Demystifying Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS): Picture ATS as the digital gatekeeper that top companies, ranging from retail giants like Amazon to smaller enterprises, use to streamline their hiring process. With an avalanche of resumes pouring in for each job opening, ATS takes on the role of swiftly evaluating qualifications. Impressively, about 70% of resumes are pre-screened by ATS, highlighting its pivotal role in modern recruitment.

Navigating the ATS Maze: ATS scans and processes every job application, meticulously hunting for specific prerequisites like technical skills, certifications, and work experience. However, resumes that don’t align with these criteria might never cross the virtual threshold into the hands of human hiring managers. In an ever-competitive job market, mastering the art of crafting an ATS-friendly resume can be your ticket to the interview room.

Cracking the Code: Crafting ATS-Friendly Resumes: The episode unfolds a treasure trove of actionable tips to create an ATS-friendly resume:

1. Use an ATS-Optimized Resume Format: The chronological resume format takes center stage here. By presenting your work experience from the latest to the oldest, this format aids ATS in smoothly digesting your resume’s content.

2. Correctly Label Sections: Stick to familiar and standard headings such as “Work Experience,” “Skills,” and “Education.” Fancy and creative headings can leave ATS perplexed and potentially lead to rejection.

3. Include Job-Related Keywords: Tailor your resume to mirror the job description. Include keywords from the job posting in relevant sections, particularly in “Skills” and “Core Competencies.” Think of the job description as a treasure map, guiding you to the essential terms that will resonate with ATS.

4. Use an ATS-Friendly Resume Template: While flashy templates might catch the eye, they can bewilder ATS with their complex layouts. Opt for simple and ATS-tested templates that ensure proper parsing.

5. Choose a Common Resume Font: Basic and easily readable fonts like Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial, or Georgia are your best friends. Shun elaborate fonts that might confuse ATS algorithms.

6. Save as PDF or DOCX: Play it safe by saving your resume as a PDF or DOCX file. Less common formats might not be compatible with some ATS software.

7. Consider ATS Resume Scans: Leverage free ATS resume scanning tools available online. These tools simulate ATS behavior and help identify issues that could impede your resume’s performance.

