Over 98% of Fortune 500 companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter candidates before a human ever reads your resume. Here's everything you need to pass the scan — and land the interview.
🚀 Optimize Your CV at mastering.cvUnderstanding the technology that stands between your resume and a recruiter's eyes.
An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software that employers use to automate the initial screening of job applications. When you submit a resume, the ATS parses your document — extracting text, categorizing sections, and scoring the content against the job description requirements.
The system assigns a relevancy score based on keyword matches, formatting readability, and section recognition. Only resumes above a certain threshold are forwarded to human recruiters. This means your resume must be optimized for machines and humans simultaneously.
Modern ATS platforms like Workday, Greenhouse, Taleo, Lever, and iCIMS each parse documents slightly differently — making universal best practices essential rather than optional.
Clean, simple formatting is not just aesthetic — it's essential for machine parsing. These rules prevent rejection before anyone reads a word.
Follow this proven process to create a resume that ranks highly in ATS algorithms and reads well to human eyes.
Read the job posting carefully from top to bottom. Highlight every skill, qualification, tool, and phrase that appears more than once. These repeated terms are your highest-priority keywords — they signal exactly what the employer values most for this role.
Include the exact job title from the posting in your resume headline or summary. Place it below your name at the top. If you're applying for "Senior Data Analyst," those exact words should appear prominently. This is one of the strongest ATS ranking signals.
Craft a 3–4 sentence professional summary at the top of your resume. Pack it with industry-specific keywords from the job description: years of experience, key skills, tools, and a major achievement. This section is parsed first and weighted heavily by ATS algorithms.
Transform vague duties into measurable accomplishments. Instead of "managed a team," write "led a cross-functional team of 12, delivering projects 15% under budget." Numbers stand out to both ATS (they signal impact) and recruiters who skim quickly.
Create a clearly labeled "Skills" section that lists hard skills, tools, and certifications exactly as they appear in the job description. ATS systems are designed to scan for skills in dedicated sections — don't bury them only in job descriptions.
Never send the same resume twice. Each application deserves a tailored version with keywords specific to that job posting. Small adjustments — swapping a few skill terms, updating the summary — can dramatically increase your ATS score and interview rate.
A single misspelled keyword causes the ATS to miss that match entirely. Proofread multiple times and use spell-check. Also verify that your name, phone number, email, and LinkedIn URL are correct — these contact details are critical if the ATS flags you as a top candidate.
Before submitting, run your resume through an ATS checker tool to verify keyword match scores, formatting issues, and section recognition. Tools like mastering.cv can instantly score your resume and suggest targeted improvements to maximize your match rate.
Keywords are the backbone of ATS optimization. Here are the four categories you must cover — with examples for a software engineering role.
Keyword stuffing — packing in keywords unnaturally — is flagged by modern ATS and looks robotic to recruiters. Using acronyms only (e.g., "SEO" without "Search Engine Optimization") means missing candidates who search the full term. Ignoring soft skills like "leadership," "communication," or "collaboration" is also a mistake — many ATS systems score these too.
The golden rule: your resume should read naturally to a human while strategically mirroring the language of the job description. Balance is everything.
A complete breakdown of what to include in each part of your ATS-friendly resume — and exactly how to format it.
