A P P L I C A N T T R A C K I N G S Y S T E M
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) software is used to assist companies and organizations with
human resources, recruitment, and hiring needs. These systems are most commonly utilized to
collect and sort the hundreds of thousands of resumes companies receive for open positions
within their organization. When you apply for a job online, your resume is not typically sent to a
recruiter or hiring manager directly — it is first processed by an ATS.
There are a number of ways recruiters or
hiring managers may utilize an ATS to narrow
down their applicant pool. Some popular
methods include:
Knockout Questions. These are questions
designed to immediately eliminate applicants
who are unable or unwilling to perform key
job functions, or applicants who lack the
required qualifications. Knockout questions
may appear in many different formats on an
online application including short answer, yes
or no, scale of 1 to 5, select all that apply, etc.
Automatic Rankings. Some companies utilize
ranking systems that automatically assign
scores to applicants.Rankings may be based
on question answers, keywords in the resume,
or other custom criteria set by the recruiter.
Keyword Searches. Instead of reviewing each
application individually, recruiters and hiring
managers may search for applicants based on
key terms. Keywords may include specific job
titles, hard skills,proficiencies, and experience.
CREATING AN "ATS-FRIENDLY" RESUME
Optimize your resume using relevant keywords.
Try to tailor your resume to the job description
by matching key terms, top skills, and titles.
Examples: Distribution Manager, account
management, Microsoft Word
Mimic the language used on the job description.
The exact keywords or phrases listed in the job
description are likely what a recruiter will search.
Example: "product management" vs. "product
manager"
If a skill, certification, or degree is commonly
written as an acronym, increase the chances of a
match by using both the acronym and full
phrase.
Examples: Project Management Professional
(PMP); Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Avoid using tables, text boxes, columns, unusual
fonts, and other unconventional formatting —
this can cause errors in an ATS scan. It is best to
keep a simple resume format.
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