How Can You Appeal to Humans AND Automated Systems?
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Both an applicant tracking system and a human reader are pattern recognition devices. They look for terms, recency and frequency of use of the terms they want to see. If you are applying through an ATS, make page 1 your cover letter and include the terms from the job description you have experience with in your cover letter and make sure they are included in the actual resume. The ATS will interpret the cover letter as having the terms it wants to see, recent use (it’s on page 1), and see repetition in the resume (frequency). A human reader will see in the cover letter an appetizer (I have relevant experience) and confirmation in the resume.
Jeff Altman
