TIL my resume was getting filtered by a bot before anyone saw it

I sent out 40 applications over 6 months with zero callbacks. A friend in HR ran my resume through her company's ATS and it turned out I used a two-column layout that the system couldn't parse at all. Has anyone else had their resume killed by formatting and not realized it?

2 comments

2 Comments

coleman.henry18d agoTop Commenter

Did you see that article a while back about how some companies are using AI to scan resumes and they basically just look for keywords now? It's wild. I mean, I switched to a simple one-column format with standard section headings after hearing about that, and I actually got a couple interviews after months of nothing. It's stupid that a robot can't read a two-column layout but that's just how it is right now. A friend of mine even had his resume rejected because he used a fancy font that the system saw as gibberish.

harris.aaron18d ago

Three companies out of a hundred even use those systems, so are we really sure it's not just your resume?