| Section | Priority | What to Include | ATS Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact Info | Must Have | Full name, phone, professional email, city/state, LinkedIn URL | Place in main body — never in headers or footers which ATS may skip |
| Professional Summary | Must Have | 3–4 sentences: years of experience, top skills, key achievement, career goal | Pack with job-description keywords — this section is parsed first and weighted heavily |
| Work Experience | Must Have | Job title, company, location, date range, 3–6 bullet points per role | Use "Work Experience" as the header. Start bullets with strong action verbs. Include quantified achievements. |
| Skills | Must Have | Hard skills, technical tools, programming languages, frameworks, platforms | Label the section simply "Skills." List skills as used in the job posting — exact phrasing matters. |
| Education | Must Have | Degree title, institution, graduation year. GPA only if 3.5+ and recent grad. | Use "Education" as header. Spell out full degree name, e.g., "Bachelor of Science in Computer Science." |
| Certifications | Recommended | Certification name, issuing organization, year obtained | Include both full name and acronym. Certifications can be decisive keywords for technical roles. |
| Projects | Recommended | Project title, brief description, technologies used, quantified outcomes | Excellent for career changers or recent graduates to demonstrate hands-on skills |
| Volunteer / Awards | Optional | Organization, role, dates, notable impact or recognition | Include only if relevant to the target role. Use standard section names the ATS recognizes. |
| Languages | Optional | Language name and proficiency level (Native, Fluent, Conversational) | Very valuable for international roles and multilingual environments. Always include if relevant. |
Go beyond the basics with these expert strategies used by career coaches and professional resume writers.
If the job says "project management," use "project management" — not "project coordination." ATS systems often do exact or near-exact phrase matching. Synonyms frequently fail to score.
Start each bullet point with verbs like "Engineered," "Spearheaded," "Reduced," "Optimized," "Delivered," "Launched." Verbs signal results-oriented thinking and score well for both ATS and recruiter readability.
Write "Search Engine Optimization (SEO)," "Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)," or "Key Performance Indicator (KPI)." This covers both the full-term searcher and the acronym-based filter simultaneously.
Stick to "January 2022 – March 2024" or "01/2022 – 03/2024" throughout the entire document. Inconsistent date formatting confuses ATS parsers when calculating tenure and experience duration.
Don't rely solely on a skills section. Weave keywords naturally into your work experience bullets: "Implemented Agile/Scrum methodologies..." or "Built Python-based automation scripts..." Context-embedded keywords score higher.
Most ATS systems and recruiters prefer concise resumes. One page for under 10 years of experience; two pages maximum for senior professionals. Remove irrelevant roles older than 15 years to keep the document focused and scannable.
Ensure your LinkedIn profile mirrors your resume's job titles, dates, and skills. Recruiters cross-check actively. Discrepancies raise flags. Use a custom LinkedIn URL (linkedin.com/in/yourname) for a cleaner, professional appearance.
The hybrid (combination) format — which leads with a skills summary then follows with reverse-chronological work history — is ideal for most professionals. It maximizes keyword density at the top while maintaining the chronological structure ATS systems prefer.
Use an ATS resume checker to see exactly how the system parses your document. Platforms like mastering.cv provide instant feedback on keyword density, missing sections, formatting issues, and match score — allowing targeted optimization before every application.
Visually stunning multi-column templates from Canva, Behance, or similar sites are consistently flagged as unreadable by ATS parsers. The design elements that make them look great — columns, icons, text boxes, custom fonts — are precisely what causes machine parsing failures.
Run through every item before hitting "Apply." Check each box to confirm your resume is fully ATS-optimized.
Used a standard font (Arial, Calibri, Garamond) at 10–12pt
Single-column layout — no tables or text boxes
Saved as .docx or PDF as required by the job posting
No images, icons, logos, or graphics anywhere in the document
Contact info is in the main body, not headers or footers
Exact job title from posting appears in headline or summary
All key skills from the job description are included
Acronyms are spelled out: "Project Management Professional (PMP)"
Keywords appear in both skills section AND work experience bullets
No keyword stuffing — all terms appear naturally in context
Sections labeled with standard names: "Work Experience," "Education," "Skills"
Work experience in reverse-chronological order
Professional summary includes 3–4 sentences with target keywords
Each job has measurable, quantified bullet points (%, $, numbers)
Zero typos — especially in skill names and job titles (a misspelling = missed match)
Dates are consistent and formatted uniformly throughout
Resume is 1 page (under 10 years) or 2 pages max (senior professionals)
Ran an ATS compatibility check and addressed all flagged issues