Hey, everybody. Don Georgevich here. Today, I want to talk to you about the Applicant
Tracking System; the ATS. This is a giant database of resumes. So, any time you send your resume into an
employer, it gets scanned and it goes into this database and they call that the applicant
tracking system. And what it does is it looks at resumes, based
on the content, and how they're written and it tries to sort them, based on what position
they might be good for; something like that. And what it does is it sorts out all the resumes
to make it easier on human resources department, because they get overloaded. They get thousands and thousands of resumes
and it's just nearly impossible to sort through those by hand. So, they have a computer do it. The computer is the ATS. It's not always your best friend. So, the first thing you want to do is plan. You have to plan your strategy. You have to understand what you're doing. Now, back in the day, long time ago, you would
write your r�sum�, and you would send it into a human resources department and there's
usually a gatekeeper there. And this gatekeeper is the one where all the
resumes go through. And what you can do is sometimes you could
call those people up, you could bribe them, you could talk to them on the phone and kind
of schmooze with them a little bit, and get them to pass your resume along to the hiring
manager. Well, today, that door shut. You can't get in that way anymore. You can, some companies do, but not all of
them. So, any of the bigger companies, they all
use the Applicant Tracking System. So, now you have to get past the computer,
instead of an individual. And for some of you who haven't interviewed
for maybe 20 or 30 years, and now you're back in the job market, things have changed. Things have changed drastically. So, you have to write your r�sum� for
the Applicant Tracking System. If you're not, you're not going to get any
phone calls at all. And maybe that's why no one's called you for
an interview right now, because your resume is stuck in the black hole of the Applicant
Tracking System; it�s just kind of bouncing around there, it doesn't even know what it's
doing. That's because you didn't take the time to
plan out strategy to writing your resume for the ATF. So, I'm going to show you how to do that. I'm going to give you some tips that�s going
to help you get a lot closer. Now, if you just disregard the ATS entirely
and you just keep writing your resume may the old school way, it's unlikely that you're
going to get a lot of traction. So, remember you have to create a plan. So, first you have to know that you're even
going to write for the ATS. So, the next what we have here is job titles. Now, the job title that you have might not
accurately describe what you do. So, what you want to do is make some small
tweaks to your current job titles or past job titles and adjust them so that they more
accurately reflect what you did and keep them relevant to what the job description title
is as well. Because remember, we're writing for the Applicant
Tracking System. The Applicant Tracking System is going to
be looking for specific titles. So, for example, maybe you were a consultant. Alright, everybody is a consultant. You don't want to just list �Consultant�
or �Business Consultant� as your title. I mean, maybe in this position that you're
applying for they're looking for a business analyst. And let's say, as a business consultant, you
were a business analyst. So, in this case you might want to change
your title from �Business Consultant� to �Business Analyst�. That would make you more relevant to what
they're looking for and more accurately describe the type of work that you did in the past
and what you're looking for. Now, if you just listed �Consultant� and
they're looking for a �Business Analyst�, those two just kind of seem at opposite ends,
but the type of work you did was exactly related to what they're looking for. So, it's okay to make some minor tweaks to
your previous job titles to make the match and be more relevant to what they're looking
for in the job description. And don't feel like you're lying by changing
your title because you're not. You're not lying about the type of work experience
that you have. And resume writers, they do this all the time. They will make subtle adjustments to your
titles to make it more relevant. And sometimes the title that you get is like
this long and it doesn't make any sense at all. So, you just want to shorten that down to
a two or three-word title that makes sense, that accurately reflects the type of work
that you did. Alright, next one. Resume SEO and key words matter. Now, SEO for Search Engine Optimization and
that's what the search engines like Google use to evaluate certain websites and pages
and find out which ones more accurately reflect what you are searching for. And so does the Applicant Tracking System. The Applicant Tracking System is looking for
certain keywords in your r�sum� that are going to help the human resources department
match you up towards a particular position. So, before you start writing your r�sum�,
you want to find out what the keywords are for the job description. So, to do this, get the job description. Print it out; don't look at it online, print
it out and then go through it with a highlighter pen and look for all of the key words that
are important to them. These are usually related to the skills or
requirements that they want someone on this job to have. So, go through, highlight those and use the
same color for the same type of word. Now, they might say things in a variety of
different ways. They might use one word and then in the next
sentence, say the same thing, but use a different word. Those are all key words. Those are the important key words, when they're
saying the same thing twice, but saying in a different way or using different words. So, go through the job description and pick
