If You Don’t Know What ATS Is, Your Job Applications May Never Be Seen.

If you read the previous article, you should know what Applicant Tracking Systems, or ATS, do and have some initial tips on how to get past them. If you haven’t read it already, it is highly recommended that you read it first. This should prepare you to fully utilize this one without many ‘What is that?’ moments.

In this article, we will dive into some actionable steps that will lead your application to a human review, instead of getting automatically thrown away in the void, never to be seen by anyone.

Don’t worry, you do not need any special programming skills to get this done. All you need is initial understanding of how ATS filtering works, in addition to a few prompts and access to an AI language model.

How Do ATS Decide Which Applications to Pass Onward?

First, it’s important to understand that ATS is an umbrella for a variety of products falling under Applicant Tracking Systems. This is a type of software specifically designed to help Human Resources teams sort through volumes of applications. In a typical scenario, an HR employee sets rules for each job opening to determine who can be considered a successful candidate worthy of spending the time to look at their application. Any applicants who do not meet this criterion will get the bitter ‘Dear John’ email we’re all too familiar with.

This said criterion may include one or a combination of several rules. For example, an HR manager may want every worthy candidate to have certain keywords on their resume. These keywords are likely related to the job position in question, so for example, if the position requires advanced skills in specific coding languages, desired resumes should reflect that. The ATS software will then comb through each application to see if this rule is being met and typically gives it a score. Combined with the scores from other rules, applicants who pass a certain cumulative score will then be automatically invited to an interview. The ones who do not will be sent automated rejection letters respectively. These systems are sophisticated enough to make these letters look realistic. For example, they tend to use variables that will personalize each email by its recipient name, so just because the email has your name on it and maybe other personalized info, that does not necessarily mean it was written by a human. You get the point.

The entire process ATS software used to be relatively simple until Artificial Intelligence stepped in. Using sophisticated Large Language Models (LLMs), ATS software became much more powerful. Currently, not only are HR departments able to specify keywords to include or exclude in the filtering process, then can now leverage the advanced powers of AI to thoroughly analyze each application. Additional points can be granted or deducted based on things such as the overall organization of the resume, the probability that the applicant is telling the truth or knows what they’re talking about, and whether they used AI in their applications. While this can be fairer to assess applicants, it can also result in many more rejections due to decisions made by ATS.

Okay, so how do we actually increase the chances of passing ATS?

The good news is, knowing the information above has already set you one step ahead of the competition. In the section below, we will dive into actual steps that you can take right now to increase your chances of passing through ATS.

How Can You Increase Your Chances of Passing an ATS?

Understanding ATS already gives you an advantage. Follow these steps to improve your application:

You should make it a habit to apply for at least 3 job daily to increase your chances of getting an interview. Also, try to apply as early as possible to further increase your chances. We post jobs sometimes within a few minutes of their publishing. For more info, visit our Job Board.