ATS Decrypted: What Is Happening With Your Job Application Behind the Scenes

If you’ve ever applied for a job online and never heard back, you’re not alone. Many qualified candidates never make it past the first hurdle—the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This invisible gatekeeper scans, sorts, and ranks resumes before a human ever sees them. Understanding how it works can dramatically improve your chances of landing an interview.

If you are wondering what exactly happens to your resume after you hit "Submit," here’s a technical breakdown of the processes inside an ATS.

What Is an ATS?

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software used by employers to manage job applications. Nearly 75% of recruiters use an ATS to filter resumes before a hiring manager reviews them.

The ATS scans your resume for keywords, job titles, skills, and other criteria to determine if you’re a match. If your resume isn’t optimized, it might get rejected—even if you’re highly qualified.

How Does the ATS Process Your Resume?

1. Application Intake & Storage

• Input Method: Your application enters the ATS via:

- Direct upload (resume/CV)

- Web form (manual data entry)

- LinkedIn/Indeed integration (API-based parsing)

• Database Entry: Your profile is then stored in the ATS database (SQL/NoSQL) with metadata (timestamp, source, job ID).

2. Resume Parsing & Data Extraction

• Text Extraction: OCR (Optical Character Recognition) or NLP (Natural Language Processing) engines extract raw text.*)
• Structured Data Mapping:

- Name, Email, Phone → Candidate profile fields

- Work History → Mapped to "Experience" with dates, titles, companies

- Skills & Education → Tagged for searchability

• Common Parsing Errors:

- Misread dates due to unconventional formatting

- Skipped sections if your headers are non-standard (e.g., "Career Journey" vs. "Work Experience")

- If your resume has complex formatting (columns, tables, graphics), the ATS may skip important information or reject it completely.

*) If you're wondering why you still need to manually enter your key details after uploading them in your resume, it's because no parsing engine is perfect. Your potential employer prefers having all your information organized in one place for a thorough evaluation—and that's ultimately in your best interest, too. So don't be angry and take the time to complete it.

3. Automated Filtering & Scoring

• Rule-Based Filters:

- Hard requirements (e.g., "Must have Python") → Lead to an instant rejection if any of them are missing.

- Knockout application questions (e.g., "Are you legally authorized to work in the US?")

• Keyword Matching:

- TF-IDF (Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency) method or NLP models rank your resume relevance.

- Synonyms may or may not be recognized (e.g., "JS" vs. "JavaScript"). AI-enhanced systems use semantic analysis to detect synonyms, related terms, and context.

- Advanced algorithms can even interpret nuances in phrasing to identify soft skills or specific achievements.

• Scoring Algorithms:

- Weighted scores for skills, titles, years of experience.

- Some ATS use machine learning to prioritize candidates similar to past hires or existing team members.

4. Shortlisting & Workflow Routing

• Threshold Check: The ATS sorts applications based on ranking and moves forward the top 10% to 25% of candidates. Some ATS tools even reject candidates below a certain threshold automatically (e.g., <70% match).
• Recruiter Assignment: Top candidates are routed to:

- A recruiter’s dashboard

- A hiring manager’s queue

- A specific pipeline stage (e.g., "Phone Screen")

• Duplicate Detection: Some ATS merge applications if you apply multiple times.

5. Human Review & Interaction

• ATS Interface: Recruiters see parsed data in a structured view (not your original PDF).
• Manual Overrides: Recruiters can:

- Adjust your application rankings

- Add notes ("Strong culture fit!")

- Reject your application despite high ATS scores

- Move your application forward despite low ATS scores

6. Post-Decision Actions

• Hired: Profile moves to "Onboarding" module or is exported into HRIS (e.g., Workday, BambooHR).
• Rejected:

- May send an automated rejection message (if configured).

- Your profile may be stored in the database ("Talent Pool") for future roles (sometimes you have to give an explicit consent for that).

• Ghosted: Most ATS leave applications in limbo unless a status update message is triggered by a human recruiter.

