If you don’t update your resume, it may never reach the hands of a hiring manager! Here is what you need to know and how to make your resume stand out from the crowd!
With the job market cooling off in recent months, it’s essential to do everything you can to make sure your resume stands out in a sea of applications for what is likely becoming fewer available positions.
And here’s something you may not know if you are just launching a new job search: Job seekers actively applying to work for a Fortune 500 company – or any number of other businesses – may never have human eyes scan their thoughtfully written cover letter or the resume they may have spent hours painstakingly updating for a specific job.
Research from Jobscan shows that applicant tracking systems (also known as ATS) were being used by at least 97.4% of Fortune 500 companies in 2023. What is an ATS? An applicant tracking system is software used by human resources departments and potential employers, including job recruiters, to help streamline the hiring process.
Why is that? It often takes too long and costs too much for recruiters to review every resume submitted for a specific role. Unfortunately, if you don’t have your CV formatted in a way that’s easily scannable by an ATS, or if it is in two or more columns, it could look like a garbled mess of letters, numbers, and lines to the robot scanning for specific keywords and phrases. This means a hiring manager likely won’t see it, and you won’t even be considered for the position.
Fear not. If you are looking for a new job, there are steps you can take right now to create an updated resume and make sure it has been optimized for companies that use applicant tracking systems – and also for the humans that may eventually give it a six-second (or even longer) review.
How to Optimize Your Resume for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
Job recruiting site Indeed features helpful information, including a video and template, that explains some of the best ways to ensure your resume is ready to pass the ATS test. Ideally, you should aim to create a straightforward resume that uses an easily recognizable font, allows for some white space, and stays away from designs that may make it hard for a machine – and even real live humans – to read.
Where can you find ATS resume templates?
Fortunately, there are several places to locate ATS-friendly resume templates online. Microsoft offers at least nine options for resumes. Here’s a hint: Old school is cool again. The first thing you’ll notice when you peruse these templates is that they all use simple fonts and one column of copy, making it much easier for ATS to review your resume. Other things you may notice about the ATS-friendly resumes:
- They don’t include graphics or tables.
- They use simple styles for the resume header and body copy.
- No photos are included.
- A chronological resume format, with your most recent experience listed first, is preferred.
- The font size is limited.
- They use bullet points.
- They use action verbs.
- They include your full, first and last name and your contact information in a prominent location.
If resume writing isn’t your forte and you could use some help with creating an ATS-optimized resume, the Work at Home Woman offers The Ultimate Resume Template Bundle to help job seekers get noticed more quickly.
Tailor each resume to the specific job you’re applying for.
Another reason you should update your resume right now because no two jobs are ever created equal. This means you shouldn’t send the same resume to multiple potential employers unless they are hiring for the same exact job – and even then, they will likely use different language in the job descriptions.
Yes, it can be time-consuming to create a new draft of your resume for every job you apply for. We get it. But experienced hiring managers will tell you they are looking for more than a functional resume in chronological order. They need to see that an applicant has done their homework and can quickly demonstrate how their qualifications, skills, and abilities can specifically contribute to the business and position they are applying for. The career experts at Indeed also suggest tailoring each resume to the job you seek by following an easy-to-follow guide.
Use clues from the job description to enhance your resume.
An easy way to assist in tailoring your resume to a potential job is to use exact keywords from the job description in the skills section and work experience section of your resume. If you have difficulty making those connections in your past experience, it can be helpful to work those keywords into a professional summary. That said, don’t go overboard with this concept. The experts at CareerContessa suggest studying the job description carefully, paying attention to the specific job title, day-to-day responsibilities, and skills required for the role. Then, show how your personal job experience and work history match those requirements if they do.
Try to keep your resume to a single page.
If your professional resume is longer than one page, now is the time to work on editing it down to a single page. Why? This idea goes back to making sure your resume aligns with the skills and abilities companies are looking for in a new hire. You need to be able to briefly showcase your recent accomplishments and quantifiable achievements to demonstrate why you are the best person for the job. More people are applying for fewer jobs, so brevity is key.
Don’t forget: Your resume needs some white space.
While this may seem counterintuitive – since we just told you it’s important to keep your resume to one page – it’s also important to make sure not to cram so much into that one page that a hiring manager feels overwhelmed before they ever read about your relevant skills.
White space can refer to several parts of the resume. It can include the margins around the outside of a page and also the space between sections of the resume. And while too much white space may look like you lack experience, insufficient white space can be the reason your resume doesn’t move up to the next selection round.
You need to update your resume
In today’s job market, it’s not enough to simply use proper grammar and have a perfectly proofread resume free of typos. More and more often, job recruiters and hiring managers are using software to scan and review resumes as they seek candidates for jobs, so you need a CV that not only highlights your career and expertise but also gets past ATS. So, if you have sent out dozens of resumes without a single nibble, you likely need to make sure your resume is ATS-friendly before you hit the send button again.
