Why your CV is not getting shortlisted: 5 simple changes to get your CV shortlisted by Applicant Tracking Systems

Based on my personal experience and with some research I have come to know that most famous companies receiving a huge number of CVs, especially those which collect CVs & applications through online portals intead of emails, usually have an automated way of collecting CVs and shortlisting relevant candidates. The reason for using automation is offcourse to reduce the workload of handling thousands of CVs. You are already aware of the automated CV collection part, i.e. the job application portals in the career section of  different company's websites, where you register and submit your CV. The second part, is the automated shortlisting of CV according to a defined criteria. These two steps are carried out through softwares known as Applicant Tracking Systems. How this works is depicted in the picture below:

1. HR receives all the CVs online through the career portal of their websites via the Application Tracking System.
2. The CVs are run through a Parser, which is a computer program that converts the text of your CV into a simplified form, much like the text on NOTEPAD.
3. The parser then segregates and identifies the parts of your CV, such as education, experience, skills etc.
4. The employer now searches through all the CVs using key words, just like we do a google search. For example, for an oil company they may use the word "Oil", and the software will then go through all the CVs and find the CVs having this word in them.
5. There may be more than one criteria, based on which the software assigns a score of relevancy to your CV, for example experience, university, a particular company where you have worked etc. The CVs are then given a score based on their relevancy to the search, and the top CVs are then shortlisted and finally appear to the HR personnel for further shortlisting.

The challenge here is how to get your CV shortlisted by these, now cliched "black holes", which suck all our CVs into them, the applicant tracking systems, so the human i.e. the recruiters can finally see your CV! There are five simple changes which will ensure that the ATS does not face difficulty in parsing your CV and finds it to be more relevant. Ensure the following in your CV:

1. Put relevant key words to the job you are applying for.
2. No picture.
3. Avoid using tables in your CV.
4. Put headings on each section of your CV, e.g. Education, Experience, etc.
5. Use .doc format instead of PDF or .docx

Remember, it is not the best practice to use the same CV for every job, you can edit it before applying to make it more relevant. You don't want to be a "Jack of all trades, master of none". If you really are serious about a job you should invest time in applying for it. But remember, not to lie on your CV!

So go ahead, try applying for a job right now, visit our "Where to Work Page", choose a company and apply !