The Pretty Resume & The Applicant Tracking System

Sounds like a fairy tale, right? Well, it’s not – applying to jobs can be stressful, and I know candidates spend hours creating the perfect resume. This week, my colleagues and I received a handful of resumes for marketing related roles that were pretty, colorful, in columns and tables and overall, were fantastically designed. Conversations with many of these candidates revealed their job searches have been challenging thus far and one of the main reasons could be their resume. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) extract information from resumes and let’s just say the information gathered from these pretty resumes is just plain ugly.

On the bright side, I had one candidate who applied with a resume that was titled “ATS Resume” and the truth is, you need one. I recognize the desire to showcase one’s design talents, but I highly doubt when applying to a position, a candidate wants their name to be a job title or their contact information to be a reference’s phone number. Most recruiters are working on multiple roles and are sifting through many applications. If they can’t locate a specific candidate easily in the applicant tracking system, there’s a chance they may not spend the time hunting to find them.

Below are some tips to ensure your resume is pulled into an applicant tracking system in a clean fashion and adequately provides the recruiter with the necessary information to contact you. 

Start with a plain text document. Use BOLD, italics, and underline to draw attention to your key points. Do not use graphics, color, tables, or columns.

Put your name first. Nothing should sit closer to the top of the resume than your name, no matter how you design it. I uploaded a candidate’s resume into our applicant tracking system from a LinkedIn application, and their name in the system became Program Manager. The candidate’s actual name was in the left-hand column about 3” from the top of the page in a fancy font, with their experience in the right-hand column starting about 1” from the top of the page. Can you guess their job title and where it was positioned?

Include ONE phone number. I know I’ve mentioned this in a blog post before- recruiters want the best phone number at which they can reach you. If that’s home, list home. If it’s your cell, list your cell. Don’t list both. The ATS may or may not pull both, it may only pull one and it may not be your preferred contact method. So only list one.

Be sure to include your email address. Countless resumes were lacking email addresses this week. If you are applying for a job, you want the recruiter to be able to contact you. They won’t send you spam.

List your experience in reverse chronological order and include key accomplishments for each position that are relevant to the role to which you are applying. On Monday, Precision Recruiting Solutions Group® shared an article from The Muse about functional resumes. Feel free to include a summary at the top that highlights your skills, but don’t include all of your accomplishments in one section, and a brief laundry list of roles in another. Many of these “pretty” resumes didn’t tie key accomplishments to roles and it was very difficult to identify where value was added for various organizations.

Double-check (and triple-check) your spelling. A misspelled skill could cost you the role when applying through an ATS. If a specific software package is required and you misspell that product, your resume may automatically be overlooked.

Only include your contact information on the resume. Don’t include references and their contact information on your resumes. The system may confuse any additional phone numbers or email addresses for your own and the recruiter may contact your reference about the role instead of you. The hiring organization will ask you for references when necessary, and at that point, provide them.

Format. Upload your resume as either a plain text document, Word document, or a Word document saved as a PDF file. If your resume is saved as an image, in any capacity, the system will not be able to extract the data. 

While a well-designed resume may help a candidate display their graphic design expertise, the simple, chronological black and white resume will ensure the resume is read properly by the applicant tracking system. Follow these simple steps to ensure your information is properly extracted and makes it easy for the recruiter to connect with you.