The rise of applicant tracking systems (ATS), the recruiting software used by 90 percent of businesses to filter and rank resumes, may be helping employers—but it isn’t necessarily helping job seekers.

The idea behind applicant tracking systems is to help hiring managers select the best applicants from the applicant pool by highlighting the best resumes—and even outright eliminating others. One way an ATS works is by finding resume keywords (specific details related to a job, such as required degrees and technical knowledge) and using that information to gauge which candidates are most qualified.



Most job seekers are unaware of applicant tracking systems. This can sometimes lead to qualified applicants being rejected, because their resumes aren’t written with an ATS in mind.

As a result, online resume tools such as Jobscan have emerged to help job seekers understand how to determine which resume keywords are important, and how to optimize their resumes for an ATS.

Dwight Gartmon, 31, a freelance music composer for film and TV moved with his family—his wife and three young boys—from California to Arizona six months ago. Moving isn’t cheap, so though he had been doing freelance work for more than 15 years, his savings account was dwindling. He had more than a decade of solid customer service experience on his resume, and though he enjoyed the field, he wasn’t particularly excited about a tedious and grueling job search.

After applying to more than 50 jobs and not receiving enough positive responses or interview opportunities from employers, Gartmon started to read blogs about resumes in search of things he could do to improve his chances. He noticed people mentioning and highly recommending Jobscan, and decided to give it a shot.

He said he found Jobscan’s online resume tool, which directly compares a job seeker’s resume to a specific job and rates how well they match, to be extremely user-friendly and self-explanatory.

To use Jobscan, all you need to do is paste your resume and target job posting into the appropriate sections on the Jobscan website, click “Scan,” and receive a Match Rate. Jobscan recommends aiming for a Match Rate of at least 80 percent.

Not only is Jobscan able to predict how successful a resume will be when submitted to an ATS, it highlights which aspects of a resume are working, and which aren’t.

Which skills and keywords are already included

Which skills and keywords should be emphasized or prioritized

Which skills and keywords are missing

“Jobscan provided me with the best advice I could’ve received on how to properly tailor my resume for job applications,” Gartmon said.

After taking Jobscan’s recommendations into account and creating tailored resumes for each application, Gartmon immediately landed two job interviews from two different companies. In both cases, he received the replies less than a week after applying. He had actually applied to one of those companies numerous times before using Jobscan, and had no luck. After using Jobscan and landing an interview, Gartmon was hired by that company.

He still continues to hear from companies wishing to set up interviews with him and has recommended Jobscan to all his friends and family.

“Not only did I save money and time using Jobscan, I gained pride on how I was being reflected in my resumes,” Gartmon said.

When asked what advantages he feels Jobscan provides to its users, Gartmon replied: “Jobscan is the advantage!”