Dont Make These ATS Formatting Mistakes

Dont Make These ATS Formatting Mistakes Dont Make These ATS Formatting Mistakes To understand why resume formatting matters to applicant tracking systems, you first need to understand how resumes move through ATS. Heres how it works After you submit yur resume through an online application, it automatically lands in the ATS. Many systems then scan your resume, parse or pull out information, and rearrange your resume into a digital candidate profile. From there, recruiters or hiring managers can search the ATS by keyword and get a list of resumes that best match their search.Learn moreTop 500 Resume Keywords to Boost Your Job SearchBut, ATS arent perfect (we already knew that) They are known for missing important information if the formatting isnt to their liking. At Jobscan, weve done scrupulous testing on top ATS to make our tools as effective as possible. Heres some of what weve learned.Abbreviations and Acronymsfruchtwein ATS (iCIMS, Bullhorn and Greenhouse included) arent program med to recognize abbreviations like MBA, CPA and PMP if a recruiter searches for the long form of the keyword (e.g. Master of Business Administration, Certified Public Accountant, Project Management Professional). Dont fear This is an easy one to fix. Spell out the keyword then use the common acronym in parenbehauptungs to make sure your credentials dont get missed. Now youll come up as a search result no matter which version they search for.TablesSome ATS, including Jobvite, have a difficult time parsing information within tables. Sections in tables can get jumbled together or information can be lost entirely.While removing the lines can help (we found this to be true with iCIMS), its a good idea to skip tables if youre applying through an ATS. That way, you know they wont affect your chances of getting leidiced by the hiring manager. I suggest opting for standard bullet points to best organize information.Non-Standard Bullet PointsI often have job seekers ask if bullet points are okay for a resume being submitted through ATS. Yes In fact, standard bullet points are a great way to organize information on your ATS resume. However, the non-traditional bullet points like stars, diamonds, and check-boxes do not always get parsed correctly. The quick fix? Use the good ol black dot bullet points (like in the example below) to avoid issues.Standard bullet points like these are great for an ATS-optimized resume. (Source Application Careers)Unique FontOf course, you want your resume to stand out from the crowd, but using a unique font will just work against you.Through our testing, weve found Times New Roman and Arial to be the most reliable for getting past ATS. Cambria, Georgia, Calibri and Verdana are also appropriate. Font size doesnt matter quite as much, but we suggest sticking to 10 or 12 point font to make your resume look professional when it lands in the hands of the hiring manager. Check out the list of ATS-approved resume fonts below.Learn More The Best Fo nts to Make Your Resume ATS and Recruiter-FriendlyLet your killer experience set you apart instead of an attention-grabbing font, and use the interview to show off your personality.Incorrect Date FormattingSome of the major ATS, like Jobvite and Taleo, most accurately parse dates in the format of MM/YYYY. For example, 03/2011. Most ATS will also accept the format of March 2011. Always use both the month and year. Only using a year can cause confusion. For example, the ATS iCIMS automatically assigns a start date of January 1st to any work experience that only has a year.Extra Spacing Between WordsATS are picky about keywordsreally picky. A few of the top ATS, including Bullhorn and Greenhouse, will not even recognize multi-word keywords if the words are separated by extra spaces. For example, product marketing will be recognized as a complete skill but product marketing will not because there is an extra space hiding between the words. The solution is simple double and triple check your spacing, especially between multi-word keywords, before submitting.Unprofessional File NameJoeSmithGoogle.docx is a great file name, unless he accidentally sent it to Amazon. A few applicant tracking systems, like USAJobs and Greenhouse, include the file name in their portal, which means the hiring manager at Amazon will not be too pleased with Joe SmithWhile many ATS have stopped making file name visible to hiring managers, some still do. For professionalism sake, its good practice to save each file with your first and last name (e.g. joejobscan.docx). Test your resumes ATS formattingWant to find out how your resume stacks up to ATS? Upload your resume to Jobscan or paste it below to get customized formatting tips and more.Every ATS is differentAt Jobscan, we built our resume optimization tool based on the most common behaviors found across popular ATS. But every system works a little bit differently. Thats why we offer customized ATS tips based on the company youre applying t o. Learn more with this video