If your resume isn’t ATS-friendly, it may never reach a human—no matter how qualified you are. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) don’t “read” resumes like people do; they parse text, look for keywords, and rank matches. The good news: small formatting and wording changes can dramatically improve your odds.
Stick to a single-column format with clear section headers (e.g., Experience, Skills, Education). Fancy design often breaks parsing.
Use common labels like:
Recruiters skim fast. In the first 1/3 of the page, include:
Pull 5–10 keywords from the posting (tools, core skills, role-specific terms) and incorporate them naturally—especially in your Skills and Experience sections.
Replace task lists with outcomes. Try this structure:
Example:
ATS can struggle with mixed formats. Choose one and stick to it:
Aim for 3–6 bullets per role, starting with the strongest achievements. Each bullet should be 1–2 lines when possible.
A standalone Skills section improves parsing. Group them if helpful:
Skip or minimize:
Use something simple:
Before submitting, ask:
If you’ve been applying and not hearing back, which part of your resume do you suspect is the biggest bottleneck—formatting, keywords, or impact-focused bullets?
This is a really solid checklist—especially the “plain-text paste test.” One extra tweak I’ve seen make a big difference is **standardizing your role ...
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