Career Coaching and what does it mean to be Recruiter Ready?

The rules of job seeking have changed! Career coaching ensures you'll have a resume that recruiters and hiring managers love, LinkedIn profile that attracts views, job search tactics that will save you hours of time and grief, and interview coaching to ace the face-to-face. Using a Search Engine Optimized (SEO) and language focused approach can get your resume past the Applicant Tracking System robots and into the hands of a human being. You'll want a LinkedIn presence that speaks directly to professional recruiters and genuinely improves traffic to your profile, and the preparation to address questions in a behavior-based interview setting.

Robots Are Reading Your Resume, Too (before a human does)

Maybe you have read that within the last two to three years humans stopped reading your resume. Advances in technology have allowed computers to effectively scan your resume and calculate the likelihood you are a good candidate. These computers can only compute your keyword density and are unable to impute your potential contribution. So we know robots are screening your resume for keywords and your contact information to get it into a manageable data format and are likely simplifying your resume down to straightforward text for a recruiter to review.

The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) algorithm scans your resume for keywords that are closely related to the job posting, as well as information about your work experience and education. If your resume matches the criteria, the system assigns you a ranking—sometimes in the form of stars or a numerical score, depending on which ATS is used. Your application gets sorted into a chart where each candidate is ranked based on how well they fit the job requirements according to the ATS scan. The higher your ranking, the closer you are to the top of the list, which hopefully increases your chances of catching a recruiter's eye and getting an interview.

What does a Recruiter really care about?

The recruiter is scanning to answer four main questions, and if you are selected for a conversation, they will ask a fifth one. They need to determine:

  1. Do you have the minimum years of experience doing the work as expressed in the "Preferred Qualifications" in the job description?
  2. Do you have the relevant experience in the industry they are recruiting for?
  3. Do you have the educational background and level of degree they are seeking?
  4. Do you have skills in the relevant and required tools for the job?

The final question will occur in a screening call: What is your salary expectation? (Pro-tip – share a range similar to the range published in the job description, being careful not to exceed the top of the employers range. If you seek a salary outside the range, it is an immediate disqualifier.)

Since this is the truth of the matter, it is essential to create a resume that speaks to keyword filtering and can also be read and reviewed by a Recruiter or Hiring Manager. The graphically pleasing resume that was impressive to a Recruiter in 2018 is simply confusing to an Applicant Tracking System. To get the interview you'll need a whole new way of going about job search.

Best File Format and Fonts for Resume Submission

Your safest bet is to submit your resume as a Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx). While some modern systems have improved their ability to read PDF files, many older platforms still struggle to accurately interpret them, which could lead to lost formatting or missed information. There are lots of ways PDFs handle characters, layout, and tables that fall apart when the document is stripped of formatting. Try pasting a PDF into a Word Doc and you'll see that the shortcuts Adobe invented to make PDFs lightweight for the low-bandwidth networks of the 1990's are still there for anyone to see.

To avoid any snags, here's what you should do:

  • If the job posting doesn't specify a preferred format, send a .doc or .docx file – they are simply more compatible with an ATS. The exception is if an employer requests a specific format—such as PDF or plain text. Just like in school, read and follow the directions.
  • Simple formatting and standard fonts like Calibri, Arial, or Helvetica, work well for the ATS and the humans on the other side. Other acceptable fonts include Tahoma,  Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Garamond, and Times New Roman. Serif fonts, the kind with little outcropping on the ends of the letters, tend to denote a more "old school" approach and might be more welcomed in finance and similar industries. Overall, a sans-serif is the safest bet.

Selecting the Right ATS-Friendly Resume Format

Applicant Tracking Systems favor clear, familiar structures—so sticking to a tried-and-true resume style is key for getting past the robot gatekeepers and landing in front of a real decision-maker. At Coaching Technology Group, we've refined our resume style to balance the needs of ATS and the needs of a recruiter doing a quick visual scan. Keep the layout straightforward, the headings standard, and the design simple. You can test this by doing a Copy and Paste into a plain text document. If everything reads like a simple outline once the formatting is removed, then the information architecture is exactly right.

