#Your resume isn’t getting noticed; here’s why.

The demand for talent is high. There are so many talented experts and relatively very few talent recruiters. Your resume is completely ignored, and you receive an automated email that starts with “unfortunately…”. I’ve been there.

“But I was a decent fit!”. Yes, you were, but no one looked at your resume.

Companies today use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) which automate the initial phase of talent hunting.

75% of large companies use an ATS because they receive thousands of applications every day.

In simple terms, ATS extracts key information such as contact details, hard skills, work experience, and education. The talent recruiter sets this relevant information for each job posting. For example, for a Full Stack Engineer job post, some keywords are Python, two years of experience, MERN, etc. If your resume is relevant, your contact details will automatically be added to the recruiter’s database.

You’re here probably because your resume cannot get past the ATS. So here are proven ways that you can pass it.

#Format your resume appropriately

The structure of your resume matters a lot. If it cannot be parsed by the ATS, the system cannot collect or read data from your resume. Keep your recent experience on top. A readable font and a simple bullet point list layout are great. Nothing fancy. Label each section (e.g. Work Experience, or Skills) accurately. I recommend using an ATS template to make life easier. Novoresume has good templates.

#Use relevant keywords

Tailor your resume for each application. You can extract keywords from the job description and add them to your resume when applying. Add tools and technologies under Skills, your degree in Education, and your experience in years. These small touches add relevancy to your resume. Your summary section can also be the deciding factor, so make sure it is impactful.

#Prefer .docx over .pdf

The Word document preserves the original format and is the easiest for ATS to parse. Though newer ATS models parse PDF as well, but .docx file formats are the most reliable.

Finally, to test if your resume is ATS-compliant, test it using some software such as JobScan.

#Some additional key points

I do not recommend adding your picture to remove unnecessary bias.
Use plain text instead of rich text.
Include as-is URLs (LinkedIn, GitHub) as is, as less capable models are not capable of parsing inline links. So prefer www.github.com/user instead of GitHub where the link is embedded.
Have a decent line height for legibility.

Hopefully, these tips and insights help you tailor your resume. If you need further assistance, you can send me your resume on LinkedIn for review.

Osama Akhtar: Software Engineer

Written on Jan 30, 2024