How To Write A Resume To Appeal To Robot Recruiters

How To Write
To Appeal To
Robot Recruiters
A Resume

© 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
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IntroductionIntroduction
Did you know that recruiters spend only 6 seconds reviewing each resume they
receive (if they read it at all)? And those are just the resumes that actually make it
to a human for review. First, resumes must pass the filtering algorithms of an
applicant tracking system (ATS). Knowing the uphill battle your CV or resume
must go through to simply get a call back for a first interview, it's important to
know how to write a resume that will appeal to a robot recruiter.
How To Write A Resume
To Appeal To Robot Recruiters

What Is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)?
Most organizations who deal with high-volume recruitment rely on an applicant tracking
system to sort through the CVs of the hundreds and even thousands of applications they may
receive for one job posting.
Think of the ATS as a portal where each applicant has their own profile that includes their
contact information, education, skills, credentials, and other pertinent info entered when
applying. Hiring managers can enter a command in the ATS to find candidates that have the
skill-sets, background and other critical elements required for success with a particular
position that should be considered for the next step.
The machine is sorting through all the information rather than the recruiter and rejecting 75
percent of job applicants before a hiring manager ever looks at them.

How to Delight a Robot Recruiter
Your resume and CV should be written with the ATS in mind. You must always be honest
when stating your experience and credentials, but there are ways to represent your
background that will appeal to a robot recruiter. Here are six tips:
Something as simple as using a different tense or phrase could eliminate your CV from the
review. For example, if you wrote, "Managed project from design to implementation," and the
hiring manager searched for, "project manager," you might not come up in the search results
even though you are describing the same responsibility.
Keywords are Key

Your resume and CV should be written with the ATS in mind. You must always be honest
when stating your experience and credentials, but there are ways to represent your
background that will appeal to a robot recruiter. Here are six tips:
To try to increase the chances of your resume getting in front of the recruiter or hiring
manager, be sure to use the exact phrases and keywords that were used in the job posting.
And, don’t try to fool the system. Keywords should be included in your resume very naturally.
If you try to cheat the system by stuffing keywords or including “invisible” keywords by
changing the text to white, the hiring manager will see through these tactics on the other end
of the system (even if you bypassed the algorithm).
Keywords are Key

Even though every ATS system has the same objective—screen applicants to streamline work
for humans—they don’t all do it the same way. If the name of the ATS is visible to you as a
candidate, do a quick Google search to see if there is any information available to help you
adjust your resume to better suit the system you are applying to. For example, if you find out
that the system used by the organization you are applying is known to rank resumes with the
keyword multiple times, try to include that keyword naturally more than once in your resume.
If You Know The ATS system,
Do A Bit of Research to
Improve Your Odds

In addition to including keywords, be sure your resume matches as many aspects of the job
description as possible. If the job posting includes responsibilities for leadership, project
management and budgeting ensure your resume also includes these areas if they pertain to
your own experience. Again, honesty is imperative so you shouldn’t include an example of
budgeting if that hasn’t been a part of your work experience.
Match Your Resume to the Job
Description

However, if you have any sort of experience that you would be comfortable using in an
interview to explain why you are the right candidate for this position, align your resume with
the job responsibilities. Also, if you had a job title for a previous employer that was creative
but could be misunderstood by a bot, such as Director of Getting Things Done, switch it to
something more easily understood such as Project Manager.
Match Your Resume to the Job
Description

Unfortunately, PDFs are not always bot friendly, so while a PDF would maintain the formatting
of your resume, it might not pass through the ATS. Follow the instructions for file format if
they are given in the job posting; if not, play it safe and submit a resume as a Word
document. While charts, images, and logos are appealing to a human reviewer, bots have a
hard time translating them. Clean and straightforward formatting is preferred such as solid
circles for bullet points.
File Type and Formatting

Some systems aren’t able to extract info from headers and footers. Be sure all the crucial
information about your background and experience is included in the main body of your
resume so the bots can easily access it.
Avoid Putting Critical Info In
Headers and Footers

An email or a handwritten note sent to the hiring manager could bring your name to the
attention of the hiring manager. You might pique their interest enough to have them do a
little more digging for your credentials if you weren’t part of the ATS’ search results. In a very
competitive job market, a little human touch never hurts.
Human Touches Are Still
Important

© 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website
© 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website

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How To Write A Resume To Appeal To Robot Recruiters

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How To Write A Resume To Appeal To Robot Recruiters