EMPLOYM

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WORKSH

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MARK A

NTHONY DYSON

COMPETIT

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THEVOICEOFJO

BSEEKERS.COM

APPLICANT TRACKING SYSTEM

It’s an automated resume screener that feature and highlight

keywords set by the employer to exclude perceived unqualified

resumes.

HOW DOES THE ATS WORK?

W

Human Resources

ParserProgram that removes styling

and breaks down text into recognized strings of characters

for further analysis

Education SkillsExperienc

e

Search for relevant terms

FORMAT

Do not submit a highly formatted resume electronically. Stick to a simple format or save your highly formatted resume as a .txt (ASCII) file. Most ATS will scramble tables, graphs, and graphics, defeating your purpose in presenting them

KEYWORDS

Don't assume that it is enough to include the common keywords for your position, level, function, and industry or the ones in a job posting! Many ATS will identify as keywords the uncommon, unique-to-the-job-posting words or phrases in the job ad.

HEADINGS & SECTIONS

Most ATS will only recognize the common headings: Work Experience or Professional Experience, Education, and sometimes Professional Summary. Eliminate creative headings such as "Career Highlights." 

So if you have information essential to your application, such as certifications, community activities, publications etc., I suggest you include it under the Education heading.

CONTACT INFO & PROCESS

Leave text out of the Header and Footer sections. Put it at the top of page one. Don't paste your resume into a field online. Rather, upload it if given the opportunity. Chances are better that the formatting will remain intact with this method.

ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS

Don't rely on acronyms alone. Include the full language. For instance, don't use USPs for "unique selling points." ATS should process common acronyms correctly, such as BA, MA, and MBA, but may not process other tech and business acronyms right.

KEYWORD USE

Newer ATS recognizes keywords in proper context within a sentence or word group. Don't rely solely on a keyword list. Let the job ad be your guide about which keywords to use in context.

 JOB DESCRIPTION

Don't forget that the ATS software will be searching for the descriptions of your jobs!

RATINGS

A well qualified candidate with rate will based on Keyword

matches, set by the employer.

DUE DILIGENCE

Visit the prospective employer's website to get a sense of the corporate culture. Do they use certain words to describe their values? If a firm has a professed interest in environmental sustainability, include relevant volunteer work or memberships on your résumé. The company may have programmed related keywords into its resume screening software.

EXCLUDE, NOT INCLUDE!!

RELEVANCE

• Keywords (#s & Quality)

• Current experience and training

• Phone interview

• Assessments (Behavioral, Skill)

IMPORTANT!

• Ask the employer, “Do you use an ATS?” Research, research, and more research

• Use basic fonts such as Times Romans and Arial

• Pay close attention to the keywords in job descriptions

• Associate keywords with # and %• Don’t use headers and footers• Leave out special characters (*, ^, :@})

MORE HELPFUL HINTS TO WRITE YOUR RESUME1. Spelling, Typos, and Grammar MATTER!!

2. Vague descriptions are useless

3. LIES! LIES! Are unforgiveable!

4. Misuse of words

5. Work gaps need clarification in recent jobs

6. Using white fonts to stuff keywords on your resume

7. Do not send a PDF file

8. Use recognizable job titles