What an ATS does
An applicant tracking system, or ATS, is the software employers use to collect and manage job applications. When you apply, it reads the text of your resume and breaks it into fields such as your name, job titles, employers, dates, education and skills. Recruiters then search and filter those fields to find the people they want to look at first.
That means two things matter before a person sees your resume: the software has to read it correctly, and it has to find the words the recruiter is searching for.
What it looks for
- Keywords from the job post. Skills, tools, certifications and the job title itself.
- Job titles and employers it can match to your experience.
- Dates it can read, so it can work out how long you held each role.
- Education and certifications, when the post asks for them.
Format your resume so it reads cleanly
Most parsing problems come from layout, not content. A resume that looks great to a person can come out scrambled when software pulls the text out of it.
- Use a single column. Two-column layouts can mix lines from both sides together.
- Use standard section headings such as Experience, Education and Skills.
- Choose a common font, and keep your text as real text rather than part of an image.
- Avoid tables, text boxes and graphics for anything important.
- Keep your name and contact details in the body of the page, not in a header or footer.
- Write dates the same way every time, for example Jan 2022 to Present.
- Upload a PDF or Word file unless the application asks for a specific format.
Use the job post's own words
An ATS matches text, and many systems are literal. If the post asks for "user research", a resume that only says "customer interviews" may not match, even though a person would see them as the same thing.
- Read the post and note the skills and tools it repeats or lists as required.
- Use those exact terms where they truthfully describe your experience.
- Spell out an acronym once, for example "search engine optimization (SEO)", so both forms appear.
- Put the most important terms in your summary, your skills and your most recent role.
Only add a term you can back up. A recruiter reads the resume after the software does, and an interview will test anything you claim.
What not to do
- Don't hide keywords in white text or tiny type. Recruiters see the plain text, and it reads as a trick.
- Don't paste the job description into your resume. Matching the words is not the same as copying the post.
- Don't chase a single "ATS score". Every employer's system and search is different. Aim for a resume that reads cleanly and uses the right words.