Every year, millions of job seekers submit applications only to receive automatic rejections or complete radio silence. The culprit? Those dreaded applicant tracking systems (ATS) that seem to devour resumes before human eyes ever see them.

The Real Numbers Behind the Madness

While you've probably heard that "75% of resumes are rejected by ATS," the truth is more nuanced. Derek Mobley, who sued software firm Workday after 100+ unsuccessful applications, discovered what many job seekers face: algorithmic screening that can eliminate qualified candidates for mysterious reasons. 

A major consulting firm found that up to 70% of resumes are indeed rejected by ATS systems before reaching human recruiters.

Why Your Resume Gets the Boot

The most common culprits aren't mysterious AI conspiracies —they're surprisingly simple mistakes:

  • Wrong formatting: Fancy designs, tables, and graphics confuse ATS systems that can't parse complex layouts
  • Missing keywords: ATS heavily relies on keyword matching, scanning for specific terms from job descriptions
  • File format failures: Saving as .jpg or .png instead of .docx can lead to automatic dismissal
  • Creative section headers: Using "My Journey" instead of "Work Experience" can trip up parsing algorithms

The Human Element Everyone Forgets

Here's the plot twist: career coach Dr. Kyle Elliott, who works with Silicon Valley professionals, argues that humans still make the final decisions.

"I have conversed with thousands of recruiters and HR specialists... they all confirm that they do, in fact, review résumés personally".

Your Action Plan

Skip the fancy templates. Use standard fonts like Arial or Calibri, incorporate job-specific keywords naturally, and save as .docx. Most importantly, tailor each application—because whether it's a bot or human doing the initial screening, relevance always wins.

The ATS isn't your enemy—an untailored, poorly formatted resume is.