Applicant tracking systems help employers receive and organise applications, but they are not all built the same way. Rather than trying to outsmart software with repeated keywords, prepare a CV that uses recognisable headings and makes your relevant experience easy for a recruiter to find.
What an applicant tracking system actually needs
An ATS-friendly CV uses a simple structure, standard section headings and job-relevant language. It avoids design choices that can make important information difficult to extract, such as text embedded inside images, excessive columns or decorative graphics.
Start with a clear structure
A practical order is: name and contact information, professional summary, key skills, work experience, education, certifications and relevant projects. You can adjust this order depending on your experience. A recent graduate may place education and projects higher, while an experienced professional will usually emphasise work history.
Use standard section headings
Headings such as Work Experience, Education, Skills and Certifications are easy to understand. Creative labels may look attractive, but they can make a CV less clear. Recruiters often review applications quickly, so familiar headings improve readability.
Use the employer’s terminology where it is accurate
Read the vacancy carefully and identify the skills, tools, qualifications and responsibilities that are genuinely relevant to your background. If the employer repeatedly mentions project coordination, Excel, customer service or data analysis, those terms should appear naturally in your CV when they accurately describe your experience.
Do not copy the advert word for word or add skills you do not have. Keyword stuffing can make a CV sound unnatural and may create problems later during interviews.
Write strong experience bullet points
Each bullet should explain what you did and, where possible, what changed because of your work. Compare “Managed social media” with “Planned and published weekly social media content across three platforms and tracked engagement trends.” The second version gives a recruiter more useful evidence.
Numbers can strengthen a CV when they are accurate. You can mention audience size, revenue, turnaround time, number of clients, projects completed, events supported or percentage improvements.
Choose a layout that remains readable when parsed
- Use one or two professional fonts.
- Keep body text readable and consistent.
- Avoid placing essential information in headers, footers or graphics.
- Use bullet points instead of long blocks of text.
- Save the document in the format requested by the employer, commonly PDF or DOCX.
Include a focused professional summary
A professional summary should be short and specific. Mention your role, strongest relevant experience and one or two areas of expertise. Avoid generic claims such as “hardworking team player” unless you support them elsewhere with evidence.
What to remove from an ATS CV
Leave out information that does not help the employer evaluate your suitability. In many applications, you do not need to include your photograph, national ID number, marital status, religion or unrelated personal details unless they are specifically required for a legitimate reason in your country or sector.
Final ATS CV checklist
- Is the job title or target role clear?
- Have you included relevant skills from the vacancy?
- Are dates and job titles easy to find?
- Have you checked spelling and grammar?
- Can someone understand your strongest qualifications within 20 seconds?
- Is every claim accurate and defensible in an interview?
An ATS-friendly CV is not about tricking software. It is about presenting your experience in a clear, structured and relevant way so both systems and recruiters can understand your value quickly.
How ATS screening actually affects your application
Applicant tracking systems are mainly used to store, sort and search applications. Recruiters may filter candidates by job title, location, experience, education or specific skills. This means your CV should make important information easy to identify. A clear document also benefits human reviewers, who often scan quickly before deciding whether to read more closely.
Should you use tables, columns or graphics?
Simple tables and columns may work in some systems, but they can also cause reading-order problems. If you do not know which software an employer uses, a single-column layout is the safest option. Icons should never replace words such as phone, email, location or LinkedIn because the symbol may not be interpreted correctly.
How long should an ATS-friendly CV be?
Length depends on your career stage. Many early-career candidates can present their strongest evidence in one or two pages. Experienced professionals may need more space. Do not remove relevant achievements simply to reach an arbitrary page count, but avoid repeating the same responsibility in several roles.
File naming and submission tips
Name the document professionally, for example FirstName-LastName-CV.pdf. Follow the employer’s requested format exactly. If the portal asks for DOCX, do not upload PDF instead. Before submitting, copy and paste the text from your saved file into a plain-text editor; if the information appears in a logical order, the document is more likely to be readable by common systems.
Example of tailoring a CV
Suppose a vacancy asks for stakeholder engagement, reporting and Excel. If you have genuinely performed those tasks, mention them in the relevant role and show the outcome. A useful bullet might say: “Prepared monthly Excel reports for management and coordinated follow-up with five departmental stakeholders.” This is stronger than adding a disconnected keyword list.
Final advice
Build one strong master CV, then create a tailored version for each serious application. Keep the facts consistent while changing emphasis to match the vacancy. Clear structure, accurate keywords and evidence of results are more valuable than decorative design.
ATS-friendly CV example for Kenyan graduates
For a graduate applying for a customer service role in Nairobi, use a clear heading such as “Customer Service Assistant” followed by contact details, a focused summary, relevant skills, education and experience. If you completed industrial attachment, describe responsibilities accurately: for example, “Recorded customer enquiries in a tracking spreadsheet and escalated unresolved cases to the supervisor.” Do not invent percentages or results.
Include the exact skills you have that are relevant to the vacancy, such as Excel, customer communication or record management. Avoid copying every keyword from the advert without evidence. Follow the employer’s requested PDF or Word format and filename conventions.
Read our cover letter guide to prepare a matching letter.