How to get past ATS screening

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are software that companies use to manage applications before a recruiter reads them. A surprising number of resumes are rejected at this stage because of formatting issues or missing keywords, not because the candidate is underqualified. This guide covers what actually matters.

What ATS software does (and does not do)

ATS software parses your resume into structured data: name, contact info, work history, education, skills. Recruiters then search and filter that database by criteria like years of experience, skills, or keywords from the job description.

ATS does not "score" your resume on a 0-100 scale and discard it if you score too low. That idea is a myth popularized by resume-writing services. What actually happens is simpler: if the recruiter searches for a skill you have but did not include in parseable text, your resume does not show up.

Formatting that parses reliably

The single most important rule is to use plain, clean formatting. Most ATS struggles with:

  • Tables and multi-column layouts. Stick to a single-column document.
  • Text boxes and graphics. If it is inside a shape, most parsers will miss it.
  • Headers and footers. Contact info in a header may not be extracted correctly.
  • Custom section names. "Where I have worked" instead of "Experience" can confuse parsers.
  • PDF with non-selectable text (e.g. a scanned document or a design-heavy template).

DOCX tends to parse more reliably than PDF because the structure is explicit in the file format. If a job application says to upload a specific format, follow it. If it does not, DOCX is usually the safer choice.

Keywords and how to include them

The most actionable thing you can do to improve ATS performance is to match the language of the job description. If the job says "React" and you write "ReactJS," some parsers treat these as different terms. Use the exact phrasing from the posting wherever it is accurate.

Read through the job description and identify the specific skills and tools named. Cross-reference with your experience. If you have used something they are asking for but have not called it out by name, add it.

Do not add keywords that do not reflect your real experience. Misrepresenting skills leads to interview conversations you cannot have, which wastes everyone's time. Only include what you can speak to confidently.

Section headings that ATS recognizes

Use standard section names. The most universally recognized ones are:

  • Work Experience (or Experience, or Professional Experience)
  • Education
  • Skills
  • Projects (or Personal Projects)
  • Summary (or Professional Summary)

What TailorFit does for ATS

When you generate a tailored resume in TailorFit, the output uses plain formatting and standard section names by default. It also surfaces keywords from the job analysis so you can see exactly which terms the role is using and whether they appear in your resume.

The DOCX download is designed to parse reliably. If you are editing the resume before sending it, avoid adding tables, columns, or images.