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