If you have ever applied for a job through a public job board or directly through a company website and never received a quality response you probably experienced tough love from an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Why is that?
Applicant Tracking System, sometimes called a candidate management system, is a software application that enables the electronic processing and tracking of a company’s recruitment needs and to manage resume/applicant throughput. It can be a stand along application or part of a lager Human Resource Information System (HRIS). Many job and resume boards (Monster, Hotjobs, Indeed, Simply Hired, Career Builder etc.) form partnerships with ATS software vendors to provide the ability to break-down and transfer data from one system to another. Features often include individual applicant tracking, requisition tracking, automated resume ranking, customized data-input forms, pre-screening questions and answer tracking, and multilingual capabilities. It is estimated that approximately 50 percent of all mid-sized companies and almost all large corporations use some type of applicant tracking system. ATS’s allows companies to score and sort resumes based on pre-defined criteria to align to the job requirements as well as allow candidates to be sourced from the company’s own database of prior job applicants. An ATS is an efficient way for a company to manage both internal and external job applicants which is great for the sourcing company, but how about for you the job seeker? There is much confusion and many myths about best practices when designing and submitting your resume to a company that uses an ATS.
When you do choose to submit to through an ATS there are a few simple rules of the road.
1. Sooner or later you will have to send your resume through ATS unless you have a good inside sponsor. Know the basic best practices and be willing to deal with the headaches.
2. Don’t expect too much when you do submit your resume to an ATS. The odds are against you that your resume will get selected resulting in an interview; less than 25% and depending on the job, less than 10%.
3. Keep your resume format clear and simple.
4. Don’t try and “game the system” by using tactics like “white-fonting”.
5 . Networking is key and will remain of significant importance for a long time to come. Networking deserves first priority over endless job board surfing and ATS resume submission.
Here is an Applicant Tracking System Best Practice Check-list and Do’s and Don’ts that can help you get better acceptance results.
- Is saved in an approved format — resume is submitted as a .doc, .docx, or .txt (PDF, RTF, and JPG formats are not ATS-friendly)
- Does not use fancy templates, borders, or shading
- Is in a single column format (no tables, multiple columns, or text boxes)
- Uses simply formatted text of a reasonable size (10 point size or above)
- Includes standard fonts (Arial, Georgia, Tahoma, Trebuchet, and Verdana are all “safe” choices)
- Includes a few, clearly defined sections: Summary, Work Experience, and Education
- Does not contain images or graphics — or, if they do appear, they do not affect the single-column formatting (Be warned, however, that the simple inclusion of any graphics may be enough to “choke” some applicant tracking systems.)
- Does not include any information in the headers or footers of the document (if saved in Microsoft Word format)
- Has been thoroughly edited and spell-checked and contains no errors. (The ATS will not recognize misspelled words)
- Does not include any special characters or accented words
- Contains proper capitalization and punctuation. Both of these can affect how information is parsed and assigned within the ATS database
- Uses the full, spelled-out version of a term in addition to abbreviations and acronyms [i.e., Certified Public Accountant (CPA)]
- Incorporates relevant, targeted keywords and phrases for the type of position being sought (Have you included specifics — i.e., “Photoshop” instead of “image-editing software”)
Critical Do’s and Don’ts Related to Applicant Tracking Systems
- Do use that job title on the resume when applying for a specific position
- Do edit your resume and cover letter to include the keywords found in the job description
- Do include the descriptor “phone:” and “email:” in front of the phone number and email address so the ATS can identify this information.
- Do list dates to the right of the information when listing dates for employment or education
- Do consider including section headers in ALL CAPS to make it easy for the applicant tracking system to categorize the information.
- Do include it on the resume ff you are working toward a degree or certification that is a requirement for the position, — but make sure you include a phrase such as “Pursuing (name of credential)” or “Degree anticipated (date).”
- Do check your email after applying for a position online. Some applicant tracking systems acknowledge submissions, but these automated responses may be diverted to your spam folder.
- Do be mindful of special characters and accents you use on your resume. Some words and phrases can be misinterpreted by an applicant tracking system — for example, accented words. The word “resume” itself is not ATS-friendly. The ATS does not recognize the accented letters. Instead, it reads it as “r?sum?.”
- Do complete all form fields
- Don’t list your credentials (MBA, CPA, etc.) next to your name. Include that information on a separate line.
- Don’t include skills you don’t possess on the resume as an attempt to “trick” the applicant tracking system into selecting you. (Remember, the resume will eventually be reviewed by a human.)
- Don’t mix different fonts and sizes in your resume.
- Don’t “game the system” by using tactics like “white-fonting” to overload resume with key words
- Don’t submit multiple resumes to the same company. Applicant tracking systems have a memory — all those previous submissions remain in the system. You can apply to multiple, related positions, but make sure the resume information is consistent (i.e., the number of years in a particular job, for example), because the hiring manager will have access to the other versions too.
Applicant Tracking Systems, friend or foe? It’s your friend when you get the job through that vehicle but often it feels like your foe when it appears like your resume is going to a big black hole never to be heard from again. You decide, but be selective…it can take a great deal of time away from more productive activities.
*Contributing resource: Quintessential Careers
Rex Rolf is an veteran Career, Leadership and Performance Enhancement Executive Coach working under the corporate banner of Cornerstone Performance Group, LLC. www.Go4CPG.com
