With the current administration purging unnecessary contracts and agencies, job losses mean increased competition for jobs in the federal and private sectors, especially for federal workers in some fields. The hottest new federal jobs hiring in 2025 are homeland security, information technology (cybersecurity), and the medical and healthcare industry (e.g., veterinarians, nurses) in the private sector. There is surging demand for service and trades workers (HVAC, plumbers, carpenters, electricians). With the recent surge in arrests of non-English-speaking CDL drivers, there are >10,000 jobs open nationwide. 

Job seekers submit resumes to companies via an Automated Tracking System (ATS). These platforms are hosted in the cloud and licensed to companies to track and maintain records of hiring, onboarding, and recruiting activities (e.g., PeopleSoft, Oracle Talent, iCIMS, PC Recruiter, and Smart Recruiter, as well as independent platforms, Monster, CareerBuilder, and Indeed). 

Someone asked recently, “How can I beat the ATS?” The answer … there is no such thing as ‘beating an ATS.’ There is no hack or secret method. There is a process to ensure the applicant has keywords related to the minimum qualifications and experience as a candidate. 

Companies use ATS platforms to comply with Federal Employment law requiring the ‘tracking’ of all recruiting activities. The software enables compilation of federally required Affirmative Action Plan reports (annually). Recruiters often oversee 10-60 job requisitions. Depending on the economy and the job’s geographic location, applicants can range from the hundreds to the thousands for each job opening. It is impossible to read 500+ resumes submitted for 40-60 jobs in a 40-hour-a-week job. An ATS platform works this way. The recruiter will …

• Post a job requisition into the ATS, which is then linked to the company website and/or 3rd-party recruiting vendors (e.g., CareerBuilder, Indeed, LinkedIn).
• Job seekers upload resumes to the job link. If they have already posted a resume in the company’s system, they can ‘link’ their resume to an open position for consideration.
• Recruiters often add ‘pre-qualifications’ to the job posting to avoid a tsunami of unqualified applicants. Pre-qualification questions are usually multiple-choice or yes/no options.  If the job requires a bachelor’s degree and the applicant only has a high school degree, the ATS rejects the applicant with a ‘no’ answer to the question. If a current security clearance is required, the ATS will reject those without one.
• Recruiters perform Keyword Searches (words or phrases) to search for job-specific terms in the job applicant pool – similar to searching on Google, but on a much smaller scale to find the most qualified candidates based on the highest number of experience-related keywords in the resumes.

Resumes with the highest number of keywords result in a ‘more relevant’ and ‘best match’ list of applicants. Recruiters use the search engine to identify and read the top 5-10 resumes identified by the ATS. If recruiters find suitable matches among the top 5-10 candidates, the recruiters may not read the remaining resumes. Only if the first 10 matches fail to connect, or the hiring managers are not interested, will the recruiters go to the’ next batch of 10’ search results for further consideration.  Resumes not reviewed are documented as ‘other candidates more qualified.’ 

What will match the ‘keywords’ in a resume to the job description? What words get the job seeker past the firewall and to the eyeballs of decision makers? Ensure your resume is seen (getting past the firewall):

• Look for ‘minimum’ qualifications or experience.  If you do not meet 100% of those requirements, your success is slim – use your search time more wisely.
• If all qualifications are met, search for ‘keywords’ in the mandatory experience (e.g., accountants should mention Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) as a keyword. HVAC technicians should mention brand names of equipment they have worked on. CDL drivers should note any HAZMAT qualifications.
• Copy those ‘key’ mandatory descriptions bullet(s) from the job description for experience and paste them into the resume. Then reword the original job words so it doesn’t read like a copy-and-paste. In the rewrite, retain the ‘keywords’ from the job description. 

Ensure the resume includes key and related wording and job-skill phrases, and that they are mentioned and reworded in multiple places throughout the resume. This action helps you beat the competition. Keywords and phrases are strategic to getting past the prequalification firewall in the ATS. Once your resume passes the preliminary questions, those keywords will help more eyeballs see it.

Dawn Boyer, Ph.D., owner of D. Boyer Consulting – provides resume writing, editing, publishing, and print-on-demand consulting. Reach her at: Dawn.Boyer@me.com or visit her website at www.dboyerconsulting.com.