The good old ATS, aka The Applicant Tracking System, is probably the most hated piece of technology by jobseekers - and for good reason. They play a big part in helping you either land callback and interview requests or receiving those dreaded “we regret to inform you” emails.

It’s estimated that 90% of resumes are rejected by the ATS, as listed in our Top 10 Shocking Resume Facts Guide. Of the hundreds of people that apply for jobs, only 2% of them will be selected for an interview. So how do you get past the tricky software to land a callback? It boils down to one thing: keywords.

Having the right keywords, phrases, and terms that recruiters and hiring managers are looking for strategically placed in your resume is the secret to having it selected by the ATS and seen by human eyes. But there are some hacks that can help push you through or around the ATS to land interviews.

Keep reading to learn more.

HOW EMPLOYERS USE THE ATS

While applicants hate the ATS, it would be very difficult for recruiters to do their job without them. They are a necessary evil that isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

Industry data reports that 75 to 250 resumes are received for every one job that is posted. With such a high volume of candidates and pages to sift through, it would take weeks for recruiters to read each submitted resume and pick the best person.

The Applicant Tracking System helps them narrow their candidate pool down to the most qualified group of people. Filters can be set so that the system only chooses resumes that have certain keywords relating to education, skills, years of experience, job titles, phrases, and more. As soon as you submit your resume through the system it begins to scan it for the filtered keywords.

Resumes that have the right keywords incorporated throughout the document will be reviewed physically by recruiters. It’s at this point that they begin scanning the document for errors or red flags before officially giving you a call or sending you an email that they’d like to interview you.

However, it’s important to note that you won’t automatically get an interview request just because you made it through the ATS.

TOP ATS SYSTEMS

Companies of all sizes use the ATS to make sure they are filling their pipeline with the best talent. In fact, more small to mid-sized businesses are using applicant screening systems more and more to ensure they can attract top-notch candidates and be more competitive.

It’s reported that 95% of Fortune 500 companies use the ATS to streamline the recruiting process. In addition to this, 40% of companies overall have an ATS system that they rely on to filter and screen resumes. There are hundreds of ATS systems that exist, but these are the top 5:

Taleo

Bullhorn

Jobvite

iCims

Workday

You can tell which ATS the company you’re applying to is using when you click “apply” on the job listing. The URL will change when you officially begin the application process. However, this does not include the “Easy Apply” function on Indeed, Monster, or other job search sites.

GET PAST THE ATS WITH THESE 5 HACKS

Surprisingly enough, making it past the ATS isn’t hard. Some common reasons why people get rejected by the system are layout and formatting issues, missing keywords, and using incorrect file formats when applying. Doing these 5 things can help your resume filter through the ATS with ease.

1. LOOK AT KEYWORDS LISTED IN JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND INCORPORATE THEM INTO YOUR RESUME

Keywords are the name of the game when it comes to ATS. But how do you know what keywords to put in your resume? Here’s a hint: take a look at the job description. When recruiters construct job postings, they basically tell you what they are looking for in a candidate.

They break it down by skills, education level, KPIs, and more. A best practice is to take a look at four to five jobs that you would ideally apply to. Highlight or take note of the common words, phrases, and terms that you see throughout the job description and put them throughout your resume. But there are some things you shouldn’t do:

DO NOT - keyword stuff your resume

DO NOT - copy and paste the description word for word

2. STAY AWAY FROM NON-COMPATIBLE DESIGNS, LAYOUTS, AND TEMPLATES

When you think of a resume, you probably imagine a super pretty fancified document with your picture, cute graphics, arrows, and icons - the works. But these are the documents that are actually the least effective when it comes to getting past the ATS.

While your resume can certainly have graphics, shapes, and other elements, it’s best to keep it simple and plain for it to get through the Applicant Tracking System. It doesn’t have to be bare-bones, though. You can still use colors, borders, shading, and lines to make your document pop. Remember - your goal is to get an interview, not win an award for having the best-looking resume.

3. AVOID TABLES AND COLUMNS

It may seem like a good idea to take your skills and put them into a neat column for organization purposes, but we urge you not to. The ATS can read columns and tables, but the content within them has a tendency to become jumbled and unreadable. By the time you get your resume to an actual person, half of it may be unreadable. Avoid this altogether by not using tables and columns anywhere in your resume.

4. USE ONLY PLAIN TEXT, WORD, OR PDF FILE FORMATS

The ATS is programmed to read traditional file format types. This includes Word, PDF, and Plain Text. Applying to a job using any other file type such as PSI (Photoshop), INDD (InDesign), and others can result in you getting an immediate rejection email.

After your resume has been finalized by yourself or a resume writer, the document should be converted into all three versions. The word doc should be used to make edits and changes, the PDF should be a hard, unedited copy, and the Plain Text should be the stripped version.

5. REACH OUT TO YOUR NETWORK

Did you know that 80% of jobs are filled through networking?

Nothing beats the ATS like a solid recommendation or referral from a friend or employee. They have the power to send your resume straight to the hiring manager or recruiter directly, allowing you to skip the ATS altogether.

A strong network along with a proven track record of delivering value and being the best at what you will beat an ATS any day. Before you begin applying officially, take some time to reach out to former co-workers, associates, alumni, and more to see if they know of any available opportunities.

ATS - FRIEND OR FOE? YOU DECIDE

Read this carefully - the ATS is your friend. You may have been conditioned to think that it works against you, but that’s not the case. In fact, it can actually help you get a leg up on your competition if you play your cards right.

That means following the steps above and investing in a professional resume writer to optimize your chances of landing interviews and getting past tricky ATS systems, which won’t be going anywhere any time soon.

ATS Hacks - Tips For Getting Past The Applicant Tracking System To Land More Interviews