collect, sort, browse, and rank the job applications they receive for their open positions.

The applicant tracking system was initially created for large companies that are accustomed to dealing with several thousand inbound job applications on a weekly basis. Today, approximately 99 percent of Fortune 500 companies rely on ATS software to help streamline their recruitment procedure. Yet, what began as a recruitment solution for large employers has turned into a commonplace tool for companies of all shapes and sizes.

How practise applicant tracking systems (ATS) work?

Bidder tracking systems deed as electronic gatekeepers for employers and hiring managers. The ATS parses a resume's content into categories and and then scans it for specific keywords to determine if the job application should be passed forth to the recruiter. Its task is to substantially weed out unqualified applicants then the recruiter can devote his or her fourth dimension to evaluating the candidates who are more likely to be a friction match for the position. In other words, the ATS is apt to toss the least-qualified candidates, rather than identify the applicants who are the all-time fit.

Unfortunately, that means if a resume template is not written and formatted with the applicant tracking organisation in listen, a qualified candidate can be easily passed over.

How to write an ATS-friendly resume

To determine what makes an ATS-friendly resume, TopResume analyzed ane,000 resumes from professionals beyond the U.S. with at least eight years of feel to identify the near common resume mistakes that volition crusade an bidder tracking organisation to toss an application. The infographic below highlights some of the most costly mistakes that brand a resume incompatible with an ATS scan.TopResume Infographic How to Write an ATS Resume

If yous want to make sure your resume is compliant with an ATS, follow the tips below to write and apply an ATS-optimized resume.

Select the right file type for your resume

Reverse to popular belief, a PDF is not the most ATS-friendly file blazon. While PDF files are the best at preserving the blueprint and format of your resume template, it is not compatible with all ATS software. If you're asked to upload your resume to an applicant tracking system and "PDF" is listed among the file formats you tin utilize, by all means, send a PDF version of your resume. Notwithstanding, if the system does non specify which file types are compatible, play it prophylactic and stick to a Give-and-take document in .doc or .docx. Plain-text files are also incredibly ATS-friendly for resumes, but they limit your formatting options.

Since the all-time resume templates are written with ii audiences in heed — the robots pre-screening your application and the live man in Hour who volition review your resume content, should it brand it past the ATS — I recommend using a Word certificate instead of a patently-text file for your resume file type. This will provide more artistic freedom to write a resume that will appeal to a recruiter or hiring manager.

Related: How to Avoid the Height 10 Resume Mistakes That Brand Recruiters Blench

Don't put important details in the header or footer

Not all bidder tracking systems are able to properly read and parse information stored in the header and footer sections of a Word document. In fact, our study confirmed the ATS was unable to place a portion of the task seeker'southward contact information 25 pct of the fourth dimension. Avoid this same fate by placing important contact details (such as your name, phone number, or email address) exterior the header or footer of your resume.

Optimize your resume with keywords

I of the best ways to ensure your resume is uniform with an ATS is to optimize your resume with the correct keywords (a.one thousand.a. keyword optimization). Unlike a "buzzword," which is typically considered to be a fluffy marketing term such equally "proactive" or "self-starter," keywords represent the soft skills and hard skills you possess and the expertise y'all've caused over the years that qualify you for your target job.

If you're unsure which resume keywords should be used, get-go past collecting three to 5 task descriptions that correspond the blazon of position you lot're pursuing. Then, copy and paste the job description into a free word and phrase frequency tool like Online-Utility.org's Text Analyzer, to identify the terms that are regularly used throughout your desired positions. If you lot possess these skills or qualifications, incorporate these terms into your resume.

When it comes to creating an ATS-optimized resume, you need to retrieve near the frequency, also every bit the placement of these keywords throughout your resume. Some applicant tracking systems (ATS) will determine the strength of your skills based on the number of times a term shows upwards in your resume (aim to add together the term two to iii times throughout your resume), whereas others assign an estimated amount of experience for a particular skill based on its placement within the resume. To brand your resume truly compatible with whatsoever ATS, you'll desire to optimize your resume with both systems in mind.

