Are you applying for jobs and not getting responses? It could just be that you are not using an ATS-friendly CV. Here’s how to know!
The ATS System has become popular over the years, with more employers using it to speed up the hiring process and increase their chances of hiring the ideal candidate. ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System. Other than this, the ATS does the following:
-
Builds, manages, and maintains the career pages of businesses.
-
Peruses and sorts through 100,000s of CVs.
-
Creates catalogues of prospective future candidates for future positions.
-
Texts and emails job candidates.
-
Views and evaluates the hiring performance reports.
-
Posts job opportunities to website job boards.
-
Keeps the recruitment team on track to meet the hiring goals of the Company.
-
Centralizes all the candidate’s information and notes in preparation for the interview.
Now that you understand the role of an ATS, we can dive into its most important role - reading and sorting through ATS-friendly CVs.
How does an ATS analyze CVs?
As a job seeker, you must be familiar with the term ‘upload your cv here.’ When a candidate uploads their CV, the ATS organizes its data in a readable format. The data creates a candidate profile that can be searched, filtered, and ranked by the ATS.
Therefore, candidates that don’t meet the job requirements get eliminated by the ATS immediately. These candidates receive an email or text informing them of this, while those selected are informed about the next step in the hiring process.
Why should I have an ATS-friendly CV?
Everyone uses technology to make their work easier; recruiters are no exception. By 2019, most Fortune 500 companies were applying the ATS in their hiring processes. Since then, more companies have joined the ATS bandwagon, with some going as far as building their own ATS, for example, Google. Therefore, if you don’t use an ATS-friendly CV you might not get singled out for the interview stage.
How can I optimize my ATS-friendly CV?
The answer lies in the contents and formatting of the CV. These tips will help you turn your plain CV into an ATS-friendly CV.
1. Simplify your formatting
Getting creative with your CV seems like the best thing to do if you want to stand out. However, you cannot be further from the truth as this is not the time to turn your CV into an art display. Fancy formatting makes it harder for the ATS to pick out the relevant data for your profile. For example, get rid of the following formats:
-
Text boxes - the system might skip them
-
Make your bullet points simple because bullet points that use irregular characters are not readable by the ATS.
-
Graphics and logos may pose a problem for the ATS.
-
ATS may exclude any texts formatted in coloured fonts or shading.
-
The ATS might jumble text in complex tables like those with merged cells.
Tips:
-
Use safe fonts, such as Georgia, Cambria, Calibri, Arial, or Times New Roman, which can be picked up by the old and new ATS systems.
-
Use plain bullet points and basic tables with the same number of columns and rows.
-
For the font colour and size, it would be safe to apply the black font colour and use a font size of between 10 and 12.
2. Use the role requirements to come up with keywords for your ATS-friendly CV
The ATS might be programmed to single out the keywords in the role description to single out the experiences and skills of the candidate. Therefore, beat the system by including keywords in the job description in your CV. I don’t mean you should copy-paste the job description to your ATS-friendly CV; this is what I mean:
-
Search for job openings for similar roles and take note of the experiences and skills that are highlighted.
-
Pick out the keywords from the requirements that cut across most job openings.
-
Use both acronyms and long-form words when using keywords. For example, if you want to include SEO Optimization as one of your skills, use both SEO and (Search Engine Optimization). Thus, when the system searches for either the acronym or long-form word you are covered.
Tips:
Don’t try to beat the system by adding white text to your resume, which makes them invisible to the human eye but noticeable by the ATS. The ATS will probably single you out as a probable candidate, but the hiring manager may see this as cheating. Therefore, you will probably not get the job in the company if you apply again.
3. Simplify your date format
Most ATS search for dates based on the format MM/YYYY, such as June 2004 or 06/2004. Always use at least the month and the year when formatting dates in your ATS-friendly CV. Only providing a year might confuse the system, which reduces your chances of getting picked.
5. Stick to jobs that match your qualifications
Technology has made the job application process easy. You can apply for ten jobs with a click of a button within a few minutes. However, if you are trying to shoot for a job outside your qualification, the ATS might shoot it down before it gets to the hiring manager. On the other hand, you don't have to meet all the job requirements to apply for a job. Some companies cast a wide net when reviewing applications. Therefore, it might still work out for you.
6. The file format of your ATS-friendly CV should be .pdf or .docx
The .docx and .pdf formats are the most worldly accepted formats. Therefore, before you upload your CV to ATS check that it is in the proper format. By chance, if your CV has a .pages, .rtf, or .txt format, you can quickly change it online for free through the various format-changing systems. If you used a resume builder for your CV, it might be generated as an image, which is not readable by any ATS.
How to check if you have an ATS-friendly CV
There are two sure ways of checking if you have an ATS-friendly CV.
A. Save your CV in plain text
A typical ATS cannot read symbols, images, charts, or tables. Therefore, the ATS will skip over the information if your CV contains complex formatting. The best way to know if this information is readable is to save a copy of your resume as plant text and pursue the final result. Some of the red flags you should look out for in the plain text version are:
-
If it doesn’t have some details that are in your original CV.
-
The plain text version is disorganized.
-
The characters are saved incorrectly.
Any irregularities will tell if you do or don’t have an ATS-friendly CV.
B. Run your CV through a free online ATS scanner
Several professional CV-writing websites offer a free ATS CV scan to job seekers. You can try TopResume, Zety, Resume Worded, Jobscan, or Cultivated Culture, among others. Some reviews are detailed enough to highlight the following:
-
Information the ATS will retrieve
-
The ranking of your qualifications and skills
-
The missing design and content data make you rank the least.
Conclusion
ATS makes the hiring process easier for the applicant and the hiring manager. Accordingly, the only way to maximize your chances of getting an interview is to have an ATS-friendly CV. With this guide, you can be confident that you will pass the first huddle of ATS screening and make your way to the next step of the hiring stage.
