How to Impress the RobotReading Your Résumé

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4 years ago

While you’re perfecting your résumé and cover letter

with the hiring manager of your dream company in

mind, you may be interested to know that they may never

even read your application, because a robot will have

discarded it before they had a chance.

Almost all Fortune 500 companies and online job boards

use software (called applicant tracking systems, or ATS) to

take a first pass through the potentially thousands of

applications they receive, John Sullivan—a management

professor at San Francisco State University—told Money,

weeding out ones that they can’t read or don’t pass a

certain standard to be seen by a human.

So, how can you best the robotic eyes scanning your job

application? According to Money, it’s not that difficult:

Include key words that are in the job listing, as well as

any related terms. “For example, if you’re applying for a

job as a computer programmer, you should mention

computer programmer as well as related terms like coder

and developer. ” Additionally, you’ll want to use acronyms

and the full word for important terms, like CSS and

Cascading Style Sheets , or CPA and Certified Public

Accountant , because you don’t know what the software

will pick up.

And simplicity is also key. There’s no need to spice up

your résumé with decorative fonts, colors, headers,

pictures, etc.—these systems can’t read them. “Stick to

standard résumé formatting in a normal font like Arial,

Courier, or Times New Roman—the ATS can’t read fancy

fonts and will reject your resume out of confusion,”

suggests the Muse. You might also consider sending in

your résumé in rich text format rather than as a PDF,

because the software might not be able to fully

comprehend the PDF.

That said, you shouldn’t just fill your résumé with

keywords and skills you don’t possess; a human being is

making the final decision, after all. Your résumé should

still be readable, not stuffed to the gills with jargon-y

terms.

But incorporating components of the job listing is always

a good practice, in both résumés and cover letters. It

shows you’ve done your research and care about the

position you’re applying to specifically, and it will have a

better chance of getting past a robot’s algorithm.

This Genius Method Will Get Your Job Application Into

the Hands of a Hiring Manager | Money

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