Resume Tips for Bypassing ATS

If you've been applying to jobs, especially for companies that use ATS and have not been getting feedback or you've been getting immediate rejections, you probably have a resume problem.

Before I talk about what you can do to rectify this, we first need to talk about ATS (Application Tracking System). According to Jobvite.com, ATS is a piece of software for recruiters that simplifies the recruiting process by using automated intelligence to screen for the best , most qualified candidates. This type of software is particularly used by large companies who get hundreds or maybe even thousands of potential candidates for a given role, as such this type of software saves companies' time by weeding out unqualified applicants and presenting Hiring managers with the best candidates for that role.

The ATS will scan all the submitted Resumes for Keyword matches and structure and so if your CV is not compliant, you are very likely to get a rejection.

There are two things I have done to prevent this happening to me and give myself the best chance of bypassing the ATS and I'm going to talk about them:

1. Use Keywords from the Job description in your resume.
The ATS searched resumes for specific words, usually the requirements stated in the Job description. For example If you are applying for a devops role and some the requirements in the Job description are Ansible, jenkins, docker etc. and you don't have any of those stated in your resume, Its very likely you'll get a rejection.

2. Use Resume Templates that Are ATS friendly
The other thing to do is to use resume templates that allow the ATS to scan your CV without any issues. One option is to use resumake.io, its open source and free. If you know how to use Json it also comes in handy when you want to save a template of your resume, so you don't have to type everything out all over again when you want to make changes. The other option is to use the free resume templates on Google docs. You can navigate to these templates using the following steps:

1. Go to your central google docs page.
2. Click on the Plus (+) sign to create a new document.
3. Click on choose template.
4. Navigate to the Resumes section.
5. Pick any template you want and edit to your taste.

I hope this helps you bypass ATS and gets you closer to your desired role.
Thank you for reading and Goodluck with your job applications.