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Katie Bickell

Katie Bickell

Author, Instructor, Manuscript Consultant

Home | Resume Tips | Resume Tip: Writing an Applicant Tracking System- friendly Resume

Resume Tip: Writing an Applicant Tracking System- friendly Resume

Resume Tips

In the digital world, your job application isn’t always going straight to the hiring manager. It might reach them eventually, but the first step in the hiring process today often tends to be impressing a thing, and not a person.

What am I talking about? Applicant tracking systems (ATS): the digital systems companies and organizations use to track, filter, and parse through all applications and find those that match initial criteria, before they hit the hiring manager’s desk. They not only allow hiring managers to search for keywords in applications, but rank applications based on how applicable they are to the role.

Today, your application is almost certainly going through an ATS if you apply for a job in an online job bank, like Indeed (note: job openings that advise applicants to send directly to the hiring manager’s email address is unlikely to use ATS).

So how do you work the ATS to your advantage? Resume tailoring that is ATS-friendly!

KEYWORDS

Take a look through the original job description. What words repeat? What are the keywords? Chances are, those are words that the ATS has been programmed to search for when it scans through applications, and are thus words you should be looking to incorporate in your application.

Your experience doesn’t need to match absolutely every piece of criteria on the list, but make sure you are applying for positions where you can confidently meet the majority of the core skills listed in the job posting — and ensure those keywords are replicated in your resume when applying.

Note: Ensure you are using the exact wording the posting uses. Though it might be tempting to use similar adjectives or words to create some variety in your resume, the system is likely programmed to find exactly that word.

BUT, PUT KEYWORDS INTO CONTEXT

Though the keyword itself might match you through the ATS, you will still have to impress the hiring manager once your application hits their desk. So use those keywords in context. Have valid examples in the bullet points of your work experience, and use numbers or stats to really highlight accomplishments unique to you.

THE RIGHT FILE TYPE 

ATS can be finicky, and generally has a preference on what types of documents it can read. We suggested sticking to either a .docx or a .pdf, unless they are specifically listed as file types that specific organization doesn’t accept.

If you are applying through an online system, watch as you are going through the process and ensure you are submitting a file type that that organization have listed as acceptable. 

KEEP YOUR RESUME SIMPLE AND LEGIBLE

You want to submit that it is legible and easy to follow. 

Use bolds, underlines and italics to emphasize text, and colour or bullet points to create separation and visual order in your document. That said, ATS doesn’t generally process things like charts, images or graphics very well, so we advise steering clear of those.

Make sure that your section headers are clear. Use standard titles such as “Work Experience,” and, “Education.”

KEEP IMPORTANT INFORMATION IN THE DOCUMENT BODY 

ATS doesn’t handle headers or footers well, and information in those places can easily be skipped over. With that in mind, try to keep all the important information in the body of your document, or in the body of at least a part of your document if you have multiple pages. This includes contact information! 

PLAY TO BOTH AUDIENCES 

When writing your application, consider not only that you are looking to get past the ATS, but also looking to leave a positive impact with a hiring manager. Your resume should be able to both pass through ATS, with the above-mentioned tips, but then be visually appealing, clean and easy to read for a human being.

FINAL TIP

As tempting as it might be to try some sneaky tricks (for example, hiding keywords in the document in white font), those techniques won’t work in your favor—the ATS will see all the text when it processes. Stick to using the keywords and such inappropriate places throughout your actual work experience.

~ written by Lucy Fox

A Note From Katie:

More and more, we’re seeing clients ask about ordering BOTH a “designed” resume (that is, one that features a graphic design as impressive as the actual text) and an ATS friendly document, with the plan to send designed resumes directly to hiring managers when direct emails are listed, and to upload ATS friendly resumes when applying through jobs banks. To meet this new need, The Resume Shop now offers the option to purchase the second document at a discounted price. Send us a message to learn more!


January 25, 2021 ·

Be Brave, Be Kind.

ABC Founder, Katie Bickell

Thank you for visiting Always Brave Creative! I’m Katie Bickell, the Founder of Always Brave Creative and award-winning author of the novel, Always Brave, Sometimes Kind.

It takes guts to put yourself out into the world, but to the brave go the spoils. That’s why we’re passionate about helping our clients tell brave stories – whether that means promoting them through professional resume preparation, captivating brand development, manuscript consultation, or a website so beautiful there’s no fear of losing customers to online’s many competing distractions. We want you to be heard.

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    Chloe’s first soccer game ⚽️ For those of yo Chloe’s first soccer game ⚽️ For those of you without preteens at home, this look means “stop embarrassing me, Mom.” 

