7.3 Screening Resumes with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs)
While many employers, especially smaller ones, manually screen resumes, increasing numbers of organizations use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) to do this task. This involves using software to automate the initial review of job applications based on predefined criteria. The ATS extracts relevant information from resumes, such as contact details, work experience, education, skills, and certifications, and stores it in a structured format for easy analysis. Remember that an ATS often uses a job description or posting as a guide to finding applicants that match keywords/skills. This is why it’s essential to include those in your resume. Some ATS are pretty sophisticated, while others are not.
Here’s how the process typically works:
- Keyword Matching: The ATS searches for specific keywords related to the job requirements.
- Customized Criteria: Employers can define customized criteria based on the job description, such as required skills, experience levels, education, and certifications. The ATS filters out resumes that do not meet these criteria, allowing recruiters to focus on qualified candidates. Resumes that meet the criteria are typically flagged for further consideration, while others are filtered out. While using ATSs for candidate screening is efficient, recruiters need to review the ATS criteria to ensure they are not filtering out qualified candidates and to maintain a balance between automation and human judgment in the hiring process.
To ensure your resume is ATS-friendly and increase your chances of getting noticed by recruiters and hiring managers, consider the following tips:
| Tip | Description |
|---|---|
| Use simple formatting. | Use standard fonts (such as Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman). Avoid fancy formats or fonts that may not be compatible with ATSs. |
| Tailor your resume for each job application. | Incorporate relevant keywords and phrases from the job description. Use industry-specific terminology, skills, qualifications, and job titles to increase the likelihood of matching with the ATS criteria. |
| Clearly label each section. | Use standard headings such as “Work Experience,” “Education,” and “Skills” to label each section of your resume. |
| Avoid headers and footers. | Some ATSs may have difficulty reading information contained in headers and footers. Include important details such as your name, contact information, and page numbers within the main body of the resume. |
| Save your resume in compatible formats. | Save your resume in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or plain text (.txt). Avoid using PDFs unless specifically requested, as some ATSs may struggle with text from PDF documents. |
“Resumes” from Career and Workforce Readiness Copyright © 2022 Careerspace, Trent University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.—Modifications: Used section A note on applicant tracking systems (ATS), edited, added additional explanation and examples.
