ATS-friendly CVs: how applicant tracking systems read your CV

If you've applied for a job through an online portal, your CV almost certainly went into an applicant tracking system (ATS) before a person saw it. There's a lot of myth around these systems. Some people believe a robot rejects most CVs automatically; others ignore ATS entirely. The truth is in between, and it's useful to understand.

What an ATS actually does

An ATS is the software employers and recruitment agencies use to manage applications. Depending on how it's set up, it typically:

• Parses your CV into fields: name, contact details, job titles, employers, dates, education and skills.
• Stores and searches applications, so recruiters can filter or search for candidates with particular keywords, qualifications or locations.
• Ranks or screens candidates in some set-ups, using knockout questions on the application form (such as right to work in the UK) or how closely the CV matches the advert.

In many organisations a recruiter still reads every application, but they read the ATS's version of your CV, often filtered or sorted by keyword matches. So two things matter: the system has to be able to read your CV, and it has to find the words the recruiter searches for.

Formatting that parses cleanly

Most parsing problems come from layout, not content. To be safe:

• Use a simple single-column layout. Multi-column designs can be read across the columns, mixing your job titles with your skills.
• Keep text out of headers, footers, text boxes and images. Some systems skip them entirely, and that's often where people put their contact details.
• Use standard section headings: Profile or Summary, Experience or Employment History, Education, Skills.
• Write dates consistently, such as "March 2021 – June 2024", and keep each job title, employer and date range together.
• Submit Word (.docx) or a text-based PDF unless the advert says otherwise. A scanned PDF is an image with no text in it at all.
• Avoid tables, icons and skill-level graphics. A five-star rating for "Excel" means nothing once parsed.

Plain doesn't mean dull. Clear structure, sensible spacing and a readable font look professional to a human reader too.

Keywords: the right way

Recruiters search for the terms in their own advert, so your CV should use those terms where they truthfully describe your experience.

1. Pull the key terms from the advert: job titles, tools, qualifications, methods and sector language.
2. Use the exact phrasing where it fits. If the advert says "Salesforce" and your CV says "CRM system", say Salesforce (if that's what you used).
3. Include both the acronym and the full term for important ones, such as "Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)".
4. Put keywords in context. "Managed Salesforce pipeline reporting for a 20-person sales team" is worth more than "Salesforce" in a list, to a person and to many ranking systems.

Don't keyword-stuff

Pasting the advert into your CV in white text, or repeating a term a dozen times, is an old trick that doesn't work. Many systems normalise or ignore repetition, and recruiters see the parsed text, white text included. It reads as a red flag.

How to check your CV

A quick test: copy all the text from your CV file and paste it into a plain text editor. If it comes out jumbled, out of order or missing sections, a parser will struggle with it too.

Then compare it against the advert. For each essential requirement, can a recruiter find the relevant word or phrase on your CV in a few seconds?

TailorVitae's free check does this comparison for you. It scores your CV on keyword alignment alongside six other dimensions, from required skills to evidence of impact, and lists the gaps. A full job then tailors the wording to the advert without adding anything that isn't true.