What Is an ATS and How Does It Read Your Resume in Australia?

9 min read

If you've spent any time looking for resume advice online, you've probably come across warnings about the ATS.

You may have been told:

Your resume has to "beat the ATS".

The ATS will reject you if you don't use enough keywords.

Your resume needs an ATS score of at least 80%.

Never use a line, column, icon or remotely attractive object because THE ROBOT WILL GET CONFUSED.

It's enough to make applying for a job feel like you've entered some kind of technological obstacle course.

So let's make this considerably less dramatic.

An ATS is an Applicant Tracking System.

It's software employers and recruiters can use to collect, organise and manage job applications.

Some systems can also extract information from resumes, search for relevant skills or keywords, filter candidates and help recruiters manage large numbers of applications.

The important thing to understand is:

You don't need to trick an ATS.

You need to create a resume that clearly communicates your relevant experience to both the recruitment technology and the human being ultimately trying to hire someone.

Here's how.

What does ATS stand for?

ATS stands for:

Applicant Tracking System.

At its simplest, it's software that helps an employer manage recruitment.

Think about a large organisation advertising a popular role.

It might receive hundreds of applications.

Rather than having resumes scattered across inboxes and spreadsheets, an ATS can help the recruitment team:

• receive applications

• store candidate information

• track people through recruitment stages

• search candidate information

• organise communication

• record notes

• shortlist or filter applications

• manage interviews and hiring workflows

Different systems have different features.

Some include sophisticated automation, parsing or AI-assisted functionality.

Others are primarily systems for managing recruitment information and workflow.

So an ATS isn't necessarily one giant robot sitting between you and employment deciding whether your choice of bullet point pleases it.

What does resume parsing mean?

Resume parsing is one ATS-related feature that's particularly relevant to job seekers.

Parsing software attempts to identify information contained in your resume and convert it into structured data.

That might include your:

• name

• contact information

• job titles

• employers

• skills

• employment history

• education

• qualifications

This can make it easier for recruiters to search, sort or review applications.

For example, if an organisation is looking for someone with experience using Xero, recruitment software may help identify candidates whose applications mention Xero.

That doesn't necessarily mean:

Xero appears = hired.

or:

Xero doesn't appear = automatically rejected forever.

It means clear, relevant information can be easier for both systems and recruiters to identify.

Does every Australian employer use ATS?

No.

Different employers recruit differently.

A small local business hiring one employee may personally read every resume.

A recruitment agency, government department, national retailer or large corporation dealing with significant application volumes is more likely to use recruitment software.

So don't build your entire resume around the assumption that every application is being judged by exactly the same automated system.

Instead, create something that works well for both:

technology that may process it

and:

the human who needs to understand it.

Conveniently, the principles overlap quite a bit.

What is an ATS actually looking for?

There isn't one universal ATS checklist because different systems and employers configure recruitment differently.

However, resume-parsing and recruitment systems commonly work with information such as:

• skills

• work experience

• job titles

• education

• qualifications

• relevant terminology

That's why tailoring your resume matters.

If an employer advertises for someone with:

stakeholder management

and you genuinely have stakeholder management experience, those words should probably appear somewhere appropriate in your resume.

If the advertisement asks for:

Microsoft Excel

and your resume only says:

computer skills

you're making both the recruiter and any technology work harder to understand your experience.

Be specific where you can.

What are resume keywords?

Keywords are words or phrases connected to the role.

You can usually find them in the job advertisement.

For example, an administration role might repeatedly mention:

• Microsoft 365

• customer service

• scheduling

• data entry

• stakeholder communication

• records management

A project role might mention:

• project coordination

• risk management

• reporting

• budgets

• stakeholders

• governance

A retail role might mention:

• customer service

• sales

• point-of-sale systems

• stock control

• merchandising

These aren't secret ATS codes.

They're simply words describing what the employer needs.

If you genuinely possess those skills or have that experience, use accurate terminology in your resume.

Australian employment guidance already recommends using relevant keywords from the job advertisement when tailoring an application.

That advice helps whether the first reader is software or Susan from recruitment.

Should you copy keywords directly from the job advertisement?

Where the terminology accurately describes your experience, yes, you can use it.

You don't need to deliberately find a different synonym just to prove that you own a thesaurus.

If the employer calls something:

stakeholder engagement

and that's genuinely what you've done, using stakeholder engagement makes sense.

But don't copy entire sentences from the advertisement.

And don't claim skills simply because they're listed.

For example, if the job requires:

MYOB

but you've only ever used Xero, don't add MYOB because you think an ATS wants to see it.

That hasn't optimised your resume.

It's made it inaccurate.

