How Can I Make My Resume Stand Out in an ATS System?

An ATS (or Applicant Tracking System) can be a difficult and overwhelming concept to understand for new job seekers. These are software applications that handle the hiring needs of companies both large and small.

What does this mean for you, the applicant? Instead of a human reading through your resume, it’s a machine that’s deciding whether your resume has what it takes to move on to the next round. That is scary!

Here we’ll tell you the best ways to make your resume stand out and be seen by the right eyes in your desired field.

1. Format Your Resume Correctly

In order for your resume to stand out to an ATS, it should be inherently readable. A machine needs to be able to break your resume down into individual parts and glean enough information in order to determine whether you are a potential good candidate for the job.

In order to do this, make sure your resume is either in Word or PDF format. If it’s an image or otherwise impossible for the system to read, your resume will not make it past the ATS to the next hiring round.

2. Use the Right Keywords

Continuously update your resume so that it can do well with the ATS. Take the time to research the correct keywords, experience, and skills needed for the job you’re applying to.

Use a layout that clearly breaks down your experience, the companies you’ve worked for, your job titles, and the dates you were employed. Making this information readily available will work wonders for getting more eyes on your resume.

You’ll also want to have a skills section on your resume, separate from your experience portion. Make this a clearly differentiated section, and the closer to the top the better. Many ATS place more importance in skills than in experience or education.

3. Take Your Resume for a Test Drive

Experiment with your resume a little. Test it by uploading your resume to live job applications to ensure that all of the sections are parsed to the application fields accordingly. If they don’t, keep tweaking your resume format and readability until all the application fields populate correctly.

After that, apply to the same number of roles with your new resume as you did with your previous version. See how many new hits you get on your applications. If your new resume is getting way more hits than your old one, you’re on the right track.

4. Use Jobalytics

Researching the most effective keywords, skills, and experience for every job you’re applying for can be exhausting. We at Jobalytics are here to make your life easier.

We’ve built a tool that helps you to improve your resume so you can start seeing results from your job search. It also has features that find you the relevant roles based on your skills so that you can apply to more jobs.

The software is free and user friendly. Click here to find out more!