I presented at a conference in 2011 on the topic of resume design, and even then, I was recommending no color.īut, even though it was new and trendy, in a world of typewritten resumes, these more attractive word-processed resumes caught on FAST.Īnd, just about the time they were catching on is when OCR technology – that is, optical character recognition – began being used by human resource departments to store the resumes they were receiving in ATS databases.īut remember, resumes weren’t commonly emailed back then. For example, to make the fonts for resume headings larger, selectively bold or italicize text, or do something really “edgy” for the times, like using ruling lines to separate resume sections or to put a border around the page.Īnd, of course, nobody would even have dreamed of using color on a resume back then. It was still considered cutting-edge to do simple things that we take for granted today. In 1996, when I started my resume writing practice, we were just emerging from this “dark age” of resumes. If you are old enough, you might remember the days of typewritten resumes and photocopies. Resumes created in a word processor were relatively new at the time. The resumes of 25-plus years ago were very different from modern resumes. With more than a quarter-century of experience as a professional resume writer, let me bring a little perspective. But then you read another that tells you these things are okay. For example, you may read one book or article that very authoritatively and convincingly states that you should never use tables in an ATS-friendly resume and absolutely, positively never use any graphic elements. The problem is all the conflicting and confusing information about ATS requirements. Even if you don’t get hired this time around, your application will remain in the ATS to be searched using keywords, helping the employer identify prospective applicants the next time a job needs to be filled.Īs a job seeker, your resume must be presented in a format that is ATS compliant so that the text in your resume is parsed and organized correctly. When a resume is input into an ATS, its text is “parsed” and automatically organized in searchable fields in a record created specifically for you, the job applicant. Very simply put, an ATS is a database that employers and recruiters use to digitally store and track job applications through the hiring process. If you don’t already know, ATS stands for applicant tracking software, sometimes also referred to as applicant tracking systems. As a job seeker, it can be downright impossible and incredibly frustrating. They are everywhere.Īs a professional resume writer this can be a challenge, as we seek to determine the truth among the myths of creating ATS-friendly resumes. Misinformation and myths about ATS-friendly resumes.