You may instead be able to say:

Experienced with Xero accounting software, with demonstrated ability to learn new business systems.

Then decide whether learning MYOB is something worth doing before applying.

Do you need to use every keyword?

No.

Your resume isn't a keyword bingo card.

Prioritise:

• important requirements

• skills that appear repeatedly

• technical systems

• qualifications

• licences

• industry terminology

• capabilities you genuinely possess

Then show those things naturally within your:

• professional summary

• skills section

• employment history

• achievements

• education and qualifications

Don't list 47 keywords in isolation at the bottom of the document and hope technology develops feelings for you.

The keywords need to make sense in the context of your actual experience.

Show evidence, not just keywords

This matters for human recruiters as much as ATS.

Instead of:

Communication

try showing where you've used it.

For example:

Managed customer enquiries by phone and email, explaining complex account information and resolving routine service issues.

Instead of:

Leadership

try:

Supervised a team of eight employees, coordinated daily rosters and supported training for new staff.

Instead of:

Project management

try:

Coordinated project timelines, stakeholder updates and reporting across three concurrent implementation projects.

Keywords help identify relevance.

Evidence helps prove it.

That's the more important part.

Can formatting stop an ATS reading your resume?

Formatting can affect how easily information is interpreted, but this is another area where online advice often becomes far too absolute.

Different recruitment systems have different capabilities.

You may see claims such as:

Every ATS rejects two-column resumes.

or:

Never use a table because no ATS can read it.

Those statements are too broad.

Modern recruitment technology varies significantly.

The safest approach if you don't know what system an employer uses is simply to choose a clear, conventional and professional layout.

Australian Government resume guidance recommends a simple professional design that's easy to scan.

That's sensible advice regardless of whether an ATS is involved.

What does an ATS-friendly resume look like?

You don't need a special "ATS resume".

Aim for something clear and predictable.

Use recognisable headings

For example:

Professional Summary

Key Skills

Employment History

Education

Qualifications

Recruiters immediately understand what those sections contain.

So can recruitment technology.

Use a readable font

Your resume doesn't need elaborate typography.

Choose something professional and easy to read.

Keep the layout clear

Use:

• consistent spacing

• clear headings

• bullet points

• sensible margins

• enough white space

Your resume should be easy to scan.

Avoid unnecessary decoration

Unless you're applying for a creative role where visual presentation is itself relevant, you usually don't need:

• decorative skill bars

• giant graphics

• elaborate timelines

• multiple icons

• complicated visual elements

They rarely provide useful information about whether you can actually do the job.

Follow the requested file format

If the employer asks for a particular format, use it.

If no format is specified, common formats include DOCX and PDF.

Don't decide that your interactive multimedia resume deserves to pioneer an entirely new recruitment file format unless the role genuinely calls for that.

Should you use a PDF or Word document for ATS?

There isn't one format that's universally correct for every application.

Current Australian employment guidance recognises common formats such as:

• DOCX

• PDF

Hays similarly recommends using accepted formats such as document or PDF files.

The most important instruction is the employer's.

If they ask for:

Word document

send a Word document.

If they ask for:

PDF

send a PDF.

If the application portal accepts both and gives no preference, either common format may be suitable.

Don't ignore explicit application instructions because somebody on TikTok said PDFs have personally offended Workday.

Does resume length affect ATS?

Not in the simplistic way people sometimes claim.

There's no general rule that says:

ATS reads two pages and immediately deletes page three.

The more useful consideration is relevance.

For most Australian job seekers, aiming for about two pages is a useful general guide.

If your resume is unnecessarily long, both recruitment technology and human readers have more irrelevant information to process.

If you're unsure what deserves space, see How Long Should a Resume Be in Australia?

Should you put your skills in a separate section?

A key skills section can be useful because it makes important capabilities easy to identify.

But don't rely on it alone.

For example:

Key Skills

• Xero

• accounts payable

• reconciliations

• customer service

is helpful.

But it's even stronger when your employment history then shows:

Processed supplier invoices, completed bank reconciliations and maintained accurate transaction records using Xero.

Now the skill is supported by experience.

What about unusual job titles?

Sometimes your official job title doesn't clearly describe what you actually did.

For example:

Customer Happiness Wizard

might have been considered charming by somebody in 2018, but it doesn't immediately tell a recruiter very much.

Don't invent a job you've never held.

Instead, you could clarify an unusual title where appropriate.

For example:

Customer Happiness Wizard (Customer Service Officer)

That preserves the genuine title while making the function understandable.

This can help both recruiters and systems interpret your experience.

Does ATS matter more when you're changing careers?

It can make clear skills language particularly important.

