The job search can be frustrating. You might spend countless hours writing the perfect resume just to realize that after submitting it hundreds of times, you’re not hearing back from anyone. Many times this happens, not because you’re not a great fit for the company, but because your resume might not even be seen by real people.
Today’s world is fast-paced and competitive, more so than it was less than a decade ago. To give you an idea of how competitive this can be: corporate job offers attract 250 applicants on average, and some companies like Google report about 3 million applicants per year. To become more efficient in their hiring process, companies have adopted Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
What Is ATS And Why It Matters?
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a software that acts as a database and uses an algorithm to scan the resume. This human resource software looks for keywords and other relevant information like skills, previous experience, and education to screen and weed out applicants before moving to the next step. This has made the recruiting process easier for companies, but not for job applicants.
Statistics show that 99% of Fortune 500 companies and about 60% of companies use an ATS of some sort as part of their recruiting process. It is also important to keep in mind that after the initial screening, 75% of resumes don’t get read by a real person. This means that out of all the applicants that submit a resume, only 25% get to the next step.
Increase The Chances Of Your Resume Being Seen
Statistics can be discouraging if you have been looking for a job for a while now, but there are ways you can increase your chances and become part of the 25% that actually gets their resumes read by a human.
Customize Your Resume For Each Employer
ATS has become so widespread that it is critical to write a resume that gets past the screening phase. You might be the right fit for many companies out there, but the way you state your experience and your information can have an impact on how each employer perceives you. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to use the job description that each company provides–Job descriptions literally tell you exactly what the company wants.
Use The Job Description To Write Your Experience
It is really important to tailor your work experience section to the job description. Applicant tracking systems use keywords to determine whether an applicant has or not potential, and job descriptions offer plenty, if not all, of the keywords that you require to get past these systems. For example, if the job offer states that the company is looking for a person with strong “analytical skills” and “research focused” you might want to use those keywords to write your resume.
Write A Simple, Yet Clean Resume
You need to get past the initial screening. However, at some point, your resume will be seen by real people, and that’s something that you have to keep in mind at all times. Using the right keywords is great for the ATS but a simple and clean design is always recommended in case real eyes land on it.
Writing A Resume THE EASY WAY
The idea of having an ATS and automated screening processes certainly sounds dreading. However, increasing your chances is not that complicated, especially once you get a grasp of how it works.
Read some job descriptions of other companies in your industry, try to add some of the keywords that they use, and keep your design clean and simple. Just following those recommendations, your chances of writing a resume that actually gets seen by real people will increase.
