We are living in a new and evolving age of hiring. Automation, AI, and machine learning have changed the landscape for job seekers in 2025 and beyond. The rise of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) has left many people lost as they navigate this unfamiliar process.
In this comprehensive guide, we will dive into the nitty-gritty of what ATS actually is, provide insights on optimizing your resume to pass through ATS filters effectively. Ready to take control of your career trajectory?
Table of Content
What Does ATS Mean?
Which Companies Use ATS?
Do Recruiters Use ATS?
How Does ATS Work?
Understanding ATS Algorithms
How to Optimize Your Resume for ATS
Mistakes to Avoid for ATS Success
Common ATS Myths Debunked
Is My Resume ATS Friendly?
In this comprehensive guide, we will dive into the nitty-gritty of what ATS actually is, provide insights on optimizing your resume to pass through ATS filters effectively. Ready to take control of your career trajectory?
Table of Content
What Does ATS Mean?
Which Companies Use ATS?
Do Recruiters Use ATS?
How Does ATS Work?
Understanding ATS Algorithms
How to Optimize Your Resume for ATS
Mistakes to Avoid for ATS Success
Common ATS Myths Debunked
Is My Resume ATS Friendly?
What does ATS mean?
ATS stands for Applicant Tracking Systems. It is the digital middleman between a hiring manager and yourself. It acts as an effective candidate management tool for HR professionals. ATS is typically used to mitigate blanket applications, preventing unqualified candidates from making it in front of hiring managers.
Over 98.8% of Fortune 500 companies use ATS, while 60% of large companies and 35% of smaller organizations rely on it as well. Chances are, you will encounter ATS in your job search.
Workday: Job requisition management, candidate sourcing, resume parsing, interview scheduling, data sharing across HR functions, mobile functionality, and analytics. Most commonly used by: Fortune 500 and Enterprise.
Oracle: Candidate sourcing, resume parsing, applicant tracking, interview management, and robust compliance features to ensure unbiased candidate selection, and reporting. Most commonly used by: Fortune 500 and Enterprise.
Greenhouse: Job posting, candidate sourcing, resume parsing, applicant tracking, onboarding, integrated partner apps for background checks and other assessments. Most commonly used by: Enterprise, mid-sized companies, and small businesses.
Smart Recruiters: Candidate sourcing, resume parsing, applicant tracking, interview management, and reporting. Most commonly used by: Enterprise.
Jobvite: Job posting, candidate sourcing, resume parsing, applicant tracking, interview management, and analytics. Most commonly used by: Enterprise and mid-sized companies.
Bamboo HR: Job posting, candidate sourcing, resume parsing, applicant tracking, interview management, and reporting. Most commonly used by: Mid-sized companies and small businesses.
Lever: Automated job posting, resume parsing, analytics, and collaborative hiring tools for various hiring teams to work together in assessing candidates. Most commonly used by: Enterprise, mid-sized companies, and small businesses.
ATS reduces administrative overhead and repetitive manual labor in the hiring process. This allows HR professionals to dedicate more time to quality one-on-one interactions with candidates, creating a more engaging recruiting experience.
Keyword Matching: Identifies keywords used in the job posting and parses through the submitted resumes to ensure there is commonality between the two, subsequently assigning a score.
Boolean Search: Allows recruiters to create complex search queries using logical operators such as AND, OR, and NOT, providing precision within the ATS database.
Machine Learning: Analyzes patterns and trends to make recommendations and predictions in the hiring process.
Natural Language Processing: Analyzes both the meaning and context in which words, phrases, and keywords are used within the job posting and resume, identifying related terms and variations on keywords.
To help navigate this process, we have developed an easy-to-follow framework to ensure your resume is optimized for ATS, increasing your chances of progressing through the initial screening stages.
Use standard section headers (e.g., Work Experience, Education, Skills) to organize your resume and make it easier for the ATS to parse. Bullet points and concise text are the most effective way to convey information clearly and effectively.
Place keywords strategically throughout your resume, including in the summary/objective, skills section, and work experience bullet points.
