You may have heard that you need to have a resume that is Applicant Tracking System (ATS) compliant. What even does that mean? Like many things in life, the more you know, the better you can use your knowledge. The more that you know about the systems used to track job applicants and how recruiters use them, the better you can format and showcase content on your resume. 

You want to get the job, right? So isn't it wise to submit a resume that works for you and not against you?

What Is an Applicant Tracking System?

Back when I first started recruiting (let's just say a long time ago), there was no such thing as an Applicant Tracking System. You organized candidate resumes in folders and wrote the progress of an applicant on a post-it note. When spreadsheets became ubiquitous, you put your candidate information into one to track individuals through the process. It was a bit better, but it involved a lot of manual data entry. Then came the Applicant Tracking System in the late 1990s. What a godsend. With job boards starting in the mid-1990s, there was an onslaught of applicants. Manual systems did not cut it any longer. The first ATS systems were elementary, but it allowed you to track a candidate status and have your information held in one place. 

A significant advance was the ability to parse a resume. Parsing means the system can take data from a resume and store it. Also, parsing led to analyzing the data. Being able to search the company’s resume database helped find qualified candidates. ATS's were further able to help recruiters by analyzing the data on a resume and qualifying candidates. This was very helpful when an opening resulted in 300 resumes when a tenth of that number would have been the standard pre-job boards.

ATS's do many more things now, such as emailing, providing calendars for scheduling, and even onboarding new hires. This functionality is all good and makes for a better candidate experience. But, you cannot get to that point in the recruitment process until you are given the thumbs up during an initial resume review. Knowing how the system reads your data and how you can increase something called your match score is critical. If recruiters are overwhelmed with applications (and anecdotal evidence indicates that the number of people applying per opening, during this pandemic, has increased in most sectors), their chances of reading each one are slim. The recruiter will use the technology to prioritize which resumes are the most relevant. Those will be the ones screened. Others may be reviewed at a later time or not at all.

The Computer Reader Versus The Human Reader

There are two readers for your resume. The software that reads your information, stores it, and matches it to the job opening, and the human reader - either in HR or the hiring manager. Your resume does have to appeal to both. What is optimal for one does not necessarily work the same for the other. Therefore, you do need to focus your attention on how your resume information is extracted. If crucial data cannot be read, then undoubtedly, your match to the job opening requirements will suffer.

Reverse Chronology Resumes or Hybrid Resumes

The ATS system and human readers are trying to collect information about you as efficiently as possible. The easiest way to do this is with a reverse chronology resume, where it is clear which jobs and companies you worked and the associated dates. In functional resumes, skills are highlighted, and there is a separate section with only the company, job title, and dates. Since the skills are not associated with a particular job, it can be confusing for the human reader and the computer reader. Functional resumes are also problematic since the software often will assign a weight to a particular skill based on how recently it was used. A Hybrid Resume is one where it uses the reverse chronological format, but there is also a professional summary and possibly a skills section. This type of resume does not pose an issue for the ATS or human reader. 

Acronyms

When writing a resume, many applicants use acronyms. As a recruiter, I was bothered by this, as some acronyms were company-specific. How was I to know what a HOTC-aP system did? If you are using an acronym that is not commonly known, you must spell it out. Even if an acronym is widely known, the ATS may not know what it stands for in its data extraction. If the company always uses Search Engine Optimization and you use SEO, the ATS may not understand that skill and give you credit for the match. A best practice is to spell out the term and, in parenthesis, put the acronym. An example would be Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT). 

Header and Footer Information

There is advice on the internet about resume "headers." They tell the reader to put the applicant name and contact information in this "header." What may be unclear is that you should not use the "header" feature in Microsoft Word for your contact information. Why is this? Because some ATS systems cannot read the information that is either in the header or footer area on a Word document. Your contact information, or anything else you would put in this area, will just be blank or possibly interspersed in the resume's main body. The system will have no contact information on you unless someone gets it by actually looking at your resume. This is especially a problem if a recruiter does a search for qualified candidates in your locale. You simply will not show up. Skip the header or footer area and just put your contact information in the main document. Both the computer and the human reader will be able to read it.

Graphs and Charts

You have seen them. Nifty one-page resumes with beautiful graphs and charts as a visual representation of your accomplishments. They look beautiful but want to know a secret? The ATS cannot read graphs, charts, or other similar visual elements. These are only for the human reader. You have two options with these types of resumes. First, you only use it when you are networking and, therefore, assured that a human reader would be reviewing this information. Secondly, you add the graphic details and write out the information elsewhere on the resume, so the computer also understands the information.

