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 !

Hi, I'm superman and I want you to hire me !

Let's look at a very common resume myth. Most of us often use top section of the resume to write "Objective" or "Career Objective". It is a 2-3 line statement which goes something like "A superman or wonder woman with extraordinary abilities to save the planet. I aspire for a position in a fortune 500 company where I can utilize  my superpowers for the benefit of the organization and my personal super fast growth". Or atleast, that's the idea we are trying to convey, right?

There's no harm with a decent self-branding now and then, but blowing your own trumpets with general statements such as above without any evidence to support them and then telling the recruiter what YOU WANT (I aspire...) may not be the best of ideas. Here's why:

Typically for most positions, a recruiter may have just a few seconds, as experts say less than 10 seconds to look at one resume, and i.e. if they look at a resume at all. During those 10 seconds, the first thing they expect to see is your name, picture, address etc at the top. But after that, do you really want them to spend these few seconds looking at how arrogant you are and what you want from the company? What's In It For Them? The recruiter, the company?

Better to start off with your experience, or if you are a fresh graduate, with your educational qualifications. If you absolutely MUST write something at the top replace the objective section with "Summary". Use this to mention very specifically and to the point what you have to offer.

An easy way could be "Your Title/Profession + Experience + Key Accomplishment". Like for a fresh graduate, it could be "Fresh Mechanical Engineer with exposure of organizing/winning XYZ international competition" or "Mechanical Engineer with experience of 3 internships in Multinational companies"  for an experienced professional it could be "A PMP Certified Project Manager with 5 years experience of leading 1 Billion Rupees projects".

Again, writing  objective or even summary is just an old myth, but if you really want to, write a summary instead of an objective as this way you are selling your best feature to the recruiter and trying to make a good first impression.