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Beating the ATSG E TTI N G YO U R R E S U M E PAS T THE S Y S TE M AN D I N TO HU M AN HAN D S
• Applicant Tracking System/Software
• Aids in the managing & organizing of hiring functions
• Core component for medium and large company recruiting
• Receives, reviews & filters resumes
What is the ATS?
• 75% of recruiters and hiring professionals use a recruiting or applicant tracking system.
Why Do We Care?
https://blog.ongig.com/recruiting-software/top-100-applicant-tracking-systems-in-2018
Market Share by # of employers using the software
Ranked by growth
How Do You Know?
How Do You Know?
How Do You Know?
How Do You Know?
Many qualified applicants are being rejected by ATS,
not because of a lack of qualifications but because of
unknowingly formatting their content so the ATS
cannot recognize it.
Bad News: ATS’ Eliminate 75% of Applications
• Acknowledge their existence
• Understand how they work
• Work with the ATS, Not Against It
• Format your resume to work the system – to BEAT the system
Good News: The ATS can be beaten
1. Use a chronological format
10 Ways to Beat the ATS
• ATS doesn’t know what do to with a functional resume
• 2+ jobs in 1 company, list the company each time
• Combine short-term jobs wherever possible
• Consider have 2 resume formats, one for the ATS, one for networking or handing to the hiring manager
1. Use a chronological format
2. Keep the format simple
10 Ways to Beat the ATS
• Left align and justify everything (to be safe)• Single column format
• Years UNDER job title and company, NOT to the right
• Simple, Common fonts @ 11 or 12 pt• Safe choices: Arial, Tahoma, Trebuchet, Verdana
Helvetica, Calibri, TNR, Garamond, Cambria
• Bold and Capitalization for accentuation is OK
• Do NOT use special symbols or styles• Standard round bullets OK, arrows or others not
• Consider using asterisks instead
• No underlines , italics or accents
• Décor could instead turn out to be D*$co@
• 925-560-9431, NOT 925.560.9431
• Do NOT use the header or footer
• Do NOT use borders or horizontal lines
• Black on white paper
1. Use a chronological format
2. Keep the format simple
3. Use standard section headings
10 Ways to Beat the ATS
• Get rid of “Objective”
• Include skills within the Work Experience section
• This gives context and time to your skills
• Separate education & training into 2 sections
• Include contact information section
• Suggestions:
• Contact Information, Summary, Work Experience, Education, Certifications
1. Use a chronological format
2. Keep the format simple
3. Use standard section headings
4. Don’t use acronyms
10 Ways to Beat the ATS
• Companies and Associations: International Business Machines (IBM); American Cancer Society (ACS)
• Microsoft Corp., NOT ‘just’ Microsoft
• Include full name of company: Inc., Corp., LLC, etc.
• Skills/Experience: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Years: 2015-2016 (NEVER 2015-‘16 or ‘15-‘16)
• Degrees: Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• MBA vs. M.B.A. vs. Masters in Business Administration vs. Master of Business Administration
• Even apostrophes and periods can sway the ATS against you.
1. Use a chronological format
2. Keep the format simple
3. Use standard section headings
4. Don’t use acronyms
5. Don’t use tables, columns, graphics, lines
10 Ways to Beat the ATS
1. Use a chronological format
2. Keep the format simple
3. Use standard section headings
4. Don’t use acronyms
5. Don’t use tables, columns, graphics, lines
6. Length doesn’t matter
10 Ways to Beat the ATS
• 2-3 pages is fine for the ATS
• Consider keeping it to 750 words, less is more
• Take out irrelevant text that could lower your rank
• Some ATS calculate match on signal-to-noise rate
• Use a simple but attractive format
• In case the hiring manager retrieves your resume from the system
• Have a more stylized version to hand out or send as a hard copy
1. Use a chronological format
2. Keep the format simple
3. Use standard section headings
4. Don’t use acronyms
5. Don’t use tables, columns, graphics, lines
6. Length doesn’t matter
7. Upload the Microsoft Word document, not a PDF
10 Ways to Beat the ATS
• Unless specified, don’t upload a PDF
• Some ATS do not recognize PDF format
• Save your Word document as an older format
• .doc, NOT .docx
1. Use a chronological format
2. Keep the format simple
3. Use standard section headings
4. Don’t use acronyms
5. Don’t use tables, columns, graphics, lines
6. Length doesn’t matter
7. Upload the Microsoft Word document, not a PDF
8. Load it with key words
10 Ways to Beat the ATS
• Tailor each resume to the job description, generic resumes won’t work
• Echo key words exactly
• If the job descriptions says: Responsible for recruiting, selecting, orienting, training, scheduling, and disciplining employees
• Don’t write: Responsible for recruitment, selection, schedule creation, and disciplinary actions of team members
• Use those key words more than twice, if possible
• But don’t stuff it unnecessarily
• Consider using a Word Cloud to pull out key words
• Tagul.com/Wordart.com
• Wordclouds.com
• Tocloud.com
Example: Accounting Technician
Wordclouds.com
tocloud.com
Wordart.com
1. Use a chronological format
2. Keep the format simple
3. Use standard section headings
4. Don’t use acronyms
5. Don’t use tables, columns, graphics, lines
6. Length doesn’t matter
7. Upload the Microsoft Word document, not a PDF
8. Load it with key words
9. All other resume techniques still apply
10 Ways to Beat the ATS
• Unless requested, DO NOT make the first page your cover letter
• Proof: ATS won’t distinguish misspelled words
• Use action verbs
• Include accomplishment statements
• Etc.
1. Use a chronological format
2. Keep the format simple
3. Use standard section headings
4. Don’t use acronyms
5. Don’t use tables, columns, graphics, lines
6. Length doesn’t matter
7. Upload the Microsoft Word document, not a PDF
8. Load it with key words
9. All other resume techniques still apply
10.Find a way to follow up
10 Ways to Beat the ATS
• Use Linked In
• Have a referral walk it to the hiring manager
• Send it to the President or VP, one level up
• Call HR to find the hiring manager
• Don’t rely ONLY on a great ATS resume
• Continue to put a priority on networking
BONUS:
Examples to Critique
Tool to Use: Jobscan.co
• Helps optimize your resume
• Cut and paste job description and your resume into their system
• Analyze how well your resume matches the job description
• 5 free scans a month
• Also has a LinkedIn optimization
Jobscan.co
Jobscan.co
Additional Questions?
Alys Sadler, CSLC, CPRW, CEIPEmployment [email protected] x1039
Liberty Adult Education Career CenterAJCC Access PointBrentwood, CA 94513
USED WITH PERMISSIONSarah Holtzclaw
Program ManagerTri-Valley Career Center