How to get your resume past the ATS

If you are a job seeker in the 21st century, you may have heard the term ATS come up a lot.

What does ATS stand for? ATS stands for Applicant Tracking Systems. Applicant Tracking Systems are a type of software used by hiring managers and employers to streamline the hiring process. In the modern job market, Applicant Tracking Systems can be considered the gatekeepers. These systems are used by employers to scan resumes for specific keywords, formats, and qualifications. They help employers filter out unqualified candidates before their applications are read by a human.

If you are applying for a job in 2025, you will definitely need to optimize your resume for the ATS. If you don't, it might just mean that your resume does not get seen by a human hiring manager. And you probably won't get a chance for an interview. Even if you are a highly qualified individual, you will definitely need to make your resume ATS friendly if you want to get through to employers. Here's our comprehensive guide to crafting an ATS friendly resume for your 2025 job search:

First, understand how the ATS works

The ATS is not your enemy, it is just a software used by the employer. The ATS is programmed to scan your resume for relevance based on the job description. Once all the job applications flow in for a position, the ATS will scan all the resumes by matching keywords, qualifications and formatting to parameters set by the employer beforehand. When you understand this, it becomes easier for you to make your resume ATS friendly.

Use keywords from the job description

The way you describe your skills, experiences, and qualifications on your resume matters a lot when it comes to the ATS-friendliness of the document. Even if you are 100% qualified for the position, if you do not use the right keywords to describe your skills on your resume, you may never stand a chance. First, read the employer's job description carefully. Then identify the skills, certifications, knowledge, areas, experiences and responsibilities mentioned by the employer in the job description. You might want to highlight these for future reference. For example, if the posting highlights content creation and social media marketing, you will need to ensure that your resume contains these exact terms.

Customize each of your job applications

One of the biggest things that you should keep in mind when writing an ATS-friendly resume is that you cannot use the same resume to apply for each and every job that you see online. Tailoring your resume to each job is a crucial step that you must not forgo. While it might be tempting to send in a generic resumes for all the opportunities that you notice, you must understand that it greatly reduces your chances of getting hired. As a majority of US employers use ATS software to scan job applications, generic resumes often get rejected. If you want to stand out to hiring managers, you must always tailor your resume for the job description. This will help you to send a highly customized document along with your job applications and be shortlisted.

Write a strong key skills section

The key skills section of your resume is one of the best places to incorporate a large number of keywords into the document. Read the employer’s job description very carefully to spot the kind of skills that you must incorporate into your resume. Once you have a clear idea of the expectations of the hiring manager, you can start creating your skills section. Display your skills section toward the top half of the document so that hiring managers can see it very clearly. Add 10 to 15 distinct and useful skills in your Key Skills section and highlight them using bullet points.

Stick to ATS-friendly formatting

The first thing you must do is to select an ATS friendly resume format. If you are planning to use an ATS-friendly resume format from the internet, you might have to do quite a bit of searching to come up with a document that is actually ATS-friendly. However, if you plan on creating your resume format from scratch, you will need to stick to ATS-friendly formatting. Avoid using overly creative designs to create your resume. Use clear section headings that are straightforward instead of going for quirky ones. Avoid certain elements such as tables, graphics, columns and pictures that might confuse the ATS.

Mind your fonts

Are you tempted to use five different kinds of fonts on your resume? Our advice is - don't. If you want your resume to stay ATS-friendly, you must avoid using unrecognized fonts and symbols on the document. We recommend going with a professional font or two for your entire resume. If you are using bullet points, stick to the standard bullets. Using special characters and symbols may cause your resume to appear as gibberish to an ATS.

Submit your resume in the right file format.

Usually, the employer will specify the file format in which you must submit your resume within the job description. This is because the ATS compatibility depends on the file type. If the employer has specified a file type, you should always use that. Text files work the best for ATS, but they do not give you many options for design and formatting. Then, there are Word documents that help you combine the ATS-friendliness and design features. PDF is also a really good choice, but some ATS's may struggle with reading PDF files.

By Resume Mansion