ATS Compliant Resumes...What does that even mean?

Those 3 magical little letters that really can be the difference between you being called up for THE job or not!

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS - for short)

Thrown around by recruiters daily; this little ATS acronym packs a punch when it comes to landing your ideal role in larger organisations (and increasingly so, smaller ones too!)

What the?!

These systems are software programs that recruiters to a large extent and Hiring Managers to a lesser extent (I discuss the ‘why’ of this in my Tik Tok live: LWE Tik Tok Account: ATS Insider Tips) leverage to filter through the hordes of resumes they receive.

In essence the software crawls (not quite true, it’s more like a sprint!) through your resume and scans for specific words. 

If you’re one of these folks that believe the government is ‘always listening,’ then an ATS is kinda akin to their phone software looking out for words like “bomb” and “terrorist,” with an intent to only take further action and investigate if these and other pre-determined keywords come up. 

Except in this case - you want to be investigated - you want to be chosen, you want someone to see or hear the magical little ATS keywords and want to urgently call you!

What keywords make ‘the cut’?

So now back to the humble resume…this process of determining what keywords make the cut, looks roughly like this:

The hiring manager sits down with the recruiter and the inherent responsibilities of the role are discussed. In other words, what someone needs to know, in order to be considered capable of carrying out and adding value to said role.

Then…

The Hiring Manager will work with the recruiter to establish a short list of keywords (usually skills although interestingly, not always) required to do the job. It’s not a huge list. They’re the non-negotiables. Put simply - if you don’t have these - forget it!

An example might be the 3 keywords: “Microsoft Office Suite” (as keywords ‘plugged’ into the ATS) for an upcoming receptionist role, wherein the receptionist will need to answer emails through MS Outlook, engage with the team via MS teams etc from day 1. It’s not so much the nice-to-have skills (often termed ‘desirable’ in job ads) but rather more so - the stuff they won’t get a chance to train you up in and frankly don’t want to have to. You really need to start, first day on the job, with them.

If you're wanting this receptionist role and your resume doesn’t have these 3 little words well then sadly, it’s no phone call for you - your resume (or more specifically YOU) will be filtered out. You could have all the advanced MS skills in the world - however if you didn’t think it was worth putting these words in your resume - then sadly, they’ll likely never call you up to find out (if they’re using an ATS).

How to know what counts as an ATS keyword?

When viewing the job ad - look out for keywords, traits technical (hard) and non-technical (often, soft) skills that the ad stresses are required. Ensure these are highlighted both up front and throughout your resume. Additionally look to see if there are any preferred job titles asked for, in the job description. Examples might include: People Manager, Executive, Director, Leader and so on.

And no, there’s no need to smother, eggs-benedict-style - your resume with this keyword sauce. Rather view this as a light sprinkle of salt and pepper. You want the person to see a little, bite in and get a slight salty taste but not so much salt that they’re less inclined to even want to eat/inspect the rest of the meal (aka, your resume)!

Also keep a look out for industry specific words - anything that points to experience working for a particular industry body ( examples often include regulatory bodies, certifications etc) or a buzzword that’s used to describe something in the industry you’re applying for. 

Working with both individual clients, in our1:1  Job Success sessions and client groups within varied Organisations, alongside the experience I and my colleagues have personally had with ATS software packages, common keywords ‘plugged into’ ATS packages are:

• Microsoft
• Office
• Python
• Social Media
• Management
• Engineering
• Customer Service
• English
• HTML
• Google
• Content Management
• Zoom
• Leadership
• CSS
• SPSS
• Project
• Degree

Simple resume mistakes so many job applicants make?

They tick all the boxes, they’ve got a bunch of acronyms in there. HOWEVER - they use acronyms for regulatory bodies, abbreviations for software etc.

Using the example above: using the letters “MS” instead of the full name: Microsoft or Social media experience instead of specific keywords like “FaceBook” or “Instagram” can reduce your chances of getting shortlisted. 

And…

While at times you may be lucky with shortened versions of these keywords being ‘fed’ into the ATS, more often than not - these systems will be looking for the full terms. Be specific - your future is literally in the hands of an auto-bot here! 

Best practice is to use the full name, followed by the acronym or abbreviated version in brackets, then going on to use the abbreviated version in every reference thereafter.

How disappointed would you be to find that you didn’t get a call up for that finance role, requiring previous experience within the large banking world, only to find it was as a result of putting CBA or ANZ instead of Commonwealth Bank of Australia or Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. Cast a wide net to be sure you are compliant with their ATS.

What resumes make the ‘cut’?

Shortlisted candidates and ideal resumes represent the individual as a near perfect fit for the organisation. 

Remember - you are selling your current and future value to employers, framed through their needs. As such - approach your resume less as a generic list of stuff you’ve generally done/achieved and more as an exercise in decluttering. Think - ok, so here’s 100 things I’ve done - now staring at the job ad - which of the top 10, best align with exactly what’s being asked for in the role. 

And further to this…

Which of these 10 can I assign (ideally) a measurable value or evidence to? Use these in your resume, where possible!

Grab the steering wheel and own your job-hunting outcomes!

Worry less about how annoying these damn ATS things are - and yes, they can be pretty backwards and annoying and focus more on knowing the resume ‘game’ you need to play and playing it well, to own the outcome of your job success.

Not dissimilar to going to the doctor’s for annual check-ups, it’s a good practice to review and update your resume yearly irrespective of how happy you are in your job right now. TIP: Keeping an updated list of career achievements can also help!

If you’d like to know more on:

• Creating a Cover Letter that gets you shortlisted; or 
• How to best position your career pivot in a way that says I really am the person you want for this role; or 
• How to strategically word that career break or time you had off to have kids in a way that adds value to your application
• Or anything job-hunting related?

...then schedule some time in, today: https://louisewithemployease.com/contact/ - there are limited places.

**In response to feedback - we’ve just opened up some Saturday morning slots - if you’re looking at our Calendar and can’t see any dates/times available. All our love the Employease team. xo