Don't Give Up if ATS Rejects Your Resume

Applying for a job is so tricky nowadays. Since much of the process is handled online, you have to accommodate many of the requests thrown your way, including creating multiple versions of your resume (standard, text or possibly PDF), having the patience to click through numerous screens to complete and application or even signing up for an account on the company's website.

But after hitting the submit button, many don't realize that their resume doesn't go straight to a human being. Often times, it is being screened by the Applicant Tracking System (ATS), which automatically approves or declines resumes based on keywords that have been added. After all of your hard work, the last thing you want is to be rejected--or give up if you already have been. So let's look at what you could do if ATS rejects your resume.

Understanding ATS

Any professional resume writing guide would probably tell you that the key to getting the most out of working with ATS is to understand it. This program was designed to help companies manage their recruiting process so that fewer steps have to be taken by their workers to screen applicants.

Since many companies get dozens of applications come in with each job posting, they often want to weed out those that are completely under-qualified or simply don't match the qualifications early on. This is where ATS comes in. It screens resumes based on criteria that a company representative has entered to ensure that applicants are worthy.

Of course, it's impossible to know exactly what information to put on the resume because the criteria will always be different. And in many cases, this confusion (or complete unawareness that the tracking system even exists) results in premature rejection.

What If My Resume is Rejected?

If you resume gets rejected by ATS, you don't have to give up. If you know for sure that you're qualified for the position and you've received an automatically-generated rejection email then you could simply contact the recruitment office to find out how you could quickly replace the resume currently in the system with one that offers better keywords and phrases.

Once you find the right person to tell you what to do, hopefully you could reapply for the position, making tweaks to your career summary, bullet point lists of skills and achievements and anything that could use description keywords more in line with the position requirements and industry as a whole. But remember not to change any work history facts or education details--keep everything else the same.

When you reapply, you want to use a different email than the previous one or you may be rejected again since the system will show that you've already applied. But hopefully, these steps could help you get back into the running for the position you want. Don't give up!