Up-Level Your Data Science Resume - Getting Past ATS

This series is going to dive into the tip of the iceberg on how to create an effective resume that gets calls. When I surveyed my email list, the top three things that people were concerned about regarding their resumes were:

• Being able to get past ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
• Writing strong impactful bullet points instead of listing “job duties”
• How to position yourself when you haven’t had a Data Science job previously

This article is the first part of a three-part series that will cover the above mentioned topics. Today we’re going to cover getting past ATS.

If you’re not familiar with ATS, it stands for Applicant Tracking System. If you’re applying directly on a website for a position, and the company is medium to large, it’s very likely that your resume will be subject to ATS before:

1. Your resume lands in the inbox of HR

2. You receive an automated email that looks like this:

It’s hard to speak for all ATS systems, because there are many of them. Just check out the number of ATS systems that indeed.com integrates with https://www.indeed.com/hire/ats-integration.

So how do you make sure you have a good chance of getting past ATS?

1. Make it highly likely that your resume is readable by ATS

2. Make it keyword rich, since ATS is looking for keywords specific to the job

Being readable by ATS:

There has been a movement lately to create these gorgeously designed resumes. You’ll see people “Tableau-ize” their resume (ie — creating a resume using Tableau), include logos, or include charts that are subjective graphs of their level of knowledge in certain skill sets. An example of one of these charts looks like this:

ATS is not going to know what to do with those dots, just as it wouldn’t know what to do with a logo, your picture, or a table; do not use them. To test if your resume is going to be parsed well by ATS, try copying the document and pasting it in word. Is it readable? Or is there a bunch of other stuff? You can also try saving it as plain text and see what it looks like.

As data-loving story tellers, I understand the desire to want to show that you’re able to use visualizations to create an aesthetically appealing resume. And if you’re applying through your network, and not on a company website, maybe you’d consider these styles. I’m not going to assume I know your network and what they’re looking for. And of course, you can have multiple copies of your resume that you choose to use for specific situations.

What is parsable:

I’ve seen a number of blog posts in the data world saying things to the tune of “no one wants to see one of those boring old resumes.” However, those boring resumes are likely to score higher in ATS, because the information is parsable. And you can create an aesthetically pleasing, classic resume.

Some older ATS systems will only parse .doc or .docx formats, others will be able to parse .pdf, but not all elements of the .pdf will be readable if you try to use the fancy image types mentioned above.

Making your resume rich with keywords:

This comes in 2 forms:

1. Making sure that the skills mentioned in these job descriptions are specifically called out on your resume using the wording from the JD.

2. Reducing the amount of “fluff” content on your resume. If your bullets are concise, the ratio of keywords to fluff will be higher and will help you score better.

For point 1, I specifically mention my skills at the top of my resume:

I also make a point to specifically mention these programs and skills where applicable in the bullet points in my resume. If a job description calls for logistic regression, I would add logistic regression specifically to my resume. If the JD calls for just “regression,” I’ll leave this listed as regression on my resume. You get the idea.

It's also important to note that more than just technical skills matter when reading a job description. Companies are looking for employees who can also:

• communicate with the business
• work cross-functionally
• explain results at the appropriate level for the audience that is receiving the information.

If you’re applying for a management position, you’re going to be scored on keywords that are relevant to qualities that are expected of a manager. The job description is the right place to start to see what types of qualities they’re looking for. I’ll have highlighted specific examples in my resume course I’m launching soon.

For point 2, you want to make your bullet points as concise as possible. Typically starting with a verb, mentioning the action, and the result. This will help you get that ratio of “keywords:everything” as high as possible.

In my next article in this series I'm sharing tips on how to position yourself for a job change.  That article is here.