The Applicant Tracking System & ATS Keyword Genator Tool

For the first time ever, a software program is assisting recruiters and hiring managers find, track, reject and hire applicants through an automatic process that cuts time and saves lumpsum money. And, at the heart of the technological revolution is the Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

It's crucial that job hunters understand clearly what an Applicant Tracking System is and the way it works, to be able to be confident enough that their resumes do not slip via the automation while not having reached a real human.

Applicant tracking systems had been first utilised by big organisations that get hold of thousands of programs, however, smaller agencies are actually using them simply as frequently. Just as corporations use software applications to maintain track of applicable facts on their customers, the usage of similar software to organise information on potential candidates makes sense for recruiters.

Moreover, 62% of companies say that the usage of an Applicant Tracking System is in fact beneficial for mechanically filtering out candidates without using means of manual labour that might have created errors.

Let's Talk About What Is An ATS?

• An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a Human Resources software program that acts as a database for job seekers. An ATS is utilised by corporations and recruitment agencies of all sizes to prepare, search and communicate with their clients or potential candidates. It is said that almost 99% of big shot companies use an ATS as a part of their recruiting strategy.
• The primary aim of an ATS is to make life less complicated for recruiters and hiring managers. Companies frequently hire for a couple of positions straight away and get hold of loads (if not heaps) of candidates for every job opening.
• ATS makes searching for the right candidates less complicated—or even automates the entire process—saving time and money. 
• Not all ATS structures are created the same. That’s why hiring software can from time to time be called a talent acquisition software, recruitment software program or hiring platforms.

5 Things Candidates Should Know about an Applicant Tracking System

1. Can Attract Diverse Candidates

An Applicant Tracking System is designed towards addressing recruitment for organisations throughout diverse industries. The software program allows organisations to post vacancies on several job boards with only a few clicks. They help acquire candidate data and save all of this data together with all the resumes in a centralised database. The hiring managers and company recruiters can then use the resume parser to look for applicable profiles without difficulty in a lot of ways. Some of them are as follows:

• Automatic Ranking - A variety of ATS software program answers routinely, examining the resume with the activity description and locating the first-rate matches. This saves recruiters a good deal of time and permits them to select the top few to interview.

• Candidate Snapshots - Many ATS do resume parsing for creating an image or a summary of the candidate’s profile in a simplified layout. This permits recruiters to view all candidate data at a glance in preference to manually go through the complete resume in diverse formats to search for applicable data. This is why it's so important to use an ATS-friendly template. 

2. Data In A Single Place

As per the centralisation aspect, ATS stops recruiters from jumping among different spreadsheets, emails, job forums and social media to track the recruitment process. 

3. Saves A Lot Of Time For Recruiters

The biggest use of an Applicant Tracking System is their performance. Unlike humans, who can only read one resume at a time, applicant tracking systems are capable of hundreds of resumes in a minute, categorising them primarily based on pre-set standards and generate computerised rejection emails. ATS additionally permits employers to easily screen the hiring technique and communicate without delay with applicants from within the software program. Because ATS' are so efficient, almost every employer, large or small, has followed one for his or her hiring technique.

How Can A Candidate Make His/ Her Resume ATS Friendly?

To avoid your application getting missed, always tailor your resume as per the phraseology and wording of the job description posted by the recruiter. If the job description says that an “M.B.A” is required, you’re way more likely to rank with inside the ATS when you have M.B.A indexed for your resume, as well as a Masters in Business Administration. Why both? Because you need to satisfy both the ATS robot and the human making the hiring decision. 

To see if your resume matches the job description, please enter your resume and job description in the box below: 

Tips To Get Through The ATS Gates

1. Do Choose The Right File Type While Submitting

In the most controversial resume file-type debate, these are the best contenders: Docx vs. Pdf. While PDFs are top-notch in maintaining your layout intact overall, the .docx layout is the most appropriately parsed through an ATS. So in case, you need to get beyond any Applicant Tracking System, use a .docx format. But additionally follow directions (if the listing asks for a certain document type, provide the same to them!). However, Macs are your worst nightmare when applying for a job. Macs will distort the layout and formatting on your resume or worst still, let the recruiter know that your file is corrupted. Usually, these resumes never pass the ATS. If you are using a Mac, the safest option for you is to apply using a PDF. That way, what you see and what the hiring manager sees on their Windows computer is exactly the same. 

2. Never use Nested Tables

Nested tables never filter through the ATS. Unfortunately, many AI Resume Builders require HTML and CSS to create their resume templates. The more complicated and 'pretty' the design is, the more likely they are using nested tables to output your data. The Perfect Resume create designs and resume templates in Microsoft Word, so you can be confident your information will filter through the ATS. 

3. Be Specific, Not General

Generic resumes are a big no-no! Gone are those times whilst you may ship out a dozen cookie-cutter resumes and get a callback. Customise your resume to the job you're applying to. While you shouldn’t overhaul your resume for every job, it’s vital to make minor edits on every occasion to focus on your maximum applicable qualifications (and contain the keywords) related to the job roles.

ATS Keyword Generator

To see how your resume stacks up, paste your resume and the job description below. With the job description, you only need to paste the job duties and the 'About You' section. Don't add any employment benefits or company specific details etc. as recruiter's won't be searching for terms, such as superannuation unless you're applying for a job with a superannuation fund. 

You'll get an idea about what keywords you need to add to your resume to ensure you filter through the ATS. Use common sense though, while we have trained this tool on hundreds of job applications, in the second edition of the Oxford English dictionary, there are approximately 600,000 word forms defined and many many many more variations of these words, think past, present tense etc. If we added them all, you would be waiting approximately 28 hours to test one job!  

The ATS copies and pastes your information from the resume and into their database. Therefore, when you manually copy the text from your resume and paste it into the box below, you are essentially doing this step. ATS just do it automatically. Therefore, take note of how your text copies and pastes.

- Do words join together?

- Are some words missing altogether? 

- Is your whole resume missing? 

If you can't copy and paste your resume correctly, it's not ATS compliant. You'll need a new one or reach out to our team and we can see if we can fix it. 

If you are worried that your resume is not an ATS compliant, it is best to stop sending your resume to the recruiters to avoid being rejected and opt to get your resume re-written from The Perfect Resume's team of professional resume writers.

Simply send your resume to info@theperfectresume.com.au for a free review to get started!

Other Blogs That May Help

Personalities Matter On Your Resume	Crafting The Perfect Resume	How to get your Resume or CV ready for your job search?	Job Toolkit for Job Seekers