What Is An Applicant Tracking System (And How It Affects Your Resume)

What Is An Applicant Tracking System (And How It Affects Your Resume) Have you ever been discussing your job search and heard the term applicant tracking system or ATS thrown around? Applicant tracking systems are relatively new to the job market, and many candidates still arent familiar with what they actually are. While the purpose seems to be fairly straightforward from the name, a typical applicant tracking system does more than just track applicants. Well explain what an ATS is, why a hiring manager would use one, and what that means to you. Applicant Tracking Systems HR To start, well look at the basics of an applicant tracking systems. Commonly abbreviated ATS, an applicant tracking system does what the name implies. However, thats not all! At its core it is a recruiting software application. It helps a recruiting team easily sort through multiple resumes. When a resume is submitted, the system picks up on all the important information, and automatically enters it into a database. This makes it easy for hiring managers to look between information and determine who is the most qualified candidate. They can then decide who is worthwhile to bring in for an interview. Certain applicant tracking systems even have rating systems. The ATS will look at keywords in the job description, and compare them to what is present on the resumes. Based on the crossover, each resume is given a score out of 100. The more in common, the higher the score. Furthermore, some applicant tracking systems can be programmed to ignore resumes that dont meet a keyword threshold. Meaning if a resume only has 10 of the 30 selected keywords, it wont even show up to a recruiter. This can also be done using factors such as years of experience in more complex tracking systems. What It Means To You So what does this all mean to you as a job seeker and applicant? Applicant tracking systems are widely used, both by businesses large and small. Their prevalence means that you have to optimize your resume to be ATS friendly. Since your information is being pulled from the document, the hiring manager may never see your resume as is. Instead they will just see the stripped down information. For this reason, its important to keep your resume basic and straightforward. Building your resume in an abnormal way will make it harder for an ATS to interpret what information is what. This can lead to your resume getting rejected, or not showing up properly. Graphics and visuals on resumes can also cause problems, so its a good idea to just stick with text. Applicant tracking systems save HR departments time and money, and will continue to be used for the foreseeable future. They will also continue to get smarter, as AI is built in. For this reason, its crucial to have your resume optimized to be ATS friendly. If youd like more information on how you can digitally optimize your resume with keywords and formatting, check out this blog post! Being diligent about optimization will give you a much greater chance of getting called back. We hope you found this post informative, and wish you the best of luck in your job search and career!