ATS Resume Templates- All You Need to Know

Before we talk about ATS resume templates, let's first understand the importance of resume itself.

Some job seekers think that I have the degree and/or experience, I am skilled and I have knowledge, I will definitely get a job, resume won't matter as much.

What they fail to understand is that the hiring managers are setting the bar higher these days and average candidates often fail to get any job, let alone dream job.

With the globalization, digital world advancements, people have gotten closer and finding talent has become easier. Especially, with the wide spread and blooming concept of remote/WFH has made sure that hiring managers find what they are looking for and more!

All this means, if you want the dream job, you need to step up your game, do something a little extra and go an extra mile! And your resume is where you present yourself hence the importance.

If the hiring manager doesn't like your resume, isn't intrigued by your resume, you will not even get an interview call. So your resume could be your make or break chance.

So let's understand how to create the best resume for yourself. You should also check out our resume examples for more insight.

What is ATS?

Applicant Tracking System or ATS is a software that is utilized by all the hiring managers, recruiters and talent seeker. The hiring manager sets particular parameters or filters in the software that helps the software with shortlisting the resumes.

Hiring managers receive thousands of applications and scanning them all manually can be time consuming and tiring. By the time hiring manager is done scanning a thousand applications, the company may already face loss due to lack of personnel.

Whether you are applying for a small company or even a start up, or a big corporate company, the chances are that the hiring manager is using applicant tracking systems. You should always apply to every job with a resume that is ATS friendly.

So the applications are filtered through ATS and the resumes that come out at the end are the ones that are handled by the hiring manager. During this process, many resumes get rejected because they failed to meet the parameters set in ATS.

Now the parameters are nothing but certain keywords. And it works very simply- if your resume has the keywords set as parameters, your resume will pass the ATS and if your resume doesn't have those keywords, your resume will end up in rejection pile.😞

This means only ATS compliant resumes will reach the hiring manager. And that means making sure you use ATS resume template. Writing ATS friendly resume is not very difficult, let's learn how to do it.

What is ATS friendly?

Simply put, ATS friendly resume is the one that doesn't get rejected by the ATS and passes the ATS successfully.

This means ATS friendly resume has certain key factors that will help you get the job. An ATS friendly resume has the relevant keywords, details, outline and the document format as well.

ATS friendly resumes are also the ones with less of complicated designs with graphics and tables and such.

ATS friendly resume is easily read by and passed by the ATS software. Unlike the old time resumes that could be written with regard to the hiring manager only. Now you have to pass the ATS and impress the hiring managers.

Let's learn how to write an ATS friendly resume.👇

How to write ATS friendly resume?

Writing an ATS friendly resume is not very difficult, you just need to keep in mind some of the tips.

Choose the right template

Not every resume template is ATS friendly. ATS is essentially artificial intelligence which means it has some basic limitations. For example, ATS software may not detect graphics properly.

There are a number of ATS friendly templates available online, you can refer to them and choose the one that suits you the best. An ATS friendly template has some of the important aspects such as simple outline, proper header with contact details, clear titles for each section and so on.

Contact details

When you mention your contact details make sure you do not make any errors of spelling or digits. You should write your name clearly followed by the contact number where you are easily reachable.

Make sure there is no spelling error in your name. The contact number should be written properly with signs such as +, brackets and spaces.

After the contact number, mention your email ID. Make sure our email ID is professional and properly working. Some job seeker professionals use informal email IDs and that can reflect lack of professionalism.

At last you can mention your home address although it is not mandatory. Although, if there is a location requirement mentioned in the job description you must mention the address.

From Job Posting

The job ad that you are applying to will have a job description. This job description is very important, in fact most important because it has everything that the recruiter is looking for.

Recruiter will be looking for the same in the pool of resumes meaning the ATS will have parameters that are mentioned in the job description. The requirements, qualifications, role, duties and responsibilities, skills required sections in the job description will help you immensely.

Pick the keywords from the job description and make sure they are in your resume. You should also pick the details such as experience, skills and more for your resume.

Keywords

The most important tip: Keywords! Keywords are everything when you want to write an ATS friendly resume. Make sure you use all the relevant keywords.

Sometimes, while including the keywords, we end up overstuffing the keywords in the content which in turn decreases the readability of the content significantly.

Use keywords sensibly and throughout the resume. Keep sensible balance when it comes to repetition of the keywords.

To ensure that all the important keywords are covered in your resume, you should research all these-

• Job titles/position/role
• Job description
• Responsibilities
• Industry
• Qualifications
• Relevant Educational Background
• Relevant Roles
• Relevant skills

apart from these anything else relevant should also be covered in your research. In addition, you can also add details in skills section that may be useful for the role.

