Monday, 6 October 2014

How To Master Applicant Tracking Systems




Applicant tracking systems do not decide who gets interviews but they do play an important role. Here are five ways to make resumes stand out. There's this perception that resumes will be vetted by a computer, so if they do not list the keywords and skills that the company is looking for, they may not get a call. While the systems alone does not determine who gets an interview and who does not, they still play a role in your job search.

1. Understand how applicant tracking systems work: Businesses rely on the systems to streamline recruiting, organize candidates and help with compliance requirements. Screening questions that many of them ask will vet whether some candidates are physically capable of performing a job, if that is a requirement.

2. Be smart with keywords: It is common to see resumes that are infested with keywords such as "Team Leader / Manager" because candidates want to increase the odds that the tracking systems flag their resume as a potential match. This method often backfires though. Using keywords is a good idea, but overusing them or misleading potential employers is a practice that is usually frowned upon by recruiters.

3. Adhere to proper format: Applicant tracking systems feature parsing technology that divides resumes into different fields, like skill set, education and experience, to make them easier to search. It is important that you use standard subheads to make this information more searchable.

4. Creativity is good: Candidates were repeatedly disappointed after submitting a carefully designed resume to find that the system couldn't read it properly and converted it to a text file. Many candidates today still believe that resumes should be plain-vanilla but that is not true anymore.

5. Embrace mobile job searches: Searching and applying for jobs is no longer something people prefer to do from desktop or laptop: About 30% of job applications are now sent via mobile devices.

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