What is ATS and how do you navigate it?

You need the key to ATS to understand how to unlock it and work with it

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are software designed to help employers and recruiters find the most relevant applicants for a position. They scan and store CVs, sort applications, build shortlists and move selected applicants through to the next step of recruitment – with a real person.

They’re automated and efficient but also narrowly focused, relying on keyword matching, with no interpretation of the depth or breadth of your experience. This means you might be the most qualified and relevant candidate, but your CV might not get picked up. So, how can you navigate ATS to get your CV read by a real person?

You can’t ‘beat’ ATS. You need to understand it and work with it.

I’ve read multiple articles with tips on how to beat the system and the truth is that you can’t.

There is not just one ATS, but hundreds, and different companies use different Applicant Tracking Systems for their own purposes. On top of that, every ATS works slightly differently. However, like many things in life, although we may not be able to beat it, we can understand it, adapt to it and learn how to use it to help us achieve our goals.

How can you optimise your CV for ATS?

You may not be able to beat it, but there are ways that you can make your CV succeed within the ATS framework. Think of it as learning how to become noticeable to ATS. For example:

Maximise keywords

Recruiters and hiring managers use job-specific keywords in their ads. These keywords are then used within the ATS where the system is automated to look out for them and select CVs that contain them. So, study the job ad to identify those keywords and phrases then incorporate the majority of these into your CV – and cover letter if you do one.

It doesn’t need to be festooned like a Christmas tree with these keywords – you’re right in thinking it still needs to read well when a person gets to it at some point – but it does need to be keyword-rich so it gets passed on to that human stage. Think enough baubles to get noticed, not so many that it falls over.

Tailor your CV every time

1. Are you tailoring your CV to each targeted role? If not, you should be. A generic, one-size-fits-all CV is a waste of your time and the recruiter’s. Your time is valuable. Use it well. 'Easy apply' on LinkedIn is easy...but not very effective, so don't be tempted. Focus on quality, not quantity, when it comes to applications

2. Have you included the appropriate skills on your CV? Have you incorporated keywords chosen specifically for the targeted role? Keep in mind that an automated system is programmed to look for a list of words or phrases. The ATS has its list and and it doesn’t do nuance or subtlety. Use all that industry-specific jargon. It’s things like that which position you as an experienced specialist in your field

Keep it simple

ATS doesn’t like elaborate CVs with lots of bells, whistles, tables and fancy graphics. Keep your formatting simple.

1. ATS doesn’t read everything. It doesn’t look into text boxes, tables, logos, headers and footers. So, for example, if you have your contact details wrapped up in a header, take them into the main body so they can be seen by ATS

2. Use a top-to-bottom format rather than columns. ATS is programmed to look for certain information in certain places, so make it easy for ATS to find, otherwise your content will get scrambled

3. Use simple bullet points, white space and a professional-looking, clear font such as Calibri, Aptos or Lato

4. If you use acronyms, such as 'I was a volunteer for WHO,' also write them out in full. ATS doesn’t always recognise these abbreviations. Instead, write something like – volunteer for WHO (World Health Organisation)

5. Use CV sections and titles that are standard, such as Professional Experience or Key Skills. ATS will notice these and keep reading. When you write ‘Work Stuff’ it will skip past it and your important information will be missed

6. For your profile, use the target job title, not 'Profile' or anything similar, as ATS will be looking to find that title and will use that in the job title box it populates from your CV. This is an essential point of keyword matching

Be professional

1. If you have a fun but maybe not professional email address, change it to something more appropriate. Even if it is an email address that you just have for your job search

2. Are your contact details correct? Of course they are, you type them all the time and you’d never make a simple typing mistake... Check these details, check them twice!

3. In fact, triple-check your spelling throughout your CV. It is simple and quick to use an online spellchecker such as Grammarly or a in-built one such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs, but they don’t replace the human eye, so use them but don’t rely on them. You won’t regret making certain by asking someone else to look it over. Then check it again yourself, word by word, line by line. A seemingly minor typo or spelling mistake, such as ‘Soles’ instead of ‘Sales’ isn’t always picked up and can not only demonstrate a lack of professionalism but also prevent your CV from getting past ATS because it didn’t include the keyword ‘Sales’. Rather important if you’re going for a sales role!

4. And check formatting. Digital spellchecking won't notice if some of your bullets have full stops and others don't, or that your fonts are all consistent

CV resume review sites like Jobscan can be useful to get a view of the ATS view and key skills. But I warn you, approach with caution, as they score on how things like how you repeat words from the job ad, which you would never see on a CV. They, of course, also want you to pay, but if you are smart, you can see the feedback for what it is and use the information to your advantage.

So, play nice with ATS, work with it and it will be easy to navigate. Ignore it at your peril.

And get AI to help you do the work. Drop a job description into an AI tool and ask it to extract the top 20 skills for you, then cross-reference this by running another prompt asking what the top 20 keywords are to tailor your CV for the role. That saves a huge amount of time and effort.

You can go further and ask the AI tool to de-dupe those two lists and see which of the keywords are currently missing from your CV. Which means tailoring your CV to a role won't take hours every time you do it.

If you’d like a professional review of your CV to check for ATS and human-reader compatibility, why not book a free call and let’s chat about how to make your CV work hard for you. Click ‘Book a call’ on the website for a free intro call or email me at louise@careertherapy.co.uk

You can get more info and top tips from my other posts on CVs, professional brand and careers. 

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