Optimize Resume for Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

Software that allows companies to efficiently manage and track candidates.

Increasing Match Strength

1. Keywords

2. Title

   • Same/similar titles and progressing titles

   • Your company may call some role differently, you can change it to match job description as long as its honest to do so

3. Degree

4. Resume Structure

   • fonts, graphics, photos, etc

Keywords

• Relevant keywords maximize your odds that both the software and recruiter will see you as strong fit.

• Exercise :

  • Print a copy of Job Description

  • Use 3 highlighters

    1. Identify Hard Skills (e.g., technical skills)

    2. Identify Soft Skills (e.g., curiosity, cross functional collaboration)

    3. Action Verbs (e.g., collaborate, grow, lead, develop)

  • Find someone with same job in the company you are applying on linkedin, and see what they have written and weave it in your resume

Other Criteria

70% - 75% are screened out through ATS

1. Job Title

   • Try to match the Job Title in the Job Description

   • For example, Marketing Manager, but your company calls it Content Manager, if its honest to do so, then change it

2. Certificates and Licenses

   • If a certificate is listed as acronym e.g., Project Management Professional and job description lists it as PMP, then make use PMP. This will be detected by scanning software.

3. Educational Requirements

   • If there are any gray areas, be sure to try to get your resume into human hands.

   • ATS are black or white.

Formatting

Create ATS formatted resume

1. Tables and Columns

   • ATS reads top to bottom, left to right

   • Key skills can be in 2-3 column format

   • Do not set resume in multiple column format

2. Headers and Footers

   • Do not put contact information in header

   • You can center align the name and contact information on the page, at top, make it bold but keep it in regular content section

   • Do not embed critical information in header

3. Complicated Section Titles

   • Do's

     • Summary

     • Key Skills

     • Professional Experience

   • Dont's

     • Who I am ?

     • What I know ?

     • Where I worked ?

Fonts

• Don't choose font that ATS cannot read

• Use standard PC fonts - serif or sans-serif

• Serif Fonts

  • Often associated with mature or conservative audiences

  • Times New Roman and Garamond

• Sans Serif Fonts

  • Often associated with modern or comtemporary audiences

  • Arial, Calibri and Verdana

• Maintain consistency

• Like Section Header in Serfi and Body in Sans Serif

Graphics, Logos and Photos

• If you plan to use any graphics on an ATS resume, remove them

• They don't work with ATS

Types of Resume for the ATS

1. Reverse Chronological Resume

   • Includes employment history, beginning with the most recent job and then going backwards

2. Functional Resume

   • Focusses on key accomplishments, skills and abilities

   • Lists all these at top of resume and then mentions jobs at the end

3. Hybrid Resume

   • Highlights skills and accomplishments first, followed by work experience in chronological order

   • Skills and experiences - your value proposition in the beginning

   • Reverse chronological format later

Hybrid Resume is best for ATS and Humans as well

Resume Structure

1. Name

2. Contact Details and Current Job Title

3. Professional Summary

4. Core Competencies / Key Skills

5. Work Experience / Professional Experience

6. Education

7. Certification

8. Achievements

9. Internships

• Always ensure that your section titles are Bold and with 1 font size larger than rest of the content

• We recommend the following order for placement of sections and to ensure that no recruiter turns a blind eye towards your professional profile

• Summary, Core Competencies and Work Experience are the most significant sections for a candidate profile.

• If on an average, a recuriter is known to invest less than 10 seconds on a resume, then, we recommend you strategically place all significant points upfront in the summary seciton

Tools for creating your resume

• overleaf - latex resume

• It has metadata, that helps optimize your resume for ATS

Tools for optimizing your resume

1. https://cultivatedculture.com => free

2. https://resume.io => ATS resume simulation

3. https://www/jobscan.co => not supported in India

• If you are using online application process, then buy premium version

Be a proactiev Job Seeker

• Even if you optimize your resume for the ATS, you're still at disadvanted if you don't have the attention of a recruiter or hiring manager

• Be proactive about leveraging your connection

• Work hard to endear yourself to someone at the company

• Conduct informational interviews

  • Show genuine curiosity in what they are doing