Companies are now employing Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) for human resources and candidate screening. There have been many people expressing their fear about ideal applicants losing their chance to interview due to an ATS rejecting their CV. To avoid catastrophizing, we must remember that all technological breakthroughs are merely tools to help us accomplish our jobs and an ATS is no exception.
An ATS is a recruiter’s best friend helping them plan, track, and execute hiring strategies. From screening candidates to creating job postings, analysing hiring metrics, and even sending offer letters. ATS saves time and ensures resources are directed towards the best-fit candidates for the role being advertised.
An ATS cannot determine whether you will be interviewed or not. Most firms still screen CVs before selecting their top candidates.
Our mission? To help you compose a CV that stands out to both human and machine.
How does it work?
An ATS has multiple ways in which it streamlines the process of hiring, this includes:
- Screening CV’s by identifying keywords that match the job description
- Indexing CV’s from most to least successful candidate based on experience
- Setting up interviews through automation
- Sending offer letters to successful candidates
The hiring manager decides on the criteria and features of an ATS. While applicants can’t know the exact criteria, ensuring your CV isn’t filtered out for trivial reasons (like font colour choices) is crucial.
ATS Standards
To meet ATS standards, ensure your CV:
- Is in English (easier for ATS to process)
- Is no longer than two sheets (concise CVs are more readable)
- Uses standard fonts (Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman etc.)
- Has a font size of at least 11
- Contains personal data at the top of the CV (name, email address, and phone number)
- Features a simple black-and-white design
Here are a few best-practice pointers to make your CV enticing to both human and automated reviewers:
1. Keep it simple
Recruiters value content more than flashy designs. Maintain a clean, black-and-white format for ATS compatibility.
2. Use Keywords from the job listing
Include relevant keywords from the job description in your CV. This alignment allows both the ATS and recruiters to see you as a perfect match.
3. Use bulleted/numbered lists
Use bullet points to clearly list your abilities and experiences. This format is more convenient for ATS and human reviewers to scan and categorize.
4. Write out acronyms
Spell out acronyms to minimize confusion. Different locations may perceive abbreviations differently; therefore, clarification is essential.
5. Submit the correct file type
The only thing worse than not getting a job, is not getting a job because your CV was in the wrong format! Always save your CV as .pdf of .docx. ATS systems frequently fail to read image files such as PNG.
Conclusion
To summarize, an applicant tracking system (ATS) is a tool that helps recruiters in a variety of ways. Many companies use an ATS to screen candidates, meaning that a human recruiter will most likely examine your CV at some point during the process, so ensure it still feels human. Keep the ATS standards in mind while creating your CV and use these best practices to ensure your CV passes the human and machine tests!