When you're changing careers, your previous job titles may not match the jobs you're applying for.

That's why transferable skills need to be visible.

For example, someone moving from hospitality management into administration might highlight genuine experience with:

• scheduling

• customer enquiries

• staff coordination

• records

• cash handling

• reporting

• problem-solving

You're not trying to make your previous title look like an administration title.

You're showing the relevant capabilities underneath it.

Our How to Write a Career Change Resume in Australia guide explains how to make those connections.

Can an ATS tell your age?

Don't build your resume around trying to fool technology about your age.

For most Australian resumes, you don't need to include your:

• age

• date of birth

• photograph

But employment dates and qualifications can still provide context about your career.

The goal is relevance and privacy, not constructing a mysterious undated document.

If this is something you're concerned about, see Should You Put Your Age on Your Resume in Australia?

Can AI help make your resume ATS-friendly?

Yes, if you use it sensibly.

AI can help you:

• compare your resume with a job advertisement

• identify terminology appearing in both

• identify genuine skills you may have overlooked

• improve clarity

• suggest questions that help you uncover relevant examples

• check whether important requirements are addressed

For example, you could ask an AI tool:

"Compare this job advertisement with my resume. Identify the five most important skills or requirements in the advertisement and tell me where my resume provides genuine evidence of each one. Don't invent experience I haven't provided."

That's useful.

Less useful:

"Rewrite my resume so it gets 100% ATS score."

There is no single universal ATS you're submitting to.

And AI doesn't magically know how a particular employer has configured its recruitment technology.

Use it to improve the quality of your application.

Not to manufacture certainty that doesn't exist.

What about online ATS score checkers?

Treat them as tools, not verdicts.

An online resume checker may identify:

• missing terminology

• formatting concerns

• possible skill gaps

• opportunities to tailor your resume

That can be helpful.

But a score from an online tool isn't necessarily the score an employer will see.

The employer may:

• use completely different software

• configure its system differently

• use different search criteria

• have recruiters manually reviewing applications

• weigh application questions or selection criteria heavily

• use no automated scoring at all

So if an online checker gives you 73%, don't conclude you've received a formal diagnosis of unemployability.

Use the feedback intelligently.

Then review the actual job requirements.

Don't try to trick the system

There are plenty of alleged ATS hacks floating around online.

For example:

• hiding keywords in white text

• repeating keywords dozens of times

• pasting the entire job advertisement into the document

• claiming skills you don't have

• manipulating text purely for automated scanning

Don't.

Even if technology identifies the terms, a human still needs to evaluate the application.

And if your resume says you have extensive SAP experience when you have never logged into SAP in your life, the interview could become quite educational.

Optimisation should make your genuine suitability clearer.

It shouldn't make your application less honest.

The best ATS strategy is surprisingly boring

Read the job advertisement.

Understand what the employer wants.

Tailor your resume.

Use relevant terminology.

Show evidence.

Keep the structure clear.

Follow the application instructions.

Proofread it.

That's essentially it.

There is technology involved in modern recruitment.

But your goal isn't to defeat that technology.

Your goal is to make sure neither a system nor a human has to guess whether your experience is relevant.

Before you submit an application

Do this quick ATS-friendly check:

Have I tailored the resume?

The most relevant experience for this job is easy to find.

Have I used accurate terminology?

Where the job advertisement uses language that genuinely describes my experience, I've used appropriate terms.

Have I shown evidence?

My resume doesn't rely entirely on unsupported skill words.

Is the structure clear?

The reader can easily locate my skills, employment history and qualifications.

Have I followed the application instructions?

I've used the requested file type and supplied everything required.

Is everything true?

No invented skills, qualifications or achievements have magically appeared during optimisation.

Have I checked the final document?

Formatting, spelling, links and contact information are correct.

Elevana's free Resume Checklist can also help you run through your final application checks before submitting.

ATS doesn't need to be scary

An ATS is a recruitment tool.

It isn't a secret examination you weren't taught how to pass.

Yes, recruitment technology can affect how applications are processed.

Yes, keywords and clear formatting matter.

But most of the advice that helps with ATS also helps a human recruiter:

Be relevant.

Be specific.

Use clear language.

Show evidence.

Make the document easy to understand.

You don't need to create a resume for a robot and another one for a person.

You need one good resume that communicates your genuine suitability clearly to both.

Want help building and tailoring yours?

If you're not sure whether your resume clearly shows what employers are looking for, Resume Ready takes you through the process step by step.

You'll learn how to identify relevant skills, write strong experience statements, tailor your resume to specific jobs and complete practical final checks without trying to game the recruitment process.

Explore Resume Ready →