out all of these important keywords and write them down and create a list of all these keywords
that are relevant to this job description. These are the words that you are going to
want to use throughout your r�sum�. Now, you have to keep in mind that you're
writing for a human being and you're writing for a computer. So, your r�sum� actually has to be legible
when it's done. You can't just take all these keywords and
stick them all over the place. You want to carefully weave them in to the
fabric of your r�sum�. So, you might be using a word that's similar
to what they're asking for in the job description. Just pull your word out and stick their word
in. Now, you're starting to write for the ATS. You take their keywords and you replace certain
keywords on your resume and this makes you more relevant to the Applicant Tracking System
and more likely to generate a phone call off your resume. Because what happens is the employer is going
to sit down and they're going to type in their computer. They're going to do a search for let's say
a �Business Analyst with X amount of skills with certain keywords. And when your resume has those key words in
it, it's going to show up in the Applicant Tracking System. Without those keywords, it's not going to
show up at all. But you might have all of the experience that
they're looking for, but if you don't say it using the words that they're looking for,
then you're not going to show up in their computer listing. Makes sense; right? Crazy, but makes sense. So, that's where just having me experience
isn't good enough, you have to convey that experience to them using the words that they're
looking for. And I know I know this makes it hard, this
makes it difficult and you might think impossible, but it's not. Because they're giving you a roadmap with
the job description. They're giving you a roadmap of what they're
looking for. All you have to do is tailor your r�sum�
to match that job description and use those keywords and then you'll show up on their
results and then you have a chance at the interview. Next one here. Keyword stuffing does not work. I think that's kind of self-explanatory. You know how I told you to pull out all the
relevant keywords from the job description and put them in your r�sum�. Well, if you just over use all of those words
and just stuff them in every other line, that's not going to work either. The Applicant Tracking System is going to
sense overuse of certain keywords. And what's going to happen is the ATS is going
to kick you resume out into a different bucket of resumes, and trust me, that's not the one
you want to be in. That's the one where all the rejects go. So, if you have keywords that are appearing
more in an irregular fashion and repeating themselves over and over and over again, that's
not going to help you either. Remember, you're also writing for a human. You're writing for a computer but you're also
writing for humans. In the end, someone is going to give you resume
and they're going to read it. And if it's just stuffed with a whole bunch
of keywords, that don't necessarily make sense. They're not going to call you for the interview
either. So, you want to write naturally. So, as a general rule, try not to use a keyword
more than two or three times. You can find another word that's similar to
that word; which I recommend. That way, you're not saying the same thing
using the same word. You're saying the same thing using a different
word, and that's going to add some variety to the resume and that's going to give it
a warmer feeling, when you can say the same thing using different words instead of repeating
yourself using that same word over and over and over again. Okay? Alright, next one. So, when I say �Not all keywords are created
equal� what do I mean by that? I mean that you need to use the words that
they are using in the job description. The ones that describe what they are looking
for, and use those specifically. You can use some variations of them, but you
also want to include that original, root keyword that they're looking for. You have to remember that you're writing for
the Applicant Tracking System. It's a smart system, but it's only going to
do what it's told to do so. It's only going to look for certain keywords
that someone told it to look for. And if you don't have those words, then your
resume isn't going to be picked out as one of the potential matches. There's a lot of keywords that the applicant
tracking system can't really distinguish between. So, you might want to say the same thing,
but a different way. So, if they're looking for a Master�s in
Business Administration, you definitely want to use that keyword �Masters of Business
Administration�. But you also might want to say it in some
different ways, like MBA or Masters of Business. Come at that route keyword a couple of different
ways, but make sure that root keyword is there and then put some variations on it to give
you resume more of a natural, warmer feeling. Generally, I'd like to avoid abbreviations
on a resume, but if in the job description, they are using an abbreviation for a particular
skill or education or whatever it will be, make sure you use that exact abbreviation
as well and then also, list the spelled out version of what that abbreviation is. So, you're coming at it from two different
angles. Makes sense? Alright, next one. Keyword placement is critical. And here's what I mean by that. You want to use keywords naturally, throughout
your entire r�sum�. You don't want to just stuff them like at
the top or in the middle or at the end. You want to weave them in throughout your
entire r�sum�. So, if you can, start with your objective
and start putting in the keywords in your objective statement, if that's possible. Then have an accomplishment section with a
