Why Your Resume is Being Ignored (And How to Fix It in 10 Minutes)

You are applying to jobs, even tailoring your resume before sending it and tweaking your cover letter, and yet... crickets. No responses. No callbacks. No nothing. As time goes by you start wondering what is going on. This silence makes you question whether your applications are even being seen!

Well, let me tell you something: your resume probably isn't making it past the first gatekeeper—ATS (Applicant Tracking System). And if you don’t know how to play by its rules, you’ll keep getting ghosted.

Before moving on, let me tell you a secret of what is happening on the other side after a job post is live and starts receiving applications. Depending on the job, a recruiter may be receiving a very high number of resumes, imagine getting 2000 or more resumes just on the first day, all with different formats and different ways in expressing past professional experience and studies, receiving profiles that only match a 10% of the job post... and yes, it becomes humanly impossible to go through each of the applications in detail when you have so many.

ATS comes as a tool to help recruiters filter the applications so that the next step of actually reading them and assessing who could move on to an interviwing phase is done.

For you, the good news is that I´ve got your back. I’m going to show you exactly why ATS is rejecting your resume and how you can fix it—in just 10 minutes. Let’s get to it.

Think of ATS as a filter. As I mentioned before, companies get hundreds or even thousands of applications for a single job posting. Recruiters don’t have time to read each one, so they rely on ATS to scan, sort, and match words on resumes before a human even sees them.

If your resume isn’t formatted correctly or doesn’t include the right keywords, it gets rejected before anyone lays eyes on it. This means your application could be a potential fit for the job, but if it doesn’t pass the ATS test, it’s as if you never applied.

Let’s fix that.

You don’t need to rewrite your whole resume. Just tweak these things, and you’ll instantly increase your chances of getting seen.

✅ Use an ATS-Friendly Resume Format

What to do:

• Use a simple Word document (.docx) or PDF (if allowed by the employer). Some ATS systems struggle with fancy formatting.
• Stick to a clean, traditional layout (no columns, tables, or text boxes—they confuse ATS).
• Use standard section headers like “Work Experience,” “Skills,” and “Education.”

What NOT to do: 🚫 Avoid using images, graphics, or non-standard fonts (stick to the classics like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman). Most ATS can’t read other fonts.

✅ Fix Your Job Titles to Match the Posting

What to do:

• If your official job title was “Customer Happiness Specialist”, but the job posting asks for a “Customer Support Representative”, tweak it to match (as long as it’s accurate!).
• Add alternative titles in parentheses: e.g., Customer Happiness Specialist (similar to Customer Support Representative).

Why? ATS looks for exact job titles from the job description. If yours doesn’t match, your resume might get passed over.

✅ Use the Right Keywords (Without Keyword Stuffing)

What to do:

• Scan the job description for key skills and requirements, then sprinkle those exact words naturally throughout your resume.
• Focus on hard skills and industry-specific terms. Example: If a job posting mentions “SEO optimization”, but your resume says “improving website visibility”, change it to match the posting.

What NOT to do:🚫 Don’t copy-paste the entire job description into your resume. ATS will flag it as keyword stuffing and reject it.

✅ Ditch the Fancy Job Descriptions—Be Clear and Direct

What to do:

• Use bullet points, not long paragraphs.
• Start each bullet with a strong action verb: Managed, Developed, Increased, Streamlined, Led, Optimized.
• Keep it short and results-focused (quantify whenever possible!). Example:
  Bad: “Responsible for managing team projects and improving efficiency.”
  Good: “Managed 5+ team projects, increasing efficiency by 30%.”

✅ Make Your Contact Info ATS-Friendly

What to do:

• Use a professional email (no @hotmail.com or @yahoo.com—use Gmail or a custom domain).
• List your LinkedIn profile if it’s optimized (a great way to get noticed!).
• Remove weird symbols (some ATS can’t process them). Stick to plain text for phone numbers and emails.

What NOT to do: 🚫 Try to avoid placing your contact info in the header section of the document. Some ATS can’t read that part.

✅ Skip the Resume Objective (Unless It’s Super Powerful)

What to do:

• If you use a summary, make it short and impactful.
• Example: “Data-driven marketing professional with 5+ years of experience increasing ROI through targeted campaigns and automation.”

What NOT to do:🚫 Avoid vague statements like: “Looking for a challenging role in a dynamic company.” It adds zero value.

Before hitting “Apply,” test if your resume is ATS-friendly by:

✅ Copy-pasting your resume into a plain Notepad/WordPad document. If the formatting looks messy or text disappears, ATS will likely struggle to read it.

✅ Using a free ATS resume scanner (like Jobscan or Resume Worded) to check if you match the job description.

✅ Sending it to a friend to see if they can quickly spot the most important information.

1) Use a simple format (Word or PDF, no tables or graphics).

2) Match your job title to the posting.

3) Sprinkle in keywords naturally from the job description.

4) Use bullet points and action verbs to highlight impact.

5) List your contact info properly (no headers or symbols).

6) Remove vague objectives and keep your summary concise.

7) Test your resume before sending it!

Make these tweaks, and you’ll instantly increase your chances of getting past ATS and in front of real human recruiters. 🚀