Top 500 ATS Resume Keywords: Examples for Your Job Search (2024)

FAQs

What keywords should I use in my resume? ›

Types of Resume Keywords

Your resume keywords should include specific job requirements, including your skills, competencies, relevant credentials, and previous positions and employers. Essentially, keywords should be words that, at a glance, will show the hiring manager that you are a good fit for the job.

Keywords are skills and abilities an applicant needs in order to get hired. These are the 500 top resume keywords recruiters, hiring managers, and ATS are looking for when vetting applicants.

Keywords are specific words that relate to the skills and experience the job seekers have in a particular industry or profession. Employers, recruiters and headhunters use job-specific keywords to find the job candidates they want to interview.

Use simple formatting. Avoid headers, footers, tables, templates, borders, lines, symbols (bullet points are fine), shading, fancy fonts, font colors other than black, tables, columns and boxes. Write out months and years so it's readable by ATS systems.

Keywords are the words and phrases that people type into search engines to find what they're looking for. For example, if you were looking to buy a new jacket, you might type something like “mens leather jacket” into Google. Even though that phrase consists of more than one word, it's still a keyword.

Keywords are an essential component of creating a great resume. Using them strategically throughout the copy is sure to help your resume rise to the top of the pile and impress the recruiter.

Keywords are words or short phrases that relate to requirements for a specific job. Hiring managers use keywords to sort through resumes so they can focus on applicants with the skills and experience they're looking for. Many companies also use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to find the most relevant applicants.

June 2, 2021. An applicant tracking system (ATS) helps companies organize candidates for hiring and recruitment purposes. These systems allow businesses to collect information, organize prospects based on experience and skill set, and filter applicants.

Can ATS read hidden text? ›

Some ATS systems can't read white font. Others are so sophisticated that they pull resumes that have hidden text and eliminate those candidates. What's more, hiring managers are well aware of this practice and often highlight resumes to reveal white fonts prior to calling candidates.

2) Hidden Keywords

This is done by repeatedly typing a keyword into the resume then making the text white so that it's invisible to human eyes. For example, an applicant might type “accounting accounting accounting accounting” at the bottom of their resume. The idea is that it will help them rank higher in an ATS.

An ATS-compliant resume is a document created in a way that lets the applicant tracking system parse the application with ease. The formatting is simple and easy to scan. ATS-friendly resumes also contain keywords that match the job ad, and highlight relevant work experience and professional skills.

When researching to discover a user's intentions behind making a search, we can classify all keywords into four main categories of intent: commercial, transactional, informational, and navigational.

How Does ATS Work? Scans it to determine a match percentage between your resume and the job description... Scores your resume on a 1-100% scale. A score of 80% or higher moves your resume on to a human recruiter.

Feel Free to Make Your Resume as Long as You Want.

One advantage of applicant tracking systems is that they are unaffected by resume length. Thus two or more pages are acceptable. The ATS will not punish you for being too long. However, confining it to two pages is a good idea because a human eye may also read it.

Keywords are reserved words in Java, which have a special meaning in the language. Example: if, void, int, etc.

Words or phrases describing your product or service that you choose to help determine when and where your ad can appear.

Your name is your most important set of keywords because it is used so often in searches by recruiters, employers, network members, family, and friends.

How can I make my resume Sound good? ›

While three pages may seem like you're entering novella territory, this resume length can work for professionals who need the extra space. Before going to multiple pages, take inventory of why you need the longer format. Ask yourself if your resume is built on quality versus quantity.

Word or PDF format are most easily read by most ATS. And most recruiters will review the actual resume you've attached to your application rather than depend solely on the resume you've input into the ATS.

ATS systems should read your document if Notepad reads it. Either a Word document or PDF document will work fine in the vast majority of situations.

Sometimes an ATS scans your resume before it goes to the Recruiter, so you need to make it easily readable by the systems. The best format for your resume at the moment is a PDF. A PDF resume is readable by ATS and also keeps your formatting and illustrations in place.

What is the white text trick? ›

White fonting is the practice of inserting hidden keywords into the body of an electronic document, in order to influence the actions of a search program reviewing that document.

A lot of people make the mistake of copying the job description of a job they want into their resume, thinking they will score high with Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) systems. While you might get past the ATS with a resume like that, once a human lays eyes on your resume, you'll land in the “no” pile.

Bolding of select words and phrases helps with scanning, but you don't want to go overboard. So choose what to bold wisely, depending on the message you want to send. If your job titles effectively illustrate your path to management-level roles, bolding those might make the most sense.

What is a resume keyword scanner? A resume keyword scanner is software job hiring sites use to look for specified keywords in resumes and then sort those applications into groups based on the results. It then matches qualified applicants to jobs for a hiring manager to review.

I often have job seekers ask if bullet points are okay for a resume being submitted through ATS. Yes! In fact, standard bullet points are a great way to organize information on your ATS resume.

There are 3 common resume formats - reverse-chronological, functional, and combination (or, hybrid). The reverse-chronological format is the most popular one in 2022, and we always recommend you to go with that one.

June 2, 2021. An applicant tracking system (ATS) helps companies organize candidates for hiring and recruitment purposes. These systems allow businesses to collect information, organize prospects based on experience and skill set, and filter applicants.

An ATS-compliant resume is a document created in a way that lets the applicant tracking system parse the application with ease. The formatting is simple and easy to scan. ATS-friendly resumes also contain keywords that match the job ad, and highlight relevant work experience and professional skills.

How do you get past the ATS system on Reddit? ›

So above 80% ATS score is always good to get a dream job.

Word or PDF format are most easily read by most ATS. And most recruiters will review the actual resume you've attached to your application rather than depend solely on the resume you've input into the ATS.

The easiest format for an ATS to read is reverse-chronological. This format emphasizes your work experience by putting it on top of the page. Then, it sorts your experience from most to least relevant. This format is also the most popular among recruiters.

The five most important parts of a resume are your contact information, resume introduction, experience, skills, and education. This standard outline is appropriate for nearly any job seeker.

INSTEAD use dashes (–) OR equal signs (==), if you must have a horizontal line — this is particularly helpful before and after subheadings. DON'T add your picture or format your resume by using graphics or tables — the ATS can't read them!

What percentage of companies use applicant tracking systems in the hiring process? ›

Applicant tracking system defined

Research from Capterra found that 75% of recruiters use some type of recruiting or applicant tracking system in the hiring process. And data from Jobscan found that over 98% of Fortune 500 companies use an ATS program when hiring new employees.