Remind me… What’s an ATS?

If you’ve signed up for my email newsletter, you’ve most likely downloaded my Free Résumé Review Guide and received the weekly tidBITS to follow.

Well, we talk briefly about this there, and here’s the deal:

I think applicant tracking systems, or ATS, are the little robots inside the internet keeping stellar candidates away from great opportunities.

Ok, I know they’re not actually “robots inside the internet” — I’ve been in tech too long to believe that — but they are the systems recruiters have employed to keep unqualified applicants out of the application pool.

A former colleague was hiring for a role at Lyft, and so many people applied (upwards of 600, in fact), the system was so overwhelmed, it shut down, and they closed the role in two days. Two days! Thanks to Monster, Indeed, and LinkedIn, anyone whose “profile matches this position” can get click-happy and “Easy Apply” to any posting. Meaning, I can apply to any role you’re qualified for, and if you know my background, unless it’s a position in tech learning and development, I have no business doing so!

Have you ever felt off about an application?

Maybe you’ve applied for a role you feel perfectly aligned to, and 15 minutes later, you receive the automated “thanks but no thanks” email? Yeah, we’ve all been there. Why does this happen, you may ask? Well, the answer is simple: your résumé isn’t speaking the same language as the job description.

You may have all the perfect skills fit for the position, but you're plumb out of luck without communicating it in a way a linear robot wants you to. Without a keyword-targeted document, your résumé may not get past this automated screening software and to the people that matter. This is no good.

What does this mean for you?

You want to ensure your résumé contains the appropriate keywords explicitly targeted to the jobs you want.

My challenge is to take the next few days to review postings for jobs you’re interested in and pick out the words you think you need in your résumé to showcase you as the best fit. And listen, don’t be precious about the things you’d like to keep. The hope is for you to use these words as competencies to get you in the door, and once you have a conversation, you highlight all of the other awesomeness you bring to the table!

For example, if you say you’re great with “customer success,” but a job description says they’re looking for someone who excels at “customer experience,” there will be a mismatch because robots are linear! They can’t connect the two as being the same skill.

Quick reminder, don’t ever add anything you haven’t done. There’s nothing worse than being in an interview when an interviewer asks about something you’ve flubbed on your résumé. Be truthful and amend what can be amended. The perfect role aligned with your skills will come along, I promise.

Also, while more design-forward résumés may look beautiful, most likely, they were designed in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop and can work against you. Why? They’re difficult for hiring managers to navigate and are formatted so the ATS check algorithms cannot read, registering you as a lesser match for the job you’re applying to.

Want to make sure your résumé is applicant tracking system optimized?

To your success!

🥂 n:)