Applicant Tracking Software, or “ATS” for short, is a tracking system that employers and recruiters use to pre-screen candidates and applications.
What is ATS?
ATS is a type of artificial intelligence that scans resumes looking for specific elements that employers value. For example, an employer hiring a customer service professional might value applicants with strong interpersonal skills. In this scenario, they may set a filter in their ATS to only accept applications that include the word “interpersonal” in them. There are many common keywords different ATS programs look for to determine if you’re qualified.
The purpose of ATS software is to remove the labor required when a real person must review applications. With the advent of tools like Indeed and LinkedIn, employers receive more applications than ever before. Glassdoor reports that the average employer receives 250 applications per job posting. Companies like Google that have hundreds of open positions receive tens of thousands of weekly applications. This incredible number of applications can only be efficiently sorted by artificial intelligence.
Unfortunately, many applicants do not have resumes that are compliant with ATS requirements. Because ATS is merely a software system and not a real person, it can’t make judgements the same way a human can. For example, a real person might review the resume of a customer service professional and realize that because the applicant has ten years of experience in customer service, they must have interpersonal skills. However, an ATS may review that same resume and decide the applicant isn’t desirable because it can’t find the keyword “interpersonal” in the file.
Why Should I Care?
In today’s job market, over 90% of employers, and 98.8% of Fortune 500 companies, are using at least some form of ATS.
What Are Some Common Misconceptions?
Many people incorrectly believe that there is one ATS that every employer uses. This is not accurate. There are as many different types of ATS programs as there are cellphone manufacturers. To complicate matters further, every employer sets different filters in their ATS. For example, Google might value different factors than Microsoft. Therefore, Google will look for different keywords than Microsoft looks for.
There are multiple tools purporting to provide free ATS scans. Although these tools may scan your resume, they cannot provide an accurate picture of how your resume will fare when it is scanned by a real employer.
Where Does Resume Writing Group Fit In?
At Resume Writing Group, we craft resumes that are compliant with ATS. What does that mean? That means we craft resumes that include the most common keywords employers value. It also means the formatting of our resumes is setup to make them scannable by ATS. To do this, we include borders, section breaks, page numbers, properly defined headers, etc. etc.
Just because our resumes are compliant with ATS does not automatically guarantee you’ll get past every single ATS scan. It simply means you will be significantly more likely to get past the ATS scan. From there, a real person still has to decide whether or not to bring you in for an interview. Nothing is 100% certain when it comes to an application – that is why we encourage our clients to be active with their job search by applying for numerous open positions.
What Should I Do If I’m Worried My Resume Isn’t Compliant?
We encourage all of our clients to use this basic checklist – for full compliance, the answer should be YES to all of these questions:
- Does my resume include a zip code?
- Is my resume two pages or less (excludes Federal Government resumes)?
- Does my resume include a strong summary or profile statement?
- Does my resume include borders and section breaks?
- Does my resume use action-oriented bullet points?
- Was my resume provided in either Word or PDF format?
- Is my resume in a single-column format?
- Is my work history in reverse chronological order (most-recent employment first)?
- Are my employment dates justified to the right?
- Have all pictures, graphics, links, and unusual fonts been removed from my resume?
If the answer is YES to all ten of these questions – congratulations – your resume is 100% compliant with ATS.
