Here is everything you lot demand to know about bidder tracking systems and how to beat them.

We've all been there: Y'all notice the perfect task opportunity, customize your resume and cover alphabetic character, submit your application to a job listing online, and and so pray it volition laissez passer the infamous half-dozen-2nd resume review exam. Unfortunately, mostly, your task application is lost in the resume "blackness hole" and you're left wondering why the employer or hiring manager wasn't that into you.

What many chore seekers don't realize is that 75 percent of task applications are rejected earlier they are seen by human eyes. Before your resume reaches the hands of a live person, it frequently must laissez passer muster with what is known as an bidder tracking system.

Below is everything you demand to know about bidder tracking systems — and what best practices you tin practise to optimize your resume and beat these bots.

What is an applicant tracking organization?

An bidder tracking arrangement — or ATS, for short — is a type of software used by recruiters and employers during the hiring process to collect, sort, scan, and rank the job applications they receive for their open positions.

The applicant tracking organization was initially created for big companies that are accustomed to dealing with several 1000 inbound task applications on a weekly ground. Today, approximately 99 per centum of Fortune 500 companies rely on ATS software to help streamline their recruitment procedure. Nevertheless, what began as a recruitment solution for large employers has turned into a commonplace tool for companies of all shapes and sizes.

How do applicant tracking systems (ATS) work?

Applicant tracking systems deed equally electronic gatekeepers for employers and hiring managers. The ATS parses a resume's content into categories and so scans it for specific keywords to determine if the chore application should be passed along to the recruiter. Its job is to essentially weed out unqualified applicants then the recruiter can devote his or her time to evaluating the candidates who are more than likely to exist a match for the position. In other words, the ATS is apt to toss the least-qualified candidates, rather than identify the applicants who are the all-time fit.

Unfortunately, that means if a resume template is not written and formatted with the applicant tracking system in mind, a qualified candidate can be easily passed over.

How to write an ATS-friendly resume

To determine what makes an ATS-friendly resume, TopResume analyzed 1,000 resumes from professionals beyond the U.Southward. with at to the lowest degree 8 years of experience to place the almost common resume mistakes that will cause an bidder tracking system to toss an application. The infographic below highlights some of the well-nigh costly mistakes that make a resume incompatible with an ATS browse.TopResume Infographic How to Write an ATS Resume

If y'all want to brand certain your resume is compliant with an ATS, follow the tips beneath to write and use an ATS-optimized resume.

Select the right file type for your resume

Opposite to popular belief, a PDF is not the most ATS-friendly file blazon. While PDF files are the all-time at preserving the design and format of your resume template, it is not compatible with all ATS software. If you're asked to upload your resume to an bidder tracking system and "PDF" is listed among the file formats yous tin use, by all means, send a PDF version of your resume. Even so, if the system does not specify which file types are compatible, play it safe and stick to a Word certificate in .physician or .docx. Plain-text files are also incredibly ATS-friendly for resumes, but they limit your formatting options.

Since the best resume templates are written with two audiences in mind — the robots pre-screening your application and the live human in Hour who will review your resume content, should it brand it past the ATS — I recommend using a Word document instead of a plain-text file for your resume file type. This will provide more than creative freedom to write a resume that will appeal to a recruiter or hiring manager.

Related: How to Avoid the Top x Resume Mistakes That Make Recruiters Blench

Don't put important details in the header or footer

Not all applicant tracking systems are able to properly read and parse data stored in the header and footer sections of a Word document. In fact, our study confirmed the ATS was unable to place a portion of the job seeker'southward contact information 25 percent of the time. Avoid this aforementioned fate by placing of import contact details (such as your name, phone number, or email address) outside the header or footer of your resume.

Optimize your resume with keywords

Ane of the all-time ways to ensure your resume is uniform with an ATS is to optimize your resume with the correct keywords (a.k.a. keyword optimization). Different a "buzzword," which is typically considered to be a fluffy marketing term such as "proactive" or "cocky-starter," keywords represent the soft skills and hard skills y'all possess and the expertise yous've caused over the years that qualify you for your target chore.

If you're unsure which resume keywords should be used, commencement by collecting iii to five chore descriptions that represent the blazon of position you're pursuing. And so, copy and paste the job clarification into a free word and phrase frequency tool like Online-Utility.org's Text Analyzer, to identify the terms that are regularly used throughout your desired positions. If you possess these skills or qualifications, incorporate these terms into your resume.

