What is an ATS? Complete Guide for Job Seekers

What is an ATS?

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software that companies use to manage their hiring process. It collects, sorts, scans, and ranks resumes submitted for job openings.

How Do ATS Systems Work?

When you submit your resume online, it goes through these steps:

Parsing — The ATS extracts text from your resume and identifies sections

Keyword Matching — It compares your resume keywords against the job description

Scoring — Your resume receives a relevance score

Ranking — Candidates are ranked by score for recruiter review

Popular ATS Systems

Workday — Used by 50%+ of Fortune 500

Greenhouse — Popular with tech companies

Lever — Common in startups

iCIMS — Used across industries

Taleo (Oracle) — Enterprise favorite

How to Beat ATS

The key is to make your resume ATS-friendly while still being compelling for human readers. Use our AI Resume Builder to automatically optimize for both.