Beating the ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
I have lost count of the number of times I have been told, “I feel like nobody ever actually reads my CV.” The unfortunate reality is that this is more than likely true, and my response is always met with shock and a sense of despair.
There are at least two possible reasons for this. Firstly, you have 6 seconds in which to capture your reader’s attention and lure them to read on. If they don’t get the ‘thrills’ within the first section or two they won’t read your CV.
Secondly, it is estimated that nowadays up to 99% of all large companies and even small entrepreneurial companies are using ATS systems, The Applicant Tracking System, which filters out the best CVs to be shown to the hiring managers. Yes, technology is taking over the recruitment process and may well have done so without us noticing over the past 5 years!
There are, of course, many advantages for recruiters, especially those who attract large numbers of candidates. It saves them trawling through hundreds of applications, the majority of which are unsuitable. However, it does leave candidates with yet another CV writing dilemma – how to ensure your CV will beat the challenge of the ATS.
If you use Linked In regularly and apply for positions which require you to fill out an online form you will have been making applications through an ATS, without even knowing it. If you are redirected to a portal into which you must sign in, such as Success Factors or Taleo (to name only a couple!) then, once again, you have been using an ATS. This means that it is highly likely that not one human being has actually looked at your CV, instead the ATS system has ranked your CV in comparison with the Job Description and put you on a percentage scale.
There are a couple of issues at play here. Primarily, many of the most suitable candidates do not apply for positions because they feel that they do not 100% meet the criteria on the Job Description and therefore feel they may immediately be discounted by the ATS.
This is a conundrum…and true…you may be immediately discounted by the ATS, however if you go through the Job Description and see it as a ‘Wish List’ rather than a set of formal requirements does that change things?
Try to ascertain which of the requirements are absolutely necessary for the position, use your judgement and assume that approximately 75% of the requirements must be met. This means that you can still be considered, even if you don’t meet all the criteria. As I said in last week’s blog, if you apply for positions for which you are 100% qualified, you have aimed too low and there leaves no scope for growth in that position.
The next thing to consider is an extension to what we discussed in the past two weeks on the blog – Key Words. Your CV must ooze your desired position/ field and match the keywords you find in the desired Job Description. (See here for last week’s blog post on Linked In Success).
Parsing
If you now start to look up articles on How to Beat the ATS you will come across the word ‘parsing’ a lot. What is parsing? In this sense, parsing means to take the information from your CV and change it to a different format. The ATS will change it into its preferred format to show to the recruiters. This is the biggest hurdle to jump.
Have you ever tried to change a PDF document into a Word format? What happens? The format jumps around, Gs become 9s and it generally becomes unreadable. Well, this is more or less what happens when an ATS parses your document – unless of course you have ‘optimized’ it!
How do you optimize your CV for ATS I hear you ask?
One of the main things I tell all my clients is: If you can, avoid uploading your CV in PDF format, as the ATS find it easier to deal with Word or Text documents.
There is also some belief that we can move from the 2 pages max rule to submission of a longer CV. However, beware…some ATS systems consider this to be ‘word stuffing’ which will detect overused key words and ultimately end in your CV being rejected!
Here are some tips from Job Scan:
“Here’s our simplest advice for how to beat ATS:
· Carefully tailor your resume to the job description every single time you apply.
· Optimize for ATS search and ranking algorithms by matching your resume keywords to the job description
· Use both the long-form and acronym version of keywords (e.g. “Master of Business Administration (MBA)” or “Search Engine Optimization (SEO)”) for maximum searchability
· Use a chronological or hybrid resume format (avoid the functional resume format)
· Don’t use tables or columns as they often cause major parsing errors
· Use a traditional resume font like Helvetica, Garamond, or Georgia
· Don’t use headers or footers as the information might get lost or cause a parsing error
· Use standard resume section headings like “Work Experience” rather than being cute or clever (“Where I’ve Been”)
· Save your file as a .docx if possible”
If you follow this link they also have a checking tool where you can upload the text of your CV vs the text of your Job Description to check for a match.
For more useful articles on ATS systems and your CV check these out:
https://hbr.org/2019/05/you-dont-need-to-meet-every-qualification-to-apply-for-a-job
If all this CV writing information is mind boggling don’t panic! Get in touch for a free consultation and CV Health Check.