Authored by Suzanne Voigt, Program Manager for Career Readiness and Design
In today’s competitive job market, understanding how Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) work is essential for college students. As of 2025, over 98% of Fortune 500 companies and an increasing number of small to mid-sized businesses rely on ATS software to streamline the hiring process. These systems scan, filter, and rank resumes before a human ever sees them—making ATS’s an important step for anyone submitting an application online.
What Is an ATS?
An ATS is a digital tool employers use to manage recruitment. It collects applications, analyzes resumes, and uses algorithms to assess which candidates appear most qualified based on keywords, formatting, and job requirements. Popular platforms like Workday, Greenhouse, iCIMS, and Lever have all advanced in their ability to analyze more complex resume formats, but they are still sensitive to structure, language, and relevant content.
How to Tailor Your Resume for ATSs in 2025
1. Use Clean, Simple Formatting
Choose a standard layout with clear section headers like “Experience,” “Education,” and “Skills.” Avoid using tables, graphics, images, or text boxes, which can confuse ATS software. Save your resume as a Word document (.docx) or a plain PDF without complex design elements.
2. Mirror the Job Description Language
Today’s ATSs use natural language processing (NLP) to match resumes to job descriptions. Analyze the job posting and include exact phrases and keywords used—especially for required skills, tools, and qualifications. For example, if a listing emphasizes “data visualization in Tableau,” use that exact phrase rather than a generic “visual analytics.”
3. Optimize for Context, Not Just Keywords
In 2025, modern ATSs are more sophisticated and look for how keywords are used within context. Instead of keyword-stuffing, show how you’ve applied those skills. For example:
“Created interactive dashboards using Tableau to visualize marketing trends for leadership.”
4. Use Standard Job Titles and Skills
Use industry-standard job titles, even if your company used internal terminology. A “People Experience Specialist” should be translated into “Human Resources Coordinator” if that’s more widely understood. ATSs are trained to recognize common language and may not correctly interpret creative titles.
5. Customize Every Resume
Generic resumes are easy for ATSs to pass over. Tailor each resume to the position you’re applying for by adjusting your summary (optional), skills, and experience bullets to closely align with the specific job requirements.
6. Include a Skills Section
Dedicated skills sections are easily read by ATSs and help match your resume to specific skill sets. Only list skills that include technology, language, hands-on, artistic, scientific, etc. (i.e., Software: C++, Language: Fluent in Spanish; Research: SPSS and SAS, etc.). Do not list competenties but rather put these in context of your experiences (e.g., Effectively communicated with the leadership team to explain the relevance of the Tableau dashboard data sets)
7. Test Before You Submit
Use AI to scan and compare your resume with the job posting after you are tailored it using key words. AI tools, like ChatGPT, Copilot and others analyze alignment with the job description and offer real-time suggestions for improvement.
Conclusion
In 2025, getting past an ATS is no longer about beating a robot—it’s about aligning clearly with what an employer needs and presenting your qualifications in a format that both machines and humans can understand. By tailoring your resume with precision and intention, you greatly increase your chances of getting noticed—and getting hired!