Beat the Applicant Tracking System in 3 Steps

Sidd Ahmed
2 min readDec 12, 2021

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If you’re applying for jobs online and getting little to no response, one of the first things that you should do is make your resume Applicant Tracking System Friendly.

What is an Application Tracking Software?

This is a software that helps recruiters by scanning for contextual keywords and key phrases, scoring them for relevance, and showing only the most qualified ones to the recruiter.

Photo by João Ferrão on Unsplash

According to research by Jobscan, 98% of Fortune 500 companies use ATS, while a Kelly OCG survey estimated 66% of large companies and 35% of small organizations rely on recruitment software.

There are 5 ATS softwares that are most popular among organizations: Workday, Taleo, SuccessFactors, BrassRing, and iCIMS.

3 Steps to beat the screening system:

Step 1: Keep Formatting Simple.

It struggles to read resumes that include graphics, images, fancy fonts, tablets, etc.

Use simple templates. Use standard headings in your resume in bold text.

Step 2: Nail The Correct Keywords.

ATS looks for job and industry-related terminology. Include job-relevant jargon and industry lingo on your resume. Use long-term & acronym versions of these keywords for best results. You can even customize the keywords in your resume according to the specific job requirement.

Step 3: Scan Your Resume Each Time.

Jobscan is a tool that will make it extremely easy for you to make sure you’ve got the proper keywords on your resume. It will give you a score based on the scoring algorithms based on the top Applicant Tracking Systems.

Photo by Van Tay Media on Unsplash

In conclusion, keep your resume simple, and clean. The easier your resume is for an ATS to track, the higher your chances are for it to be seen by a recruiter!

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Sidd Ahmed

Sidd Ahmed is a brand focused on empowering the youth to recognize their dreams and giving them the platform to achieve their goals.