Just kidding, all the looks mean that.
    For all the truth about how hard mean girl dynamic For all the truth about how hard mean girl dynamics can be (and are) at their age, the best part of being a girl is having that one girl beside you. #girlhood #thisisten #besties
    20yrs old: “I sleep in my contact lenses all the 20yrs old: “I sleep in my contact lenses all the time! Just doesn’t affect me! Weird right?”
36yrs old: “I looked at my computer screen for 15 minutes before remembering to switch into glasses and now I can’t blink.” 
#sandpapereyes #amwriting #blindasabat
    🎶I want a home with a crowded table, and place 🎶I want a home with a crowded table, and place by the fire for everyone 🎶 

Forgot to take photos of our “home with a crowded table” during a beautiful Easter dinner, but so loved stretching the holiday out over three days dyeing #pysanky with @lisasana, @liv.nich, Brynn, Caily, and Chloe. We used various teas along with beet powder and turmeric to make dye on Friday night and drew with the wax from tea light candles on Saturday and every night girls ran to and from our homes under the warm weekend’s full moon. The kids had such fun blowing the eggs that (thank goodness) we moms didn’t have to 😂 

#easterphotodump #eastereggs #pinkmoon #springsnow #homemadedye #easter2022 #crowdedtable #plantyourgarden #romantisizeyourlife
    A surprise gift from my 10 year old niece 🐣🌸 A surprise gift from my 10 year old niece 🐣🌸💞 @lisasana you make pretty sweet kids 🥰
    Woke at 3am and couldn’t get back to sleep. Reor Woke at 3am and couldn’t get back to sleep. Reorganized the living room as quietly as possible instead. Willow managed to sleep through it 🐾
    I like my hair’s natural texture, but I don’t I like my hair’s natural texture, but I don’t give it enough love. Usually I straighten or blow dry or curl it away before I have to do anything “professional” or “in public” or “normal” but the kids and I call it my witchy hair and when it’s like this I feel most me. Tonight I’m teaching a writing class and students will develop plots as wild as my waves. Death to styling tools (at least today anyway).
    It is -12 degrees Celsius, and flurries in the nig It is -12 degrees Celsius, and flurries in the night left snow on the ground. But F’s tomato seedlings have sprouted so, you know, hang in there… 🌱 ❄️ 🍅 🌸
    My husband and I own a tiny ancient cabin just off My husband and I own a tiny ancient cabin just off the shores Lesser Slave Lake. At the age of 22, he bought it off his great-grandparents, Lena & Fred (RIP), just a few months before he met me, and who’s to say they don’t visit us still? The cabin is two doors down and across the road from the house I grew up in and the house next door to that one, where my father now lives. A three minute bike ride takes us to Freddy’s grandparent’s home (Wayne and Marcella), and to his mom and dad (Gale and Fred), who live next door to them.

In this cabin, Freddy and I sleep behind a curtain that hangs in the middle of the living room. When he’s not here, Chloe shares my bed. Cailena was conceived in the same bedroom she now fills with art. In the spring, we fall asleep listening to the squeaks of little things between the walls and I make a mental note to bring the cat next time. In the summer we throw open all the windows and doors and seek coolness beneath poplar trees, although in last year’s heat wave the kids and the dog found most comfort with wet blankets on the cool, hard, uneven floor under their beds. There is only space for a fridge in the utility room, which is connected to the bathroom, so you have to knock on the door before grabbing the milk.

This cabin was our first love nest, and now that it’s no longer fit to rent out, it is ours to warm again with children and space heaters and hot water bottles and hand knit blankets (me) and stitched quilts (Gale and Marcella, and some of Lena’s, too). Candles and incense mask the faint smell of the skunk that feuded with Willow and lost the battle but won the war. We decorate the place with antiques unearthed in the outbuildings, and mud new cracks in the walls and ceiling each May. 

This little space, chock-a-block with love and memories and ghosts and stains of what once was - a place where past/present/future feels to collide all at once - is one of my favourite places in the world, and is the setting of my next book, “Alskling,” a romantic, folkloric story that has so far proven to be my favourite tale to pen. I hope these photos show you not just a simple space, but the affection we have for it.
    Oh hello, Julia Cameron. I keep hearing it’s pas Oh hello, Julia Cameron. I keep hearing it’s past time we met.
    Great question from a @pandemicuniversity “Less Great question from a @pandemicuniversity “Less is More” Student: the difference between Perspective and Point of View. Here’s my condensed-for-instagram answer:

Perspective is the #voice that tells a story. The protagonist is tied to decisions the #author makes around language, symbols, and imagery when writing through their perspective. If your protag is a 5yr old and you are writing from his perspective, your word choices are limited to his experiences. If the protag sees something that is “sophisticated,” the author won’t be able to use that word unless the reader is given a believable reason why the child knows it. Instead, the author might describe the sophisticated thing as “fancy,” or “really grown up” to keep the childish perspective.

Usually stories are written in the perspective of the protag. This allows the reader to connect immediately, as they hear the voice throughout the whole #text. In a short story, this is important as each word should not only provide story details but deepen character development.

Sometimes a story is told from a different perspective. Perhaps the protag is a 5yr old, but the story is told through the perspective of the child’s adult self. Then, the author can use details that the narrator would have access to but the protag would not. An example that comes to mind is the film “A Christmas Story.” The protag is a child, but the perspective belongs to his adult self. Because the adult-self narrates, lines like “faster than a jackrabbit on a date” are appropriate even though the protag wouldn’t know what they meant. 

A story’s perspective can also belong to a secondary #character. In “The Great Gatsby,” the protag is Gatsby but the #story is told through Carroway. Word choices and opinions reflect Carroway’s character – not Gatsby’s.

A story can also be told through a godlike perspective who might sound like the collective voice of society (See: “Pride and Prejudice,” “The Lottery”) or an objective witness who reports without opinion (“Hills Like White Elephants”). 

(Point of view continued in comments)
    Starting the day off pink: tulips and a rose incen Starting the day off pink: tulips and a rose incense cone. #sweetstart #rose #tulips #spring #flowers #sunshine #incense #simplepleasures #morningvibes
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