HOW OF APPLICANT TRACKING SYSTEM (ATS) FRIENDLY RESUME

Job hunting involves rejection and not everyone gets an interview. Although you may be the most qualified and have the appropriate experience, is there anything else that affects your job search?

Yes, it is the act of having your resume discarded before the recruiter has a chance to review it.

Following up on my last post (the link is in the bio), where we delved into the WHY of ATS, let’s delve into the HOW in this post:

➡️ATS prefer reverse-chronological resumes because they are the easiest to read and are most common

➡️ATS can read a Word template converted to a PDF file, since it is a universal file type.

➡️ATS cannot decipher images, fancy templates with images, charts, etc. Information may often get scrambled.

➡️ATS prefers and recognises simple and easy to read fonts and regular bullet points.

➡️ATS cannot read headers and footers, so you must avoid them.

➡️ATS reads the section headings when bucketing your resume, so be sure to label your sections correctly and refrain from using fancy terminology.

➡️ATS will not be able to identify abbreviations and jargon specific to your industry or company, so make sure you write in a way that is understandable by a layman.

➡️ATS will scan and rank your resume based on keywords to determine which candidate is best qualified. Find the relevant keywords and tailor your resume accordingly. Also remember to highlight keywords in bold.

➡️ATS also recognises action words, so always start your resume statements with them.

➡️ATS can be guided by adding relevant & custom job titles as your taglines/headlines.

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