Learn the latest strategies to optimize your resume for Applicant Tracking Systems and land more interviews.
Over 98% of Fortune 500 companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter resumes before a human ever sees them. If your resume isn't formatted correctly, it gets rejected automatically — no matter how qualified you are.
ATS systems parse specific section names. Use: Work Experience, Education, Skills, Summary. Avoid creative names like "My Journey" or "What I Do."
This is the single most impactful change you can make. Copy-paste the job description into our ATS checker, and it will show you exactly which keywords you're missing. Add the missing ones naturally into your bullets and skills section.
Example: If the JD says "cross-functional collaboration," include that exact phrase in your experience bullets.
ATS systems struggle with:
Stick to a single-column layout (or 2-column if your ATS PDF is text-based), standard fonts like Inter, Arial, or Georgia, and bullet points with standard symbols.
ATS systems and recruiters both respond to numbers. Instead of "Improved team performance," write "Improved team velocity by 35% over 2 quarters."
Numbers to include: percentages, dollar amounts, team sizes, user counts, time saved, projects delivered.
Weak: Was responsible for managing a team of 5 engineers
Strong: Led a team of 5 engineers to deliver 3 major product features ahead of schedule
When exporting your resume, use an ATS-compatible PDF (plain text, not an image). Our builder has a dedicated "ATS PDF" export option that generates a text-based, fully parseable file.
Use our free ATS checker to get a real-time score across 6 dimensions. The score updates as you edit — so you can optimize on the fly.
Target score: 75+ for competitive roles, 85+ for FAANG/top companies.
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