Episode Transcript

Welcome back to another episode of the IT Job Coach show. I’m your host, Frank DeMaio, and today we’re diving into a topic that could drastically change your chances of landing your dream job in the IT industry. We’re talking all about applicant tracking systems or a TS for short. Whether you’re a seasoned IT professional. Or just starting out in your career. Understanding how ATS works and how to craft an ATS friendly resume is absolutely crucial. So grab your notepads because we’re about to break it all down. Right. Let’s start at the beginning. What exactly is an ATS? An applicant tracking system is a powerful piece of software that many large companies actually small, medium and large companies as large companies as Amazon and Walmart. They use this software to streamline their hiring process. So think of it. As a digital gatekeeper that screens through all of the resumes that are submitted of the flood of resumes that they receive for job openings, and it basically looks at all of those resumes and tries to quickly assess whether an applicant is qualified for the position. And ultimately reject any resumes or applications that are not aligned to what they’re looking for. And actually an interesting fact is about 70% of resumes are eliminated by an ETS system. So it’s really important to try to get past that system as much as possible. And here’s how it works. I just wanted to say interviews, right? What’s up with those? They can make us so nervous. We’re so worried about what’s going to happen that we’re going to make a fool out of ourselves, that we’re going to get upset during the interview that we’re not going to be able to answer the questions appropriately and we’re going to look silly. And you know how many times we get to an interview. And this is weighing on our mind and there’s so much pressure, so interviews are super important. And I want to take a minute to really tell you about my most popular free course, the IT job interview, master class. Just head over to itjobcoach.com slash. Interview and you can get immediate and unlimited access to my free training course right now in the IT job interview master class, you’re going to gain a comprehensive understanding of the interview process you’re going to develop a personalized interview strategy and you’re going to gain the confidence needed to impress even the toughest interviewers. This is going to be a game changer for you, so you won’t be. You won’t go into that interview and feel like you’re going to mess things up. The only way to make success happen for you is to take action and get started. So let me help you secure your dream job to get past that interview Hurdle Head on over to itjobcoach.com/interview. That’s ITJOB coach.com. Slash interview and get started on your preparation today. So the ATS software automatically scans and processes every single job application submitted to the company, and it sifts through each of those resumes looking for specific requirements that have been set for the job. And these requirements often include the technical skills certifications. And work experience. So if your resume doesn’t match up with what the ATS system is looking for, well your application might not even make it to a human hiring managers. Yes, there are a couple things that you need to be aware of. With an ATS system, one is it’s not only. Looking for those keywords and those technical skills, certifications and work experience, but the ATS system needs to be able to digest your resume in such a way that it can read it and make sense of it, and this way it can filter it appropriately. Because if it can’t, it’s going to reject it. Now here comes the big question. How do you ensure your resume gets passed to a TS into the hands of the hiring manager? How do you make sure it gets easily digested and how do you make sure that it is keyed in on those keywords? That’s where an ATS friendly resume comes into play and an ATS friendly resume is tailored to navigate. Through those intricate algorithms of the tracking system, here’s how you can create.
One here’s the rundown tip.
Use an ATS optimize resume format among various resume formats. The chronological resume is the most ATS friendly that’s going to help the ATS system digest your resume, so make sure it’s clear, organized, and presents your work experience from the most recent to the oldest.
What else you got?
Tip number. You correctly label your sections, so stick to standard resume headings like work experience, skills and education. So quote UN quote work experience, heading quote UN quote skills, heading, quote, UN quote education. So avoid using creative or playful headings that might confuse the ATS. Things that I’ve seen that I don’t recommend are quote UN quote stuff I’m good at and quote UN quote my life philosophy, quote, UN quote, my hobbies and dreams. OK, so that those are all very creative and and very interesting things, but they’re not going to help you with the AT.
System. What else you got?
Tip #3 include job related keywords, so an ATM software scans resumes for specific keywords mentioned in the job description. So make sure to include these keywords in your resume, especially in the skills and core competencies section. So the job description. Is really the key to unlock the ATS and what it’s expecting to do once it gets your application. So use that as like a treasure map. Look through that job description and pull out those keywords and those things that are real. Makes sense to have in your resume a couple things to remember only put things that you’re actually skilled in in your resume. So if you see in the job description, it says preferred C i.e. Don’t just put CCI in your resume. If you’re not a C i.e. You do not want to lie in your resume, do not. Ever lie on your resume? It’s not going to help you. It’s not going to get you far, so please don’t do that. The second thing to remember with that is don’t overstuff your resume with a bunch of keywords from the job description. If they don’t apply, don’t put them in there. And two, make sure that you don’t take too many and put them in your resume. Think of the key ones that are really important and use those.
What else you got tip?
For use an ATS friendly resume template so the theme of this right is regular headings. You know nothing crazy. Same thing with your template. While you might be tempted to use flashy templates, remember that the ATS software struggles with complex layouts like tables, images, that kind of thing. So stick to a simple ATS tested template to ensure your resume gets parsed correctly. You can Google that you know, look up att. Templates ATS compliant templates, ATS friendly templates. You’ll be able to find something online very easily, so when there’s flashy templates in a resume, right when I’m looking at it, it looks very nice, but you do not want to put that and use that for submitting your application. But what you can do is say you like those nice friendly temples. That are, you know, very embellished with different colors and images and that kind of thing. Bring it with you to your interview, print off cup copies, bring it with you to your interview. You can always tell your interviewers hey, listen, I updated my resume recently, I wanted to bring you an updated copy and then give it to them and you’re in person with them. They’ll be able to look at it and see that. But when you’re submitting your application, keep it simple.
What else you got?
Tip #5. Choose a common resume font. OK again basic basic basic. So stick with basic easy readable fonts like times New Roman, Calibri, arial or even Georgia. OK fancy fonts may look nice, but they will and can trip up the ATS system. And please don’t use old English. Please don’t do that.
What else you got?
Tip #6. Save your resume as a PDF or a docx file so some older ATS software might have trouble with PDFs. So use these two formats above. Any other format and what I found is that the dot doc ex works the best, but that’s just in my personal experience. Also make sure. You name the document appropriately to right, say John Smith resume or something along those lines.
What else you got?
Tip #7 consider getting a free ATS resume scan. There’s tools available out there that can do a free ATS resume scan for you once you have it. Completed just to. Test it and see how it stacks up and some of those places are resume worded, job scan, zip job, top resume, skill roads. You know you can just Google that and find. A spot online to help you with that and what it will do is it can help you identify any issues with your resume that could hinder its performance within the ATS system. Armed with these tips, you’re well on your way to creating an ATS friendly resume. That increases your chances of making it through the digital gatekeeper and into the hands of a hiring manager. Don’t get don’t be a part of that 70% where you get weeded out. So remember, as the job market evolves, understanding how technology like a TS works can be a game changer for your IT career. And there you have it. Another valuable episode of the IT Job code show. If you found this information helpful, don’t forget to follow so you never miss an episode. Feel free to share this episode with your fellow tech enthusiasts, because together we can all navigate the ever changing landscape of the IT job market. Thank you for tuning in and until next time this is Frank DeMaio signing off. Remember your IT dream job is just a few a TS friendly tweets away.
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