Formatting makes a huge difference whether your resume is being appropriately read or not.
Pay attention to resume formatting.
While beautiful charts, fonts, and designs may fancy humans, chances are ATS bots may not appreciate complexity. Here are a few simple tips to follow:
Don't include any critical information in the header and footer of the resume. Not all ATSs can read and parse that information correctly.
Use a hybrid format for your resume to incorporate your essential skills and accomplishments in each role you've held in chronological order. Focus more on your skills and achievements rather than job duties.
Use bullets to improve readability for highlighting your accomplishments. Stick to simple bullet options such as a solid circle or square.
Utilize simple and professional fonts for ATS scanning- Arial, Calibri, GeorgiaLabel sections of your resume to highlight your career summary, job experience, and other interests.
When there is an option to share your resume in word doc format, utilize that over pdf.
A date should appear on the right-hand side for optimum reading. Standard date formats- Oct 2019, 10/2019 or October 2019.
Keywords Matter! Have Your Resume Stand Out.
Having the right keywords in your resume is critical to beating the ATS and landing your next dream job. Keywords can be phrases (for example, "business strategy") and job skills (such as Python) that are commonly associated with the industry or job position you consider applying. An ATS will scan your resume for specific keywords that match the skills and attributes the employer seeks. To make sure your resume matches up, install the Jobalytics chrome plug-in to do the heavy lifting for you. Jobalytics chrome plug-in seamlessly compares your resume to the job description of the position you consider applying. It identifies missing keywords and provides a match rate within seconds. Don't spend precious time figuring out keywords to include in your resume. Jobalytics chrome plug-in can do the job in seconds.
The time design fails you.
Don Drapper's time is in history; machines are taking over your resume. Adding images, charts, and other graphs can make your resume look great; if only it is a human that's looking in your resume. Unfortunately, it isn't. Applicant Tracking System doesn't care about the looks. If you showcase your skills in a chart presentation, then ATS will throw your resume in the garbage bin. Instead, use simple bullet points to showcase your accomplishments. Again, avoid using exquisite symbols as bullet points. Keep it SIMPLE.
Tailor your resume on a specific job post.
A great way to make your resume ATS friendly is by mirroring your resume to the language used in the job posting as closely as possible. Using similar phrases (aka keywords) in your resume is the best place to start incorporating in your professional summary and work experience. It doesn't mean your keywords have to match 100% ~ which can most likely be flagged by the ATS and come across as dishonest to an employer.
Make sure to proofread your resume.
ATS scores your resume by matching keywords on the job description and the keywords in your resume. It needs to be an exact match. Misspelling a particular skill would result in missing your chance to get your resume seen by the hiring manager.
So make sure to always proofread your resume before sending it. You can also ask a friend to check it for you. A fresh pair of eyes is excellent to spot errors in a resume.