Highlight specific achievements and outcomes. This demonstrates your impact and value to employers by highlighting specific achievements and outcomes from your previous roles.
Now let’s put all of this together and see how it looks in the real world. Below we have a resume that won’t make it in front of a hiring manager for several reasons.
IMAGE
If you’re making any of the same mistakes as our candidate above, it might be time to consider a rewrite that will take your resume from slipping through the cracks to the top of the pile
Yes, they can provide some mixed insights into how well your document pairs with a specific job posting but they vary greatly in comprehension and accuracy. They are unable to replicate the complexity found in the software used by employers and are therefore not an accurate portrayal of how your resume will be parsed.
Some tools may offer a free digital assessment or gated versions of their services to encourage you to purchase additional features or a new package entirely. When considering submitting your resume to ATS rating services it’s important to consider who is providing the tool, transparency in their evaluation criteria, and in-depth functional feedback that shows analysis accuracy.
For personalized guidance and support to stand out in today’s competitive job market, consider expert consultation and individualized resume writing services.
Schedule an appointment with a Resume Advisor today to take your resume to the next level and maximize your job search success.
ATS Providers and Their Features
The major players in ATS software and their core features include:Workday: Job requisition management, candidate sourcing, resume parsing, interview scheduling, data sharing across HR functions, mobile functionality, and analytics. Most commonly used by: Fortune 500 and Enterprise.
Oracle: Candidate sourcing, resume parsing, applicant tracking, interview management, and robust compliance features to ensure unbiased candidate selection, and reporting. Most commonly used by: Fortune 500 and Enterprise.
Greenhouse: Job posting, candidate sourcing, resume parsing, applicant tracking, onboarding, integrated partner apps for background checks and other assessments. Most commonly used by: Enterprise, mid-sized companies, and small businesses.
Smart Recruiters: Candidate sourcing, resume parsing, applicant tracking, interview management, and reporting. Most commonly used by: Enterprise.
Jobvite: Job posting, candidate sourcing, resume parsing, applicant tracking, interview management, and analytics. Most commonly used by: Enterprise and mid-sized companies.
Bamboo HR: Job posting, candidate sourcing, resume parsing, applicant tracking, interview management, and reporting. Most commonly used by: Mid-sized companies and small businesses.
Lever: Automated job posting, resume parsing, analytics, and collaborative hiring tools for various hiring teams to work together in assessing candidates. Most commonly used by: Enterprise, mid-sized companies, and small businesses.
Do Recruiters Use ATS in 2025?
Recruiters and HR professionals use ATS daily because it makes their work efficient and more effective. ATS can track candidate communication, automate the interview scheduling process, and search for candidates within its database. Additionally, ATS ensures compliance within the candidate selection process by eliminating bias.ATS reduces administrative overhead and repetitive manual labor in the hiring process. This allows HR professionals to dedicate more time to quality one-on-one interactions with candidates, creating a more engaging recruiting experience.
How Does ATS Work?
The question on everyone’s mind is, how exactly does ATS work? ATS serves as a database to collect and collate job applications, facilitating tasks such as friction-free resume submission, document organization and analysis, and candidate ranking. Here’s what that process looks like:Resume Submission:
- →When a job vacancy is posted, applicants submit their resumes and other required documents through the company's career portal, website, or via email.
- →The ATS captures and stores these resumes in a centralized database, organizing them by job opening and candidate profile.
- →ATS employs parsing algorithms to extract relevant information from each document, such as contact details, work experience, education, skills, and certifications.
- →Resume parsing automatically populates the appropriate fields within the ATS database, creating a structured profile for each candidate.
- →Candidates' documents will receive a “fit score” that looks at a variety of factors including distance from position, availability needs if stipulated, and screening knock-out question answers (more on this below).
- →The ATS may use keyword-matching algorithms to compare the keywords and phrases in a candidate's resume to those in the job description, assigning a relevance score to each application.