Starting time, create a "Cadre Competencies" or "Areas of Expertise" department inside your resume professional summary that lists your strongest hard skills and soft skills. If there is a common abridgement for ane of your proficiencies such as "SEO" (for search engine optimization), include both versions in your resume. Then, pepper these same terms into your "Work Feel" or "Education" sections, where advisable, to demonstrate when yous leveraged that skill.

Related: Why Soft and Hard Skills Are So Important for Your Resume

Some applicant tracking systems will associate the length of experience for a skill, based on how long you lot held the job where that skill was leveraged. For case, if you worked at your by chore for 5 years and yous mention that you handled SEO for the company, the ATS will assume you lot have 5 years' worth of SEO experience from that job. If a skill is listed on its own — such as within the professional person summary or a core-competencies section — and so the ATS will assign six months' feel for that skill. This is why it's incredibly important to reiterate your skills throughout your unabridged resume, rather than merely in a skill section at the summit of the resume template.

Avoid images, charts, and other graphics

While these may look nice to the man eye, resumes with embedded images get a garbled mess, or get completely omitted from your application, later it passes through the applicant tracking system. For instance, if y'all insert an image or chart to showcase your key skills, the ATS will be unable to read it. If you use a absurd graphic to brand your proper name on your resume, this piece of information volition exist lost on the applicant tracking system (ATS).

Stick to simple bullet points

When used appropriately, bullet points are a great method for highlighting accomplishments and qualifications on a resume. All the same, if you lot choose an elaborate symbol for your bullets, your important selling points could get scrambled. Avoid using intricate characters when creating a bulleted list on your resume. Stick to the simplest options, such as a solid circle, open circle, or square, to ensure your bullet points heighten your resume, rather than make it incompatible with an ATS.

Use a make clean resume blueprint with a clear hierarchy

When it comes to your resume template pattern, less is more than. Not only practise circuitous resume designs or unusual formats confuse most applicant tracking systems, but they likewise badger recruiters who are accustomed to quickly scanning a resume for specific information they look to find in particular areas within the document.

Click on the post-obit link for more tips on how to write a resume that will shell the ATS.

How to create an ATS-friendly resume format

If y'all want your resume to successfully laissez passer the ATS, stick to a standard resume format, such as a hybrid resume. This resume format uses a professional person summary section at the top of the document to outline your key skills and qualifications and combines it with a chronological "Work History" section that explains how you've leveraged these qualities to produce results for your employers.

Well-nigh bidder tracking systems practise a better job at reading and interpreting a hybrid format considering they rely on chronological data to parse your resume.

Every bit a result, it's in your all-time interest to avert a functional resume format at all costs — where the focus is placed on your abilities, rather than a chronological piece of work history.

How to run an ATS-resume exam for compliance

There are two easy means to determine if your resume is compatible with an applicant tracking system (ATS).

Convert your resume to a manifestly-text file

Copy the content from your resume, paste information technology into a plain-text document, and review the results. If the plain-text version is missing details from your original resume, has characters saved incorrectly, or looks disorganized (i.e. the heading for your "Instruction" section appears in the eye of your work experience), and then assume your resume will require editing before information technology will be ATS compliant.

Request a free ATS scan for your resume

Here at TopResume, we offer a complimentary ATS resume scan every bit role of our free resume review. When you lot request a free resume review from TopResume, you'll receive feedback on your resume's content, as well as its ATS compatibility.

The start half of the review offers an objective look at what your resume is doing well and where information technology is falling short, from both an information and design perspective. The second half of the complimentary resume review shows you exactly what data an ATS volition pull from your resume, what information information technology will be unable to place and recall (such as your name, contact information, virtually recent job title, and nearly contempo employer), and for what top skills and keywords your resume currently ranks. If the ATS is unable to identify this important data or thinks yous're a fit for a chore when you're not, then your resume will demand to be further optimized before it passes the ATS-compatibility examination.

Click on the following link to sentinel our latest #OfficeHours video on how to write an ATS resume to shell the bots.

Don't let the bots terminate you from landing your dream chore. Get an ATS-proof resume today .

Recommended Reading:

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  • 5 Signs It's Time to Hire a Professional Resume Writer

  • Words and Phrases to Remove From Your Resume Right Abroad

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