We like to reflect the client's work experience and choose an approach based who you are and how your career has unfolded. The formats that work seamlessly with ATS screening that we prefer are:

  • Reverse Chronological: This layout leads with your most recent experience and works particularly well if you have a steady work history in your field. Recruiters and ATS alike love its straightforward structure.
  • Functional: If your career has had a few twists and turns—say, gaps in employment or a pivot to a new industry—this format highlights your skills and accomplishments up front, with less emphasis on job chronology.
  • Hybrid (Combination): Want to showcase both your career achievements and a solid job history? The hybrid style blends elements of the chronological and functional approaches, making it flexible and user-friendly for both humans and machines.

Spelling and Grammar: Your Resume's Quiet Gatekeepers

Recruiters and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are quick to judge resumes that contain spelling or grammatical mistakes. Details matter. That is about as obvious as it gets. Recruiters expect polished, professional materials; small mistakes can undermine your credibility fast.

Pro Tips for Error-Free Applications:

  • Reading your resume out loud can help catch awkward phrasing and errors. Homonyms in the same sentence and similar sounding words can seem fine when silent reading and be glaringly obvious when spoken.
  • Ask a sharp-eyed friend (or, if possible, a professional editor) to help you spot mistakes – especially missing short words like "in, is, if" that can get skipped, missed, or glossed over.
  • Consider printing your resume and mark up anything that looks off with a pen. Sometimes, seeing it on paper makes all the difference.

Why Keyword Tricks Don't Work with Modern ATS

Focus on crafting a targeted, naturally worded resume that highlights your authentic experience and uses relevant keywords in a meaningful way. This approach sails past robots and makes a positive impact when your resume finally lands with a real person.

It's tempting to try and "outsmart" Applicant Tracking Systems by cramming your resume with job description keywords or hiding blocks of text in tiny white font. Modern ATS products spot these gimmicks—they generally strip the formatting and convert your resume content to plain, readable text and then flag clusters of keywords.

There's really no point to keyword stuffing; These systems analyze how often keywords appear, and  your resume can potentially be penalized or even rejected using this tactic. Even if you manage to slide past the filters, hiring managers will see your tactics in plain black-and-white which can give the impression you're gaming the system, leaving questions about how you might approach your work.

Enter Recruiter Ready Career Coaching

After helping hundreds of people get new roles as a career coach and consultant, I have developed an approach that has helped every single one of my clients work with the tools and techniques modern recruiters are using so they can get to human and move to the interviewing stage.

To get your resume to a decision-maker, you will need the right tools. In the free seminar I was offering before the Covid-19 pandemic, The Keys to Unlocking a Job in Tech in 2020, I was sharing what you need to know to win at modern job seeking.

Just want to watch a video about it? Check out this full resume optimization webinar video.

Here are the crucial takeaways:

  • Avoid ATS Limbo
  • Get Seen By a Human
  • Develop Sourcer, Screener, Recruiter, and Hiring Manager Relationships
  • Have Great Stories and Know How To Share Them
  • Know Your Worth
  • Negotiate As Needed
  • And ultimately, GET THE JOB!

Applicant Tracking System Limbo

Job seekers are overwhelming Recruiters. The Recruiter's role is to find the right people for the right job and offer those candidates to hiring managers (who might say no). They are adopting tools to become hyper-efficient and keep their jobs.

Recruiters rely on an Applicant Tracking System, or ATS. These systems are collecting applicant information such as data from web forms, resume, LinkedIn profile information, and interview notes. This data is all recorded – including whether or not a decision was made to hire, and whether to reach out again in the future (hot take about that – they aren't reaching out to you later).

These systems simplify the process for finding viable candidates from the Recruiter's point of view. To get seen by a human, we first have to understand their robot gatekeepers.

The ATS Challenge: How Many Resumes Make It Through?

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) eliminate about three-quarters of all applications before a hiring manager ever sees them. In 2025, with the rise of agentic AI for job applications, an employer can receive anywhere from 250 to 2500(!) resumes for a single job. In an ideal situation only about 60 are likely to reach a human reviewer. That means nearly all job seekers are screened out automatically—often before their qualifications can even be considered.

