Resumes: What to include for applicant tracking systems and recruiters
Job seekers are advised to simplify their resumes to ensure they pass through automated applicant tracking systems (ATS). Experts recommend using standard Word documents without complex formatting, tables, or images to improve visibility to recruiters.
Why it matters
Navigating ATS software is a critical skill for modern job seekers, as many qualified candidates are filtered out due to poor document formatting.
- 6.34pm . First published at 6.00pm
Share article Getting a job has never felt harder , with the rise of applicant tracking systems (ATS) resulting in resumes getting filtered out before they have the chance to be seen by a recruiter.
But the reason the software isn’t accepting your resume can be as simple as saving the document in the wrong format, according to former recruiter and founder of project Roar, Catherine Harris.
Resumes are being sorted by applicant tracking systems before humans take a look at them. iStockphoto
“Some applicant tracking systems are hugely sophisticated, there’s been huge investment in there, but some of them are not. The problem is, you don’t know which applicant tracking system you’re going through,” Harris told Sylvia Jeffreys during an interview on her podcast The Pay Off .
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