Applicant tracking systems are simpler than the folklore suggests. They index your text and let a recruiter search and filter it.
What actually helps
- Use the employer's exact term at least once, in a real sentence: if they write "Power BI", do not only write "BI tooling".
- Put keywords inside experience bullets, not just a skills block — context is what a human reads.
- Keep one column, standard section headings, and a normal font. Tables and text boxes break parsing.
- Export a text-based PDF, never a scan or an image.
What does not help
White text, hidden keyword blocks, or a 40-item skills list. A recruiter sees the parsed text; padding just makes you look imprecise.
A simple test
Paste your resume into a plain text editor. If the reading order is scrambled or half your content vanishes, an ATS sees the same mess — fix the layout before you touch the wording.