For much of my career Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) did not exist in the way that we experience them today. I so want to say something along the lines like “Back in my day” but there’s truth there.

When I was starting out, resumes were handled differently. We were taught about paper and format, making it attractive to a human eye with readability a secondary concern.

So it’s easy, maybe even a little comforting, to imagine ATS as an antagonist. An indifferent machine throwing away resumes with the careless shrug of a factory line worker.

But the truth, as it so often is in technology, is more complicated.

The ATS isn’t against you.

It doesn’t scowl at your work history or scoff at your career arc.

It doesn’t admire you, either.

It simply reads differently.

It parses tokens. It measures keyword density. It applies a mechanical sense of “fit” based on patterns and syntax, not stories and spirit.

Token Parsing and Keyword Analysis, a New Kind of Literacy

When you upload your resume, you’re not presenting your story the way you would to a human. You’re offering raw material – nouns, verbs, and phrases – and asking a machine to assemble meaning.

The ATS doesn’t read your resume; it deconstructs it.

It strips it down into tokens: single words, short phrases, sometimes structured concepts if the parser is a little smarter. It analyzes frequency, proximity, and alignment with predefined patterns. It compares what it sees against what it was told to look for.

This is why we stress about “keywords.”

Not because keywords alone win jobs, but because the ATS needs some recognizable signals to move your resume along.

In a way, it’s like trying to write poetry for someone who only understands math.

What a Machine Can’t Yet Do

And yet, no matter how advanced the parsing algorithm, there’s a canyon between analysis and appreciation.

A human reader can pause over a subtle career shift and understand the risk you took. A human can admire how you stitched two seemingly unrelated roles into a coherent narrative of growth. A human can feel the texture of your work in a way that no parser ever truly will.

The machine doesn’t appreciate nuance.

It can’t reward the brave, the unconventional, or the quietly excellent.

Unless those traits are somehow encoded into the right keywords.

And so, when we write for an ATS, we’re not selling out.

We’re translating.

We’re learning a second language, the language of tokens and relevance, just to get an audience with the people who can appreciate the story in full.

Writing for Both the ATS and the Human Reader

If the ATS is a different kind of audience, one that speaks in patterns and probabilities, then crafting your resume becomes an act of quiet translation.

Here’s how to do it without losing the soul of your story:

1. Start with Relevance, Not Noise

It’s tempting to “keyword stuff.” To cram every possible phrase into your resume hoping to check invisible boxes. Resist that.

Instead, start with real relevance.

If the job description mentions “cloud infrastructure” and you’ve built one, say so.

Plainly.

If it mentions “cross-functional collaboration,” show where you did it. Use their language, but ground it in truth.

The best keyword strategy isn’t to fake alignment. It’s to reveal it.

2. Structure Matters More Than You Think

The ATS loves patterns it can predict.

Use clear, simple section headings like Experience, Skills, Education. Not clever alternatives like “Where I’ve Been” or “Knowledge Arsenal.”

Use bulleted lists. Keep your formatting clean. Avoid fancy tables, columns or embedded graphics.

Remember: beauty to a human is often confusion to a parser.

3. Speak Two Languages At Once

It sounds impossible, but it’s an art you can learn.

First, include the “hard tokens” the ATS expects. Specific skills, certifications, technologies, or methodologies. Then wrap them in language that still feels alive:

• Dry: “Implemented CI/CD pipelines.”
• Alive: “Designed and implemented CI/CD pipelines, accelerating deployments and improving team velocity by 30%.”

The keyword CI/CD is there for the parser. The story of improvement is there for the hiring manager.

Both audiences are satisfied. One with recognition. The other with resonance.

4. Context is a Quiet Power

Machines can spot words.

Humans spot meaning.

Now, AI is closing the gap with this. So maybe, hopefully, in a year or three, the ATS will be better at this. But we’re still here now.

So, don’t just list technologies or projects.

Frame them with context: Why did it matter? What problem did it solve? Who benefited?

Even a machine-simplified resume can hint at deeper currents that a reader will pick up on once you’re through the door.

5. Precision Over Poetry

In a just world, elegant prose would carry us forward.

We would know that every resume we submitted was reviewed and weighed by a human with human thoughts and analysis.

In the reality of ATS parsing, precision wins.

Say “SQL Server” if that’s the skill. Say “Salesforce integration” if that’s the work.

Save the lyrical turns of phrase for your portfolio, cover letter or the interview itself.

The goal isn’t to dazzle. It’s to be seen.

Writing for an ATS is a little like sending a message in a bottle. You need the bottle sturdy enough to survive the waves, but inside, you still tuck away a letter worth reading.

The real audience is still human.

You’re just learning to pass through the machine on your way to them.

The Real Audience Still Matters

The ATS is a filter, not a final judge. It’s the bouncer, not the hiring manager.

It lets you into the room. It doesn’t decide if you belong there.

Once you pass through the parsing and keyword analysis, your story will still matter. Your voice will still matter. You still have to speak in a way that resonates, connects, and lingers.

The lesson, then, isn’t to flatten yourself into a series of buzzwords.

It’s to speak in two voices at once: one clear and structured for the machine, and one rich and human for the reader beyond.