list of accomplishments; put some of his keywords in there. And then as you move into your experience,
put some in there and just spread them out in a natural fashion, so that anyone who would
read it would look at it and just think that it reads normally. Now, as you're sprinkling these keywords throughout
the r�sum�, try to avoid repeating them; use an acronym for them. But use the root keyword and then come up
with a similar word for it. If you need to use that same word again, just
find an acronym for it and use a similar word. This will give your resume a smoother, more
natural flow, instead of you repeating the same word over and over and over. And I've seen people do this when they write
their job descriptions statements. They�ll use the same word like every three
lines and it just stands out like a sore thumb. So, use a different word of the root keyword
and just sprinkle those all throughout resume and I'll give it a nice warm flow, so that
when someone picks up to read it, it seems natural, and the applicant tracking system
is attracted to it and it kicks it out as a potential match. Okay? Next one. KISS; Keep It Simple Stupid. This was actually an acronym that the US Navy
coined back in the 60s; which really means that most systems work best when they're simple
vs complicated. So, don't overthink this. Don't over think writing your r�sum� for
the ATS. Keep it natural. Remember you need to write for a computer
and you need to write for a human being. So, first, you want to write for the computer. You want to have that core set of keywords
baked into your resume. Then you go through it, and you massage it,
and you put that warm human touch on it, so that when someone actually picks off your
resume to read it, it feels natural, and they can feel who you are. They can feel the kind of things that you've
done and they know that it's not a document or resume that was written for a computer,
it was written for real person, because in the end, that's who's going to read it. Now, I know this is tougher than the way it
used to be. 20 years ago, you just wrote your r�sum�
for an individual, a human resources department, or hiring manager or whatever. Now, you have to write it for a computer and
you have to write it for a human being. It's tougher, it's harder, I know; but you
don't really have a choice. You have to do this. But don't overthink it either, don't overthink
this. Keep it simple; it's not that hard. Alright, and the last one here; be human. And this has really resonated in these seven
other tips that I've given you for writing for the ATS. You have to be human; because that's who you're
writing for. You're writing for a human being on the other
end and you want to give them a resume that's a strong reflection of what you've done. Now, granted, you also have to write for a
computer to get to that level, but when it reaches them, you want to give them a document
that speaks about you; it speaks of your experiences, it speaks of your accomplishments in a way
that a human can understand it and not a computer. Writing for the ATS is almost like baking
a cake. I mean, you can't just bake a cake that looks
good, but taste bad. You have to bake a cake that looks good and
taste good. So, it has to look good; your resume has to
look good for the ATS and it has to taste good for the person who reads it. That's how you're going to get farther, that's
how you're going to get the interviews. Without that, your resume is just going to
sit around, bounce around in the black hole of the ATS and you're never going to get anywhere. Now, there are some things you can do if you
want to test your resumes. You can create another profile. You can create like a ghost profile on CareerBuilder
or Monster or whoever, and write a completely different resume that you think is going to
attract employers for a certain position. Now, granted, if write another profile, and
you have a different name on it, and they actually call the person with that name, you
know, that's really not a real person and you know that you can't apply for that job. But this will give you the ability to test
out a resume that you wrote for the Applicant Tracking System. So, having a second ghost online resume may
or may not be a good idea. But if you really wanted to test out writing
for the ATS that's one thing you can do. And just knowing that it's going to be very
difficult for you to apply to any of those jobs, because it'll be a different resume,
it'll be a different name. Alright, my friend. That's all I have for you today. If you would like to go farther than what
I have gone in this video with resume writing, I would suggest picking up a copy of the Resume
Masterpiece. This book will teach you how to write your
resume for the Applicant Tracking System. It will show you how to write strong accomplishments
statements, it will show you how to review job descriptions and pull out the right keywords
and how you need to place everything on your r�sum�. It will also give you over a hundred different
examples from 20 different professions of resumes. So, you�ll have a hundred different resume
examples that are going to show you how to write your r�sum� and then they're going
to show you how to do it using the right keywords, using the right phrases, and they're going
to show you how to write for a human and how to write for the Applicant Tracking System
at the same time. So, if you would like to go further and what
I can in this video, try the Resume Masterpiece. I'll put a link for it down below this video. Give it a try, and if it doesn't work out
for you, just let me know. I�ll be happy to give you your money back. No worries at all. And that�s all I have for you today. I wish you well and I will see you in the
next video. If you found this video helpful, then give
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