Applicant tracking software, or ATS, is a computer program that automates the process of sorting and filtering resumes. It’s used by companies to screen applicants for jobs by scanning them for keywords and other criteria. A lot of time, effort, and money goes into hiring new employees—and each one costs a company as much as $6,000 in recruitment costs alone. That’s why businesses want to get as much information about applicants as they can before making an offer.
The way it works is pretty simple: after you upload your resume to an ATS platform (like [company name]), the software scans it for keywords in order to determine if you’re qualified for a given job. It parses your resume extracting key pieces of information like years of experience and skills; analyzes them using algorithms; and then ranks them based on how well-suited they are for the position being advertised. The result is a shortlist of candidates who are presented in order of quality so that hiring managers can make informed decisions about who should be interviewed next instead of relying solely on gut instinct or arbitrary criteria like educational background or length of employment history. If there are no matches, then your resume goes into the trash folder.
The thing about ATS platforms is that they’re not perfect at parsing resumes yet—they’ll often make mistakes and miss things that are important for hiring managers. For example, if you have a lot of experience with technology but don’t mention it anywhere on your resume because it’s assumed knowledge in this industry (and thus not worth mentioning), then the ATS platform may not recognize that you possess those skills even though they’re very relevant to the position.
The way to make the shortlist of candidates is to have your resume customized for each position. It should include your accomplishments, experience and skills that are relevant to the job to which you are submitting your resume.
