An ATS, or Applicant Tracking System, is software used by hiring departments (recruiters, HR, talent acquisition, etc). There are many Applicant Tracking Systems in the United States and while each one is different, they are primarily designed for recruitment tracking purposes.


Most ATS’ are set up to automatically filter applications based on keywords, skills, former employers, years of experience, schools attended, etc. This filtering helps to save hiring managers time by producing a shortlist of candidates vs having them revew potentially hundreds of resumes. (Fun Fact: Did you know that the average number of applications per job in the US is approximately 118?)


Depending on the specific filtering each employer has set within their ATS, it will scan resumes and often produce a score based on that criteria so that only the ones with the most optimal keywords, etc. get seen by the hiring managers. The rest often go unseen. Without enough keywords to be noticed, your resume might be one of these - Intry is here to fix that!