Why even creatives with beautiful resumes need to be aware of ATS to make sure their resume reaches the right people. Here are a few tip on how to beat the ATS bots.
If you’ve applied to a job any time since 2008, your application has probably passed through an ATS.( Applicant Tracking System) Over 99% of Fortune 500 companies use an ATS of some kind. Any time you apply for a job through an online form or portal, your application is almost certainly going into an ATS.
Rest assured here at TYCHE, we don’t rely heavily on ATS as a screening tool; we review resumes the old-fashioned way. But most companies do not and you do not want to be the 75% of job applications that are rejected before they are seen by human eyes.
Here's the deal. You're formatting your resume incorrectly.
We know that when updating your resume we all want to make it look beautiful, and as a creative you want to add graphs, and colors, and images but if you do this you are likely to get rejected. Here are a few tips on how to beat the bots.
Tip #1 - Make sure you upload the correct file type
Use a .doc or .txt format. Do not use a .pdf or any other format. While PDFs are best at keeping your format intact overall, the .docx format is the most accurately parsed by ATSs. So if you want to get past the ATS, use a .docx file.
Tip #2 - Use Keywords Appropriately
Applicant tracking systems can recognize that a key skill or experience is present in a resume. Make sure you use these keywords in more than just your skills summary. Use them in the body of your resume. Don't forget When describing your current and past positions, ensure your bullet points are actually achievements, and use numbers and metrics to highlight them. When it comes to creating an ATS-optimized resume, you need to think about the frequency, as well as the placement of these keywords throughout your resume.
Tip #3 Content Location Matters
Headers and footers: Information in the header and footer sometimes gets dropped by the ATS completely. Make sure all text is within the document body.
List the names of your employers first, then the dates you worked there. This is a big deal for ATSs. When they see a date before the employer, they get confused and reject resumés.
Tip #4 Avoid being fancy
It may pain you to hear this, but you likely need to get rid of that elaborate resume template or heavily designed resume. They throw off an ATS' ability to get information from your resumé, causing the system to simply reject you.
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