How to get your resume past the computer bot
Employers can receive hundreds and up to even thousands of resumes for a single position. Human resource departments cannot read through the supply of resumes in any systematic way. Instead, companies utilise applicant tracking systems to help them sift through a large volume of candidates to find the best candidates for them. Software reads and ranks resumes based upon specific metrics. To get an interview, you must know how to prepare your resume for a computer to read instead of a human. Use these tips to learn to beat the bots and create a resume that gets you noticed by applicant tracking systems.
Create a Keyword Section
Some career experts suggest creating a keyword section in your resume. You can find room for this by ditching the objective section. Once a resume essential, having an objective on your resume is a practice that is now less common. When it comes to software that scans your resume, an objective can get in the way. You need to fill your resume with words and experiences that applicant tracking software recognises. Information you place in your objective field rarely gets the attention of automated bots. Instead, create a separate section of keywords from your resume. List the keywords that describe your skills and abilities. Starting with your most in-demand skills first.
Use Keywords from the Job Posting
Applicant tracking software compares each resume to the job information in the system. This information usually comes from the job advertisement. To get the attention of the automated system, you need to include information from the individual posting in your resume. This also means you need to tailor your resume for each job opportunity. Go through the listing to find the skills and duties of the position. Work the keywords from the ad into your resume. If a listing mentions using specific software, make sure it is on your resume. Feel free to create a word cloud if you are having trouble with this task.
Use More Room
An old rule of thumb suggests that unless you have more than ten years of work history, you should keep your resume to one page. Employers spend little time reading a resume, so you need to keep it short. Applicant tracking software, however, analyzes your entire resume, and you need to provide more detail so that it has more context and keywords to find. Feel free to add on an extra page to your resume. Use this space to go into detail about your projects and the skills you acquired. Keep your language concise and put the extra length in your resume to good use by integrating more keywords. As most applicant tracking systems provide employers with a summary of your resume rather than your actual resume, you do not need to keep it short.
Design a Clean Resume
A resume with the proper formatting can aid applicant tracking systems in finding the right information. It reads your resume as plain text, so use a complimentary design. Avoid the advanced formatting you find in resume templates. Opt for a clean and simple design. Borders, logos, and graphics of any kind can confuse these systems. At the least, graphics also take up room on your resume that you can utilize in more efficient ways. Applicant tracking does not include charts or graphs that you create in its calculations, so leave them off of your resume. Use bullet points for important information and avoid intricate bullet designs that can confuse the system. Bold your headings for each section, and list sections in order of importance.
Include the Length of Your Employment
Applicant tracking systems use a formula to determine your skill level based on the length of employment at a particular job. Without clear indications of the dates of your employment, you do not get credit for your years of hard work. Some companies use the experience category as an easy way to weed people out. Include the month and year of your hire date and end date for each job.
When you submit a resume, there is a high likelihood that a computer will initially read it instead of a person. If you notice that you are not getting interviews for well-qualified jobs, it could be your resume. You need to make sure that you optimize your resume with keywords and structure your resume to make it easy for the applicant tracking system to analyze and rank your resume. Use these tips to game the system and get an interview.
