Stop Fearing the Software and Start Landing Interviews
There are so many myths about Applicant Tracking Software out there and I am here to solve them. .
I completely understand how overwhelming the job search can feel.
This is particularly true for those who are going through redundancy and suddenly find themselves back in the market.
So let's cure this ATS fear.
By the end of this article, you will have all of the good tips that will really help you through the process.
What actually is ATS?
First of all, Applicant Tracking Software is basically the tool that recruiters use to manage candidate applications and upload job descriptions.
On average, when I pulled stats from some ATS tools in May 2026, I found that 244 applicants apply for each mid to senior corporate role.
Could you imagine not having a system in place to manage 244 candidates?
The software helps send automated emails and helps recruiters understand the skills candidates have applied with.
It helps recruiters speed up the process, which is ultimately better for everyone.
ATS is not something to be feared.
Myth 1: ATS auto-rejects your CV
That is true, but not in the way that everyone seems to think it is.
Basically, it will reject you for things that are "killer questions", as I call them.
Recruiters define what those questions are when they upload the job descriptions.
They can include things like a must-have right to work in the country, a certain salary range, or whether you are willing to travel.
If you apply outside of that salary range or are not willing to travel when the role requires it, you will be automatically rejected.
These are deal breakers for the role that typically mean you will not be successful. It is better for you and better for them to be rejected early.
So yes, ATS does auto-reject, but it is not based on keywords or the relevance of the CV. That is all done by a human.
Myth 2: Your CV gets an exact ATS score
Some CV writers or tools will tell you that your ATS score is a certain percentage.
That is not true.
Every system uses different metrics to score based on the job vacancy.
It is actually the recruiter who puts that information into the system and decides the keywords they want to prioritise.
When you see tools out there that claim your ATS score is 20%, it is simply not true.
They will never take a job description and a CV and tell you exactly what that score is.
That criteria is decided entirely by the company and the recruiter. It’s not publicly available either.
Myth 3: ATS rejects your CV if keywords are missing
Also not true.
When a recruiter uploads a job description, they include keywords they want to see, and the ATS sorts those applications into a rank.
It is incredibly important for you to tailor your CV based on the words that you see in the job description.
If you see recurring words like people management instead of team leadership, speak the language of people management.
If you notice that a particular role is very heavy on stakeholder engagement, make sure your CV actually talks about stakeholder engagement.
That effort is what will make you rank higher on the platform.
If you think of those 244 applications, maybe 44, if you’re lucky, have gone down the auto-reject route because of killer questions.
That leaves 200 applications remaining. As a human recruiter, you are likely going to look at those ranked at the top first.
Once you have read 30 good CVs and can see 10 strong candidates, you might be less inclined to pay attention to the ones ranking lower.
If you take the time to tailor your CV, you will have more success in getting interviews. But the system does not auto-reject for missing keywords. A human always reviews that.
There’s a CV template here which shows you what I mean.
Myth 4: ATS rejects certain CV formats
That is false…sort of.
There are a lot of stories out there that a CV must be very pretty or use a Canva template. Ultimately, the ATS needs to read it.
The best way for ATS to read your CV correctly is a left to right format.
If it is in a left to right format, the software will read your sentences with the right context and understand them clearly.
If you have what I call a "Chinese takeaway CV" with your skills in a column on the left, your bio in a paragraph to the right and your education in a box at the bottom left, ATS really struggles.
Honestly, so do humans too! If the system is reading the sentence, it loses the context and reads it in one go, struggling to rank you properly.
Use a simple left to right CV format.
You can grab my free CV template right here to see exactly what that looks like.
How to get past the system
If you are in doubt and need support to understand how you can get past ATS and into the hands of a recruiter, I can help.
You can access a seven-day free trial of my job application tool right here, with no card needed.
If you upload your CV and the job description, it will tell you how much of a match you are and whether you should apply.
It will give you the specific tips you need to tailor your CV so you can score higher on ATS platforms and land better with a human recruiter.
If you are seeking a new opportunity, hopefully this has helped you bust those ATS myths.
Don't be scared of it.
Use it to your advantage because it is there to help candidates just as much as recruiters.
Reach out if you have any questions or add a comment below, and I will get right back to you.
Good luck with your job searches this week, and if you’d like to learn how I can help you further, Book a free, no-obligation 30-minute consultationwith me and tell me your story.
