The Best Way to Tailor Your CV for AI Screening

The use of AI, or applicant tracking systems (ATS), to screen CVs and job applications is common practice these days. You may already know about this as a jobseeker, but the idea of AI deciding your career fate can still be worrying. How do you write a CV that appeases the AI gods and moves your application onto the next stage?

The key to handling AI screening, and not letting it intimidate you, is understanding how the ATS process works and where it fits in the recruitment cycle. With that knowledge under your belt, writing your CV will become so much easier.

So what’s the best way to tailor your CV for AI screening? Write it for AI first and then refine it for human eyes. That’s the order most employers use, so it makes sense to write your CV with that same order in mind.

Let’s look at how AI screening works and what you can do to make sure your CV lands on the ‘yes’ pile.

Why do employers use AI screening?

Most employers receive far more job applications than they can easily handle. AI tools help sort through candidates by scanning CVs for patterns that best fit the job description. AI tools don’t judge your personality or potential. They simply check whether your CV contains the skills, experience, and keywords that the employer is interested in.

AI screening tools will look for:

• keywords from the job description
• relevant skills, both technical and transferable
• job titles that match the vacancy
• relevant work experience
• clear section headings
• recent achievements and measurable results

AI screening tools may struggle to understand your CV if you use a complicated template, text boxes, columns, tables, graphics, or unusual job titles.

Once you understand this, tailoring your CV to meet the needs of AI becomes much easier.

Start with the job description

AI screening tools use the job description to judge your CV, so it’s important that you carefully read through this document first. Look for:

• repeated keywords and phrases, for instance, customer service or data analysis
• must-have skills, often found under necessary requirements
• technical terms, such as the software and tools used in the job or industry-specific language
• soft skills like communication, negotiation, or teamwork

This will give you a good idea of what the employer has told the AI screening tool to search for in your CV.

Tailor your CV for AI first

Think of this step as making your CV as easy as possible for the AI tool to scan and pick out all the goodies that the employer is interested in.

Use a simple layout

Keep the structure of your CV clean and easy to read. Stick with one column. Use standard and easy to understand headings like Profile, Skills, Experience, and Education. Don’t use tables, text boxes, or images. Use a common font like Calibri. Save your CV as a Word document or a PDF, unless the employer asks for a different format.

Match keywords like a human

Avoid keyword stuffing and instead naturally work those words and phrases into your CV. Include them in your profile summary, skills list, work experience entries, and achievements. AI tools often look for exact keyword matches.

Use standard job titles

The employer wants to know if your current and past job titles make you suitable for the vacancy. Make it as easy as possible for the AI tool by using recognisable job titles where necessary. If you have an unusual job title, pair it with a standard version in brackets. For instance, if you worked as a Sustainer, you might add Senior PA or PA to the Managing Director. Customer Happiness Champion could be paired with Customer Service Adviser. This all helps AI to understand your suitability.

Add a skills section

One easy way to include those keywords in your CV is to add a skills section, for instance, communication, teamwork, leadership, negotiation, or creative thinking. Revamp the order of the list with each job application.

Then refine your CV for human readers

Once you’ve written your AI-friendly CV, it’s time to make it suitable for human eyes. Having passed the AI screening, the recruiter will now skim your CV to pull out other details that make you a good fit for the job.

Make the top third count

This section should grab the reader’s attention and convince them to put you on the ‘keep’ pile. Make sure it includes:

• a brief, confident profile summary
• your most relevant job title and experience
• 4-6 key skills that match the job description

This helps the recruiter quickly understand your value.

Highlight achievements, not duties

Instead of simply listing the tasks you carried out in each job, turn those duties into achievements. If the duty was to ‘answer customer queries’, you might instead say, ‘resolved an average 30 customer queries each day’. This shows the impact you had, not just the tasks you carried out.

Use a calm and easy to read layout

A badly designed, complicated CV layout can often stop a recruiter from continuing any further. Avoid this by making the reading process as easy as possible. Use plenty of white space and consistent formatting. Don’t use long paragraphs. Include clear headings so the recruiter can easily skim your CV and find the information they want.

Wrapping it up

Tailoring your CV for AI screening isn’t about tricking the system. You’re simply making it as easy as possible for the employer to understand your genuine suitability as a candidate. You’re also providing yourself with a better chance of having human eyes on your job application.

When you tailor your CV for AI first and humans second, you match your approach with the order that employers read job applications. You’re writing your CV to make sure your application gets past the AI gatekeepers. It’s a smart shift in mindset that can make all the difference in your job search.