I recently spoke with a hiring manager looking for an early to mid career software developer, fully remote, good salary ($130K annually). In only three days they were deluged with 2400 applicants, many from outside the US, even though they were not sponsoring a work visa. It was unmanageable, and they closed the position to rethink their approach.

The market is constantly in flux, and right now, in 2025 and beyond, we all must become very nimble to work with the market as it is.

The Old-Fashioned Job Search, or how much has changed in the last decade.

I'll share a real-life story of a client who used the "spray and pray" or "the shotgun method" from back in 2017, for comparison.

This client had a resume and without making any changes sent it out to 1000 job postings across the U.S., from that effort he got six callbacks, two interview loops and one job offer. That offer required he relocate more than 2200 miles to his new job. That took months, was very stressful, and was very inefficient. His effort-to-offer success rate was .001%. For most job seekers, this approach would yield ZERO results and be very frustrating.

Recruiters are inundated with resumes from job seekers using this approach. They can't meet their goals if they look at every single one of these relatively generic resumes. To get a job, we have to work in harmony with the systems Recruiters use and make their jobs easier by giving them more information than the average candidate.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Flexes His Robotic Hand

 

We need to learn to "talk to computer" <- I like saying this in an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, it makes it more fun.

Modern Resumes Using Jobscan

I recommend Jobscan (https://jobscan.co/)  to all my clients who want to break out of ATS limbo. Jobscan is a constantly evolving tool that compares the requirements in a job listing with the language in your resume. Robots can't say "close enough," so it's crucial that the language in your resume be customized for every job you are applying to. If that sounds like a lot of work, it really isn't, because many of the changes you will make will be minor (and essential) changes and then you will have a very useful resume for the type of job your are targeting.

When I work with clients on their resume, we are aiming to have a design that is easy to scan by both robots and humans, and easy to modify for each possible job role. Using Jobscan is very helpful. Here are the key things to know about using that tool.

  1. Jobscan only has a limited number of free scans. It's worth paying for Jobscan while on a serious job hunt. Note: I am not affiliated with Jobscan – the product is useful and I get no compensation from them.
  2. The tool says to aim for an 80% match rate. I think that can be crazy-making. Recruiters are contacting job seekers when a resume hits the much more realistic 55% match rate.
  3. Focus on matching the Hard Skills requirements of the job. If you have the skill requested, get that in your resume. I have specific sections that are modifiable to make this a bit easier.

A resume optimized to at least 55% through Jobscan has improved my clients interview opportunities immensely. I can't offer you hard stats, but I stand with my heuristic evidence and my clients' 99.9+% job landing rates.

Turning Tasks into Achievements Using "Accomplished X, for Y, by Z"

One of the best ways to break out of ATS limbo and catch a recruiter's eye is to highlight your achievements. The most powerful approach is to lead with the impact *(x), followed by what you impacted (y), and how you did it (z).

Let's look at how you might transform a bland, forgettable line into something that tells your story and lights up those all-important keywords.

  • Instead of: "Responsible for managing monthly budgets"
  • Try: "Reduced overspend by 15% for the digital marketing team by using SOME DATA ANALYTICS TOOL to track performance and adjust auction bids in real time."

Numbers make your contributions concrete. Think percentages improved, dollars saved, number of projects delivered, or customers served using action words like "grew, increased, decreased, reduced, or delivered." By starting with the action you took and ending with the results you can highlight how you streamlined a process or share how you mentor new hires who went on to win awards. Details set you apart, such as "collaborated with a cross-functional team of 10 to launch a new product line." You get the idea.

Hiring An Expert Career Coach

Are you interested in finding a new role? I work with clients as they navigate a career transition, planned or unplanned. Schedule a complimentary 20-minute call to discuss your current situation and where you might find coaching or job search consulting helpful.

Schedule with me using this link: https://calendly.com/coachtechgroup/20-min-intro-by-phone