There's no such thing as an ATS-friendly resume. I'm going to dispel that myth right now. I do not want you wasting your time on scams that tell you they're going to make your resume ATS-friendly or that you're going to get past the ATS with their technique.
There are over a hundred different applicant tracking systems (ATS) and they all parse your resume in a different way. So the idea that any single resume can game the system for all 100 of these applicant tracking platforms is just not true. More importantly, so many people are using tools like ChatGPT to create fake resumes that companies are now trying to figure out who's a real human with real qualifications or someone who used fake systems to game the system. The technology is coming for them to be able to figure that out.
In fact, I think text-based resumes are going to die. We've hit a tipping point where they're going to die because so many people are trying to game the system with their resume to get it through an ATS. That whole concept is going to collapse on itself. I am talking to recruiters and companies who are pivoting toward something called evidence-based hiring. They're already doing it. Evidence-based hiring is when companies require you to prove to them (through evidence like quantified work experience, video resumes, etc.) that you know what you're talking about because they can't trust a resume or a text-based profile anymore.
Please don't waste your money on this idea of gaming the system to get you through to the hiring manager because even if you get through, if you then get a call and you can't back up what you're saying on this resume, they can tell, and then you're going to be blacklisted and banned from getting hired at the company.
Right now, though, employers still want text-based resumes. So, what do you do instead of trying to make your resume ATS-friendly?
A Skimmable Resume Will Get You Job Interviews
You need a skimmable resume. A skimmable resume is a resume with a simplified layout that quickly lets a recruiter skim through (in six seconds or less!) and see that you meet the basic requirements for the job that they were told to look for in a candidate.
The reason you build a six-second resume and make it skimmable is that when they see you're qualified, they will also think, "I need more information. There's not enough information on this resume. I should schedule an interview with this job candidate to learn more about their qualifications."
You want to think of your resume as teaser copy. You don't want to tell them everything you've ever done. You don't want to have an epic novel resume. By doing those two things, you actually make it easier for them to screen you out of the hiring process.
A simple, skimmable resume with just the facts can get employers to call you. Also if you want to beat the competition for the positions you're applying for, instead of sending your resume through an ATS, you should try a strategy called back-channeling where you send this skimmable resume directly to the recruiter or the hiring manager so it actually gets looked at and you get more job interviews.
If you want to learn how to do that for free, sign up for a Work It DAILY membership today. Let's get you the job you want and deserve.
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