When it comes to creating an ATS-optimized resume, y'all need to think about the frequency, as well as the placement of these keywords throughout your resume. Some applicant tracking systems (ATS) will make up one's mind the strength of your skills based on the number of times a term shows upwards in your resume (aim to add the term two to three times throughout your resume), whereas others assign an estimated amount of experience for a particular skill based on its placement within the resume. To brand your resume truly compatible with any ATS, you'll want to optimize your resume with both systems in mind.

First, create a "Cadre Competencies" or "Areas of Expertise" section within your resume professional person summary that lists your strongest hard skills and soft skills. If there is a mutual abbreviation for one of your proficiencies such as "SEO" (for search engine optimization), include both versions in your resume. And then, pepper these same terms into your "Piece of work Experience" or "Didactics" sections, where advisable, to demonstrate when you leveraged that skill.

Related: Why Soft and Difficult Skills Are So Important for Your Resume

Some applicant tracking systems will associate the length of experience for a skill, based on how long yous held the chore where that skill was leveraged. For instance, if you worked at your by job for five years and you mention that you handled SEO for the company, the ATS volition assume you accept five years' worth of SEO feel from that job. If a skill is listed on its own — such equally within the professional summary or a cadre-competencies section — then the ATS will assign six months' experience for that skill. This is why it's incredibly of import to reiterate your skills throughout your entire resume, rather than merely in a skill section at the height of the resume template.

Avoid images, charts, and other graphics

While these may look nice to the man centre, resumes with embedded images become a garbled mess, or go completely omitted from your application, afterward it passes through the applicant tracking system. For instance, if yous insert an image or chart to showcase your primal skills, the ATS will be unable to read it. If you employ a cool graphic to brand your name on your resume, this slice of information will be lost on the applicant tracking system (ATS).

Stick to unproblematic bullet points

When used appropriately, bullet points are a great method for highlighting accomplishments and qualifications on a resume. Still, if you cull an elaborate symbol for your bullets, your important selling points could get scrambled. Avoid using intricate characters when creating a bulleted list on your resume. Stick to the simplest options, such as a solid circle, open circle, or square, to ensure your bullet points enhance your resume, rather than brand information technology incompatible with an ATS.

Use a clean resume design with a clear hierarchy

When information technology comes to your resume template design, less is more. Non merely practice circuitous resume designs or unusual formats confuse most applicant tracking systems, but they too annoy recruiters who are accepted to quickly scanning a resume for specific data they expect to detect in detail areas within the document.

Click on the following link for more than tips on how to write a resume that will beat the ATS.

How to create an ATS-friendly resume format

If y'all want your resume to successfully pass the ATS, stick to a standard resume format, such as a hybrid resume. This resume format uses a professional summary section at the top of the document to outline your cardinal skills and qualifications and combines it with a chronological "Piece of work History" department that explains how you've leveraged these qualities to produce results for your employers.

Most bidder tracking systems do a better job at reading and interpreting a hybrid format because they rely on chronological data to parse your resume.

Equally a result, it's in your all-time interest to avoid a functional resume format at all costs — where the focus is placed on your abilities, rather than a chronological work history.

How to run an ATS-resume exam for compliance

In that location are two piece of cake ways to determine if your resume is compatible with an bidder tracking organisation (ATS).

Catechumen your resume to a plainly-text file

Copy the content from your resume, paste it into a apparently-text document, and review the results. If the obviously-text version is missing details from your original resume, has characters saved incorrectly, or looks disorganized (i.e. the heading for your "Didactics" section appears in the eye of your work experience), so assume your resume will require editing before it volition be ATS compliant.

Request a complimentary ATS scan for your resume

Here at TopResume, we offer a free ATS resume scan every bit part of our costless resume review. When you asking a costless resume review from TopResume, you'll receive feedback on your resume'due south content, likewise as its ATS compatibility.

The first half of the review offers an objective look at what your resume is doing well and where it is falling short, from both an information and design perspective. The 2nd half of the gratuitous resume review shows you exactly what data an ATS will pull from your resume, what information it will be unable to identify and retrieve (such as your proper noun, contact information, most recent job title, and most recent employer), and for what top skills and keywords your resume currently ranks. If the ATS is unable to identify this of import information or thinks you're a fit for a job when yous're not, then your resume volition need to be further optimized earlier it passes the ATS-compatibility test.

Click on the post-obit link to watch our latest #OfficeHours video on how to write an ATS resume to beat the bots.

Don't permit the bots stop you from landing your dream chore. Get an ATS-proof resume today .

Recommended Reading:

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  • five Signs It's Time to Rent a Professional Resume Writer

  • Words and Phrases to Remove From Your Resume Right Away

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