Standard ATS Pipeline Stages

For a candidate, an ATS might seem like a mysterious black box, but it can reveal interesting information and signal where your application might eventually be stalled. Most systems use variations of these labels to track candidates’ progress:

1. New / Submitted: Application received but not yet reviewed. May sit here until parsed/scored.
2. Under Review / Screening: Resume parsed, scored, and awaiting human review.
3. Shortlisted / Qualified: Passed initial ATS screening and moved to the recruiter's queue for manual evaluation.
4. Phone Screen / Interview Scheduled: Recruiter reaches out to you for initial interview.
5. Interview: Eventually broken into sub-stages such as First Round, Technical Assessment, Panel Interview, Final Interview, etc.
6. Reference Check: Used only if the employer checks references.
7. Offer Pending / Negotiation: Verbal offer made; paperwork in progress.
8. Hired / Onboarding: Candidate accepts offer and profile moves to HRIS for onboarding.
9. Rejected / Archived: May be tagged for future roles (e.g., "Talent Pool").

ATS-Specific Variations

Different platforms use slightly different terminology:

• Workday: Applied → In Review → Interview → Offer → Hired
• Greenhouse: Application Review → Phone Screen → Onsite → Offer → Hired
• Lever: New → Lead → Interview → Offer → Hired
• Taleo: Submitted → Under Review → Selected → Interview → Filled
• BambooHR: Received → Screening → Interview → Offer Accepted

You should be aware though that some ATS let recruiters customize stage names (e.g., "Talent Review" instead of "Screening"), so you might encounter varying terminology across different systems and companies.

Why This Matters

• Identify a potential stall situation: If your status stays "Under Review" for weeks, the role may be frozen.
• Re-application: Some ATS block duplicate applications. Your repeated application is most probably unsuccessful unless the stage changes (e.g., from "Rejected" to "New").
• Tailored follow-up: Knowing stages helps you tailor follow-ups (e.g., ask "Has my application moved to the screening phase?").

If you’re curious what happened to your application, check the status in the portal you applied through or simply ask the recruiter to share where you are in the hiring process.

Why Your Resume Disappears

• ❌ Failed Parsing: Unreadable formats, fancy templates, headers/footers, and images can confuse the system. 
• ❌ Low Keyword Density: If your resume doesn’t include enough terms from the job description, the ATS will filter you out. Remember that submitting the same resume for every job reduces your chances of matching specific criteria.
• ❌ Missing Hard Requirements: Lacking non-negotiable requirements such as the legal right to work in the relevant country, or missing essential certifications or licenses.

Read more here: Should You Reach to the Hiring Manager Directly?

How to Beat the ATS

✅ Embed Keywords from the Job Posting Naturally – Mirror the language in the job description (e.g., "Managed Python scripts for data automation").

✅ Keep Formatting Simple – Use basic formatting, such as plain text, bold font, and bullet points. Avoid columns, tables, graphics.

✅ Use Standard Headers – Clear headings like "Work Experience," "Skills," and "Education" instead of “My Professional Journey” or “What Makes Me Great”.

✅ Save as MS Word or PDF (unless specified otherwise) – Some older ATS systems struggle with PDFs, so always check the employer’s preference.

✅ Avoid "Creative" Resumes – Unless you’re in design/marketing.

Read more here: Your Complete Guide to Writing a Perfect Resume (Plus a Free Template)

The Brutal Truth

Most ATS are just glorified database filters—not superhuman AI. They eliminate candidates based on key job criteria. Remember, your resume isn’t judged; it’s decoded.

Want the exact keywords your target job is scanning for? Try reverse-engineering the job description with a word cloud tool or an LLM such as ChatGPT.

Read more here: Harness the Power of AI in Your Job Search II. (Plus 10 Best ChatGPT Prompts)

Final Tip: Test Your Resume Before Applying

Use free tools like Jobscan or ResumeWorded to check how well your resume matches a job description before submitting.

Conclusion

The ATS is a hurdle, but not an insurmountable one. By optimizing your resume for both machines and humans, you’ll dramatically increase your chances of landing an interview.

Would you like a downloadable ATS-friendly resume template? Download my professional resume template for free here!

Good luck!

You May Also Like:

• Why They Ghost You: The Real Reason Behind the Silence
• How to Craft a Winning Job Search Strategy
• Navigate Your Job Hunt with Confidence to Attract the Best Opportunities (Plus a Free Resilience Worksheet)

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Do you need my personal assistance? Simply send me your resume and a link to your LinkedIn profile at vaclav@getyourdreamjob.co and I will come back to you!