Text Boxes and Word Art

Many people add text boxes to their resumes to highlight important information, such as a recommendation or significant accomplishments or skills. Guess what? Many ATS's cannot read the information in a text box. So it is suitable for the human reader but not good for ATS optimization. If you use the Word Art feature of Microsoft Word, you also run into an issue with the ATS not being able to decipher it. A workaround is to use a shape that mimics a text box and put the text in front so that it can be read, or somewhere in the resume put the same information in white text, that the computer can read but the human eye cannot. Or you can just eliminate these elements from your resume.

Tables and Columns

While tables and columns can make the information that you provide more straightforward for the human reader to understand, it does not mean that the ATS will retrieve the information correctly. The words in these two features can end up on separate lines and be misinterpreted. That is because some ATS's don't read like a human eye, left to right. The ATS may read top to bottom and then left to right. So as an example, if you have "Verbal Communication" in the right column and "Decision Making" on the next line of the left column, the ATS might extract "CommunicationDecision" and not score that new word as a match. Columns do seem to be more prone to issues than tables. For tables, just make sure that you have a space before and after each word to avoid problems.

Standard Section Headings

Most resumes have section headings, so the human reader understands the organization of the information. The ATS also uses this information to understand what type of data is in that section. Standard headings would include Summary, Skills, Experience, Education, Certifications, etc. If you want to get fancy and use a creative title for a heading, the ATS may not understand what the information represents. This could cause parsing errors.

Keywords, Keywords, Keywords

So being able to read the information on the resume is important for the matching process. Also relevant is the content that is associated with a match. This is where adding appropriate keywords is so important - both for your hard skills and soft skills.

Determining An Applicant Match

There are many different types of ATS providers, so there is not one standard methodology for determining an applicant match. I have used the ATS system from the company iCIMS, and here is how it works for matching. They have a feature called Hot Matching. Skills are set up for a job opening, and the system will review the resumes and "parse out" those skills. The more skills, the higher the score. Therefore, you want to have the relevant expertise in your resume so you can have the highest possible match score. In some ATS systems, there can be skills that are assigned different points or weight when considering the match. Recruiters can also give different levels of experience different weighting, as well as varying levels of education, or various technical skills. Additionally, a lack of a certain level of experience, education, or skill can be a knock-out.

Applicants should look closely at the job posting to understand what could be considered keywords. These should show prominently in the job posting. If possible, try to put these words or terms in your resume multiple times - such as your professional summary, skills, and experience sections. A tool to use that can help you see how closely your resume information matches the job posting is on Jobscan, where you can cut and paste your resume and the job posting. Their software will give you a number representing the match percentage, with advice on improvement.

Customizing your resume for each job is so important. The keywords for one position may be different than for another. Also, it is essential to note the exact spelling of a keyword. Going back to the acronym example, write out the word exactly as used in the job posting. Use Masters of Business Administration if that is how it is spelled out in the job posting, MBA if that is what you see used. The ATS system only uses as a match the information it has, and you do not know if the system understands that those two terms are interchangeable. That is why putting both versions on your resume is the best practice.

Other ATS Suggestions

1. When you upload your resume, you should be able to see what file types are allowed for your resume. You should be okay with any of the indicated file types in terms of ATS resume parsing. When in doubt, you may want to use a .doc or .docx file.

2. You should always put your name on the file uploaded. You may also want to put the title of the position. Make sure you are notating in your records which version of your resume that you used. If you apply for another job with the same company, you should be able to upload a different version of your resume. Both will be stored in the system. You want the company to know which resume is associated with which job.

3. Feel free to use bold italics, underlines, and borders on your resume. It will make no difference with its readability by the ATS and can help focus attention on certain words on your resume. 

4. Print a .txt version of your resume to review all of your resume information and make sure none is hidden.

Conclusion

Writing an ATS compliant resume is not hard. You just need to be aware of the tricks. Have you had any of these elements on your resume that could be causing ATS parsing or matching errors? Change them. You will now have a resume that is both easy to read by the ATS software and humans. 

For more information about ATS systems, please read the following blog posts:

Applicant Tracking Systems and Keywords: What You Need to Know

Shelley Piedmont is a job search coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. If you need career coaching, resume preparation, interview skills assessment, or LinkedIn profile assistance, she can help. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.