Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Tips — avoiding the hurdles

Published On - March 1, 2021

careersaas Career Advice

What to prepare prior to navigating the mixed world of Applicant Tracking Systems.

  1. CV — This sounds obvious, but… Make sure you have prepared your main CV along with different versions based on the different industries you will be applying for.
  2. LinkedIn — Its just your CV all over again right? Not quite but many applicant tracking systems allow you SSO straight in. But be weary, as it will auto fill.
  3. Standard Question responses: Invariably you will have “in 200 words etc…”
    – Key Strengths, short descriptions of Internship experience,
    – The web links to LinkedIn — remember twitter, facebook, insta are optional and its always good to review what can be seen by prospective employers
    – Let the company know about your interest working there. Efficiency is key in personalising messages to prospective employers.
  4. Many ATS’s will ask “Please provide your salary expectation.” Do your research on what the role should be paying or check out the Free Careersaas Salary guide for every role by location.
  5. Applicant Tracking Systems do not take kindly to non standard fonts — PDF upload is preferable for the machine learning review that your CV will be put through.
  6. Be wary of applying to every job at a specific company. An applicant tracking system also allows recruiters to see all the roles you’ve applied to at their company — an efficient search method would be to focus on 2 or 3 specific roles and industry sectors.
  7. Keywords work. Your CV will be highlighted against the Job Description, and so mirroring the Job Description — as long as the information is factual — is a key way of having your CV reviewed.
  8. Robots are smart. Any tricks that have to do with pasting keywords in white will immediately be discovered because the ATS will display all text in the same colour.
  9. ATS prefer plain format — so if you are using .docx file be careful with Text boxes. excel tables and anything else that may jumble your profile when reviewed by hiring managers.
  10. Getting your CV or LinkedIn “ATS” ready should be a must as many of the changes you make for our potentially friendly Robot CV scanners, will also look good for Human Resources.

At Careersaas, we have a quick simple and easy to use platform that connects you with hundreds of thousands of companies around the world — direct! And its Free. Check out our product at FIND A NEW JOB or for a quick about us visit Careersaas here.