When you are including keywords in your resume, you should also include long tail keywords wherever possible.

Full forms & Abbreviations

When you are writing an ATS friendly resume, you should write both the full forms and their abbreviations (short forms). ATS software may have parameters of just a full form or only the abbreviation or both, you cannot take a risk.

For example, if your resume is for a role in social media field, you might mention SEO in your resume. So you should mention it like this: Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

This will help you beat the ATS. It is also professional and formal way of writing, you should make a habit of writing both the full form and its abbreviations.

Accuracy

When you are writing your resume, you might make spelling errors, grammatical mistakes and/or mistakes in details or sentence formation.

This can cost you a job because if the keywords have spelling error, it won't get detected by the ATS.

Once you are done writing your resume, make sure to proofread it twice and pay close attention to everything.

Simple content & bullet points

Your details should be written in simple manner. You should use bullet points with short sentences and avoid long texts.

The fonts you choose should also be simple and readable, compatible for ATS. You can choose one of the standard and professional fonts and avoid extra creative ones.

Make sure that the text is easily detectable and readable.

If you have extra creative fonts and complicated outline of content, ATS may fail to detect the keywords properly and end up rejecting your resume (even) if your resume has the keywords required.

Your font color should also be simple, don't use many colors. This is important for professionalism.

Simple content will also make your resume look neat and clean. You will easily avoid chaotic resume format.

Avoid Visual Elements

Having graphics, infographics, tables, images and such elements can really disrupt ATS detection. ATS software may fail to detect any text on your resume and reject your resume. Avoid any visual elements.

You should keep your resume simple and as textual as possible while also using bullet points and avoiding paragraphs.

If you are using creative visual format for your resume, you must make sure that you text is layered on the graphic and not part of the graphic. This way ATS will be able to detect the text on the document.

File format

Not all file format are ATS friendly. The best compatibility for Applicant Tracking System is provided by .doc documents. You can also choose .pdf format.

Avoid any other format for the digital document of your resume. If the format is not compatible, the ATS will reject the document itself and your resume will not reach the hiring manager.

ATS compliant resume will help you get through the ATS software and reach the hiring manager. Applicant tracking systems have limited functions and if you do not meet the parameters, the rest of the content will not matter because the ATS cannot think like a human being.

Extra Resume Sections

Do you have any hobbies or interests or language proficiencies that you think are relevant? Any extra curricular activities, achievements or participation in special programs or courses?

Definitely mention them! This might just be one of the parameters that might not be mentioned in job description as mandatory but make you stand out!

The hiring manager will be impressed and intrigued to have an interview call with you.

You should also mention any certifications and awards you have acquired. Such additions can really make your profile more intriguing for hiring managers.

You can mention any recognitions you received during education as well. Your outstanding performances in any capacity should be mentioned.

However, make sure you leave out any irrelevant information. Every detail should be relevant to the job or at least for your character and profile as an employee.

Tailor your resume

The ATS parameters are targeted at particular job position at particular company. This means you should tailor your resume for every job application.

A generic resume may beat ATS at many job applications, but it will not beat ATS at every job application. You should not take any risk.

You will not need to write the whole resume for every application. Just make tweaks here and there; add and remove the keywords as required.

Conclusion

Applicant tracking systems are tricky but not impossible to beat. ATS resume template can make your resume an ATS compliant resume easily. You can also just use this article as your check list and make sure you include/avoid everything in your resume as advised in this article.

You will also find ATS friendly resume templates along ATS friendly resume examples easily. But again, make sure you don't copy an ATS friendly resume template.

Now let's recap the article-

✒️ Key Take Away

• ATS friendly resumes are important to get the job you want
• ATS friendly resume should be simple
• ATS resume should avoid visual elements
• ATS resumes have keywords
• Do the due research
• Use both full forms & abbreviations
• Choose ATS friendly file format

Resume format is very important for applicant tracking systems. How you write content and how you save your document, everything makes big difference. Best resume format is the ATS friendly resume format.

Once you have written your resume, proofread it and make sure everything is accurate. Check the resume for any errors of spelling or grammar and details.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I know my resume is ATS compliant?

Use this article as your checklist and you can make sure your resume is ATS friendly. You can also try the sites that review your resume with regard to ATS compatibility.

How do I choose keywords for ATS?

Research your job title, job description, industry, employer company and such relevant areas and you will learn all the important keywords to include in your resume for ATS.

Is ATS friendly resumes mandatory?

Hiring managers will not tell you that it is mandatory however if you want a good job, consider it mandatory. Most if not all, hiring managers utilize ATS software and your resume will only reach the hiring manager's shortlist if it is ATS friendly.