Understanding ATS Algorithms
The algorithms that ATS uses to parse and analyze documents are extensive and are expected to become increasingly refined in the future. While the specific mix varies from provider to provider, the common core algorithms typically include:Keyword Matching: Identifies keywords used in the job posting and parses through the submitted resumes to ensure there is commonality between the two, subsequently assigning a score.
Boolean Search: Allows recruiters to create complex search queries using logical operators such as AND, OR, and NOT, providing precision within the ATS database.
Machine Learning: Analyzes patterns and trends to make recommendations and predictions in the hiring process.
Natural Language Processing: Analyzes both the meaning and context in which words, phrases, and keywords are used within the job posting and resume, identifying related terms and variations on keywords.
How to Optimize Your Resume for ATS
An ATS-friendly resume is optimized to be parsed and ranked by the software when used by a recruiter or HR professional. The goal is not to game or trick the software but to present your qualifications in a way that showcases you as the ideal candidate.To help navigate this process, we have developed an easy-to-follow framework to ensure your resume is optimized for ATS, increasing your chances of progressing through the initial screening stages.
Graphical Resumes Aren’t ATS Friendly:
Stick to a clean and simple resume format with standard fonts (e.g., Arial, Calibri) and avoid using images, graphics, columns, or elaborate designs that may confuse the ATS.Use standard section headers (e.g., Work Experience, Education, Skills) to organize your resume and make it easier for the ATS to parse. Bullet points and concise text are the most effective way to convey information clearly and effectively.
Incorporate Relevant Keywords Throughout:
Tailor your resume to include keywords and phrases directly from the job description you're applying for. Personalization is key for both your cover letter and resume.Place keywords strategically throughout your resume, including in the summary/objective, skills section, and work experience bullet points.
Include Core Competencies and Key Skills:
Create a dedicated "Core Competencies" section listing your key skills and competencies relevant to the job you're applying for. Include hard skills (technical skills, software proficiency) and soft skills (collaboration, leadership, communication) mentioned in the job description.Quantify Achievements and Results:
Quantify your accomplishments using numbers, percentages, or metrics whenever possible. This helps your resume stand out and provides concrete evidence of your abilities.Highlight specific achievements and outcomes. This demonstrates your impact and value to employers by highlighting specific achievements and outcomes from your previous roles.
Now let’s put all of this together and see how it looks in the real world. Below we have a resume that won’t make it in front of a hiring manager for several reasons.
IMAGE
If you’re making any of the same mistakes as our candidate above, it might be time to consider a rewrite that will take your resume from slipping through the cracks to the top of the pile
Mistakes to Avoid for ATS Success
Knock-Out Questions
One element of ATS that deserves some attention is its use of “Knock-out Questions”, which functions exactly as it sounds. These short questions act as gatekeepers to pre-filter candidates who don’t meet the basic position requirements.- →Are you legally authorized to work in (country)?
- →How many years have you managed teams?
- →Do you agree to background and education checks?
- →Are you bilingual?
- →Do you have 5 years of experience in Python?
Resume Scanning Tools
While various online tools are claiming to test your resume's ATS compatibility, take them with a grain of salt. They vary greatly in comprehension and accuracy and cannot replicate the complexity of employer-used software.Yes, they can provide some mixed insights into how well your document pairs with a specific job posting but they vary greatly in comprehension and accuracy. They are unable to replicate the complexity found in the software used by employers and are therefore not an accurate portrayal of how your resume will be parsed.
Some tools may offer a free digital assessment or gated versions of their services to encourage you to purchase additional features or a new package entirely. When considering submitting your resume to ATS rating services it’s important to consider who is providing the tool, transparency in their evaluation criteria, and in-depth functional feedback that shows analysis accuracy.
Is My Resume ATS Friendly?
We’ve explored the world of automated applicant tracking to help you navigate ATS in 2025. From understanding its core functionality to tailoring your resume for ATS success, you're now equipped with expert advice. It's time to put these insights into action and ensure your documents are ATS-friendly.For personalized guidance and support to stand out in today’s competitive job market, consider expert consultation and individualized resume writing services.
Schedule an appointment with a Resume Advisor today to take your resume to the next level and maximize your job search success.
