What Is an ATS?
An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software employers use to manage hiring. It collects, parses, and ranks resumes automatically. Over 98% of Fortune 500 companies and 75% of all employers use ATS.
How It Works
- Parsing — Breaks your resume into structured data: name, contact, work history, education, skills
- Keyword Matching — Compares your resume against the job description for matching keywords
- Ranking — Assigns a score based on match quality
- Filtering — Low scores may never reach a human
Popular ATS Systems
- Workday — Fortune 500
- Greenhouse — Tech companies
- Lever — Mid-size tech
- iCIMS — Healthcare, retail, enterprise
- Taleo (Oracle) — Large corporations
Why Resumes Get Rejected
1. Wrong File Format
Safe: PDF or .docx. Avoid .pages, .odt, scanned images.
2. Non-Standard Formatting
Multi-column layouts, tables, and text boxes confuse parsers. Keep it single-column.
3. Missing Keywords
If the JD says "project management" and you say "overseeing initiatives," the ATS may not connect them.
4. Creative Section Headers
"My Professional Journey" won't be recognized. Use standard: Experience, Education, Skills.
5. Images and Graphics
ATS can't read text in images. Keep all critical info as plain text.
6. Headers and Footers
Many ATS skip document headers/footers. Put contact info in the body.
How to Optimize
- ✅ Clean, single-column layout
- ✅ Standard section headings
- ✅ Keywords from the job description
- ✅ Standard fonts
- ✅ PDF format
- ✅ Contact info in body text
- ❌ No tables, columns, text boxes
- ❌ No images or infographics
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ATS in 2026
- Better parsing — Handle more formats, but simple is still safest
- AI-powered ranking — Contextual relevance, not just keywords
- Skills inference — If you know React, they infer JavaScript
- Bias detection — Features to reduce hiring bias