Elizabeth Openshaw 
Make sure your CV doesn't get binned by the hiring bots
Imagine the scenario: you find the perfect job online, invest the time in painstakingly customising your CV and cover letter, submit your application, and then wait to hear back from the company. A week goes by…two weeks… and still you haven't heard anything.
Does this sound familiar? What on earth is going on? Why aren't they contacting you with a job offer already?! Or, at the very least, an interview?
It's not you – it could be the ATS
You felt it was the perfect job for you. You ticked all the boxes when it came to skill and experience, yet it seems like your application was rejected. The hard truth is that it looks like your CV got lost in the void, and probably never made it past the probable first stage: the ATS.
What is ATS?
ATS stands for applicant tracking system. It's a type of software designed to scan CVs and rank them to support the selection of candidates for a role. What many job seekers don't realise is that, according to a survey by JobScan, “over 98% of Fortune 500 companies use ATS, while 66% of large companies and 35% of small organisations rely on them.”
That's a major part of the employment force relying on ATS during the initial stage of the recruitment process. Because of this, it's crucial to fully understand what an applicant tracking system does, and how to write a CV that will be read accurately by them.
As an ATS scans and stores candidate CVs in a digital database, recruiters can use keywords to shortlist applications. UK recruiters receive countless applications for any job, so it makes sense that they would adopt an ATS to help find the perfect candidate, while saving precious time, resources, and money along the way.
However, if you're the perfect candidate submitting a CV that isn't formatted for an ATS, the recruiter is never going to know that you even exist.
What is an ATS-friendly CV?
An ATS-friendly CV is one that will land on an HR Manager's desk every time. It won't get held back by the applicant tracking system because it's correctly formatted and ticks each box set down by the software. Essentially, an ATS-friendly CV is what you need if you want to land an interview.
How to create an ATS-friendly CV
To write an ATS-friendly CV, you must eliminate any issues and incompatibilities. Here are 7 tips to ensure your CV performs well every time:
1. Include vital keywords
An applicant tracking system works in a similar way to search engine optimisation (SEO) – by employing keywords. When you submit your CV, the ATS scans and stores it in a database. The recruiter can then search this database using keywords such as specific skills, qualifications, or job titles to create a shortlist of applicants. The trick for candidates is to make sure their CV contains the relevant keywords that the recruiter is searching for.
So, how do you find the right keywords to use in a CV? It's simple. Look to the job advert as a starting point. Nine times out of 10, the job ad will contain the specific skills and qualifications that the recruiter is looking for. Your task is to make sure these keywords are listed in your CV.
For example, if the recruiter has listed “project management” as a required skill, and you have project management experience, make sure the phrase “project management” is listed in your CV.
It's worth listing these skills exactly as they appear in the job advert. Writing “managing projects” on your ATS-friendly CV won't be picked up if it says “project management” in the job advert.
Top tip: Include only job-relevant keywords that you possess. There's no point in fabricating your CV by adding in keywords that equate to non-existent skills. You'll be found out along the way, and it will be worse for you in the end. Additionally, include both fully written versions as well as well-known acronyms. For example, if “customer relationship management” is on there, incorporate CRM as well.
2. Steer clear of putting contact details in the header or footer
It might sound like a simple thing, but it's incredibly important. If your name and contact details are in the header of your CV, it might not be picked up by some tracking systems. The upshot of that is a hiring manager will reject your CV outright as they will think there's no way of contacting you. Ensure that all of this vital information is in the main body of your job search document.
3. Format your CV correctly
The format of your CV has a major impact on whether an ATS can successfully read it and pick up on the right keywords. Follow the points below as a starting guide:
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Submit your CV as a Word document and avoid a PDF format (unless this is requested).
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Use a font size that's between 10 and 12 points
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Align your document to the left
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Use half-inch margins at the least
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Use simple bullet points, such as a solid square or circle, to highlight achievements, avoiding fancy ones as these can play havoc with an ATS
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Avoid using custom fonts, embedded images, and unusual CV designs – while they may be pleasing to the human eye, they can create serious issues for your CV when it passes through an applicant tracking system which won't be able to “read” it properly
4. Include specific qualifications
If a job vacancy requires candidates to possess a particular skill or qualification (as many do), it's likely that a recruiter will use an applicant tracking system to search for CVs that contain that specific type of qualification.
Including a Skills or Qualifications section on your CV is a must to ensure it is picked up in the search. Remember to list all of your relevant skills and qualifications in simple language that the recruiter is likely to search for.
5. Use straightforward job titles
Calling yourself a “Director of First Impressions” when your job title is “Receptionist” or “Front of House Support” may sound witty and cute, but it certainly won't do you any favours. Recruiters will only search for job titles that they know, so it's important that the job titles on your ATS-friendly CV match with what they have in mind.
Top tip: It's worth looking through all the job vacancies advertised by the recruiter to see what type of language they use, and then mimic this in your CV.
6. Avoid any fluff or irrelevant content
When it comes to your CV, it's normal to want to list all of the special things that make you a wonderful employee – your willingness to learn, your positive attitude, your excellent work ethic. However, recruiters rarely search for any of these terms, as anyone can write them, so feel free to leave them out of your ATS-optimised CV, unless you can quantify them with tangible evidence.
Instead, stick to actionable skills, qualifications, and facts and figures that show your worth, as these are the terms that will help you to beat the bots.
7. Clean up your social media presence
The jury is out as to whether this is a good or a bad thing. Nevertheless, some ATS software can search the web to assess your social media presence – which is why it's important to maintain your online brand. That means not only do you have to ensure that your CV is formatted for the ATS, but that your online presence is as well.
Here's the good news though. You can control what the ATS finds. First of all, check your privacy settings on all of your social media profiles, and choose the level that you're OK with, such as being public on some platforms while keeping others more private.
Top tip: Remove any embarrassing, incriminating, or inappropriate photos, comments, or posts that might pop up. It's always better to be prepared than to lose a job opportunity because of an inappropriate tweet from five years ago.
How do I know if my CV is ATS-compliant?
For one, by following the 7 tips above, as making these changes will go a long way to getting an ATS-friendly CV. Then, here are two more ideas to consider:
Save your CV in plain text
Applicant tracking systems favour CVs that have uncomplicated designs and a clear hierarchy of information. They often have trouble reading information that's contained within fancy design elements and images; so when your CV passes through the ATS, these details will become garbled, or will be entirely left out of your application entry in the system.
To determine what information may become misplaced or eliminated after passing through this electronic net, copy and paste the information from your CV into a plain text file, and review the results. If the plain text version of your CV is missing details from your original document, if some of its characters have saved incorrectly, or if the information looks disorganised (e.g. the heading for your Education section appears in the middle of your Job History section), then you can be certain that your CV did not pass the “ATS-readability” test.
Request a free ATS scan
Here at TopCV, we offer a free ATS scan as part of our free CV review. In the first part of the review, you'll receive an objective look at your CV's strengths and areas for improvement from both content and design perspectives.
In the second part of the review, TopCV shows you exactly what information an ATS will pull from your CV, what information it will be unable to identify and retrieve (such as your name, contact information, most recent job title, and most recent employer), and what top skills and keywords your CV currently ranks for.
If the ATS is unable to recognise any of this important information, or believes you're fit for a job that you're not interested in, then your CV did not pass the ATS-readability test and you should make some changes.
Need more help with writing an ATS-friendly CV following TopCV's free CV review? Let our professional CV writers turn your CV from failing the ATS scan to passing with flying colours. Finally you can secure that interview you really want.
This article was originally written by Amanda Augustine and has been updated by Elizabeth Openshaw.