How to Write Resumes for Robots

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If you are like most job seekers, you see an ad online, email your résumé…and never hear anything back. It is common to feel intensely frustrated with this situation. With the advent of Applicant Tracking Systems (or ATS), less than 30% of job seekers hear back on their submitted résumés.

Approximately 90% of large employers and almost 50% of medium-sized employers use Applicant Tracking Systems to manage the résumés and cover letters they receive for their openings. If you apply for positions with large hospitals and medical groups, you need to know how to craft your résumé for an audience of machines. Take the following steps to make your résumé and cover letter ATS friendly.

1. Don’t Get too Fancy- Some job candidates add pictures or graphics in the hope that they stand out to potential employers. However, applicant-tracking software often “chokes” on this information- meaning it rejects your résumé.

2. Straightforward Sections- Wording is critical to an ATS acceptable résumé. Label your sections with straightforward words and phrases such as “Summary,” “Professional Experience,” “Education,” “Certifications,” and in the ATS systems, look for these phrases.

3. Clear Contact Information- Do not place contact information in a header or a footer. People who study these systems find that ATS software often rejects applicants with contact information in headers and footers. Place your name, address, phone number, email, and LinkedIn URL (if you have one) in the text to avoid rejection (http://www.theladders.com/career-advice/resume-technology-resume-format-machine-friendly).

4. Clean Formatting- There are several formatting tips to make your résumé more ATS compatible.

• Use easy-to-read, sans-serif fonts such as Arial or Tahoma for your résumé.
• Traditional bullet points are ATS compatible.
• Avoid borders and other fancy embellishments. (http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/write-resume-overcome-ats/).
• Make sure to use at least an 11 point font.
• Put the name of your employer, job title, and then dates of employment. Putting dates of employment first is linked to rejections.

5. Use Keywords- Examine job descriptions and identify keywords (words that are critical to the job) and incorporate them into the résumé. (http://biginterview.com/blog/2015/03/applicant-tracking-system.html). In the healthcare field, this situation means listing all of your licenses and certifications that are relevant to the job posting. Do not assume that everyone knows that you have certain credentials. A former RN client of mine did not state that she was pursuing BLS and ACLS certifications. Once I put those facts on her résumé, she received 2 calls for interviews within 24 hours of submitting her résumé.

6. Acronyms and spelling out words- The medical field, like many professions, has its own jargon. Make sure to include both acronyms and the spelled out versions of healthcare terms. For example, write Registered Nurse and RN if you apply for that type of nursing position. If postings require experience with electronic medical records, write EMR with the phrase electronic medical records in parentheses.

7. No PDFs- How you submit a résumé is important. Many Applicant Tracking Systems do not accept PDFs. ATS software is much more likely to accept Word documents.

Save Fancy for Face-to-Face 

Once you get a face-to-face interview, consider customizing your résumé for a human. Consider adding color, graphics, columns, and tables to make it more visually appealing to interviewers. However, make sure you follow the aforementioned steps to get past the screeners and interview with a real person.