Dear Annie: What exactly is an applicant tracking system? I’ve applied for several job openings where my qualifications match the job descriptions for each position precisely, yet I’ve gotten called in for an interview only once (so far). A colleague at my current job told me he read somewhere that computerized applicant tracking systems reject most resumes before a human being even gets involved in the process. Is that true? If it is, how do you get past that and reach an actual person? — Left Hanging in Houston
亲爱的安妮：到底什么是申请人跟踪系统？我申请过几份工作，个人条件完全符合职位要求，但迄今为止，我却只等到了一次面试电话。一位同事告诉我说，他在哪读过，计算机化的申请人跟踪系统会在人工筛选之前就剔除掉大多数简历。这是真的吗？如果是真的，求职者应该怎样做，才能通过网申这一关，让简历最终到达相关人员手中？——L.H.H.

Dear L.H.H.: An applicant tracking system (ATS), as the name implies, is how many big companies keep track of the hundreds or thousands of resumes that are constantly coming in. Designed to follow each candidate through each stage of the hiring process, from application to start date, the systems usually begin with computer software that “reads” each resume and weeds out the ones that don’t match up with specific job openings.
亲爱的L.H.H.：顾名思义，申请人跟踪系统（ATS），是许多大公司用来跟踪不断投递进来的成千上万份简历的一种方式。申请人跟踪系统的设计目的是从申请开始，在招聘过程的各个阶段跟踪每一位求职者，而该系统首先会通过软件“阅读”每一份简历，淘汰不匹配具体职位要求的简历。
Unfortunately, that’s usually a lot less efficient than it sounds. That 75% rejection rate your friend cited probably came from a study by a job search services firm called Preptel (which was founded by its CEO Jon Ciampi, an alumnus of ATS maker SumTotal Systems).
不幸的是，这套系统远没有听起来那么高效。你的朋友所引用的75%的淘汰率，可能来自求职服务公司Preptel进行的一项调查（该公司创始人兼CEO乔恩•希安比曾供职于申请人跟踪系统制造商SumTotal Systems公司）。
The huge number of rejections is due to some, shall we say, quirks in the software that screens resumes before they arrive on a hiring manager’s desk. You could be the perfect prospect for a given job, using all the right keywords, and still be kicked aside by the system because it couldn’t quite make out parts of your resume — like work experience, for instance.
如此高的淘汰率，原因是在招聘经理看到简历之前，软件进行简历筛选时的一些怪癖。你使用了所有正确的关键字，可能是最适合某个岗位的人选，但结果仍可能被该系统淘汰出局，因为它无法辨认部分简历内容——例如工作经验。
Here are four ways that Preptel suggests to avoid:
如何避免被系统淘汰？Preptel公司提供了四条建议：
Go ahead and make your resume longer than the standard one page, if you have lots of experience. ATS software will scan it no matter how long it is. A 3-page document, for instance, may allow you to include more relevant keywords and phrases, which could move up your ranking in the system.
如果你有丰富的工作经验，可以延长简历的篇幅，不必拘泥于一页的标准。ATS软件会对简历进行扫描，不会考虑简历的长度。例如，3页的文件使你可以在其中包含更多相关的关键词和短语，这将有助于提高你在系统中的排名。
Call your work experience “Work Experience.” Using less common headings, like “Professional Accomplishments,” may mean that section doesn’t appear at all in the formatted version of your resume created by the software. Likewise, never start each mention of a past (or current) job with dates of employment. The system looks for company names, so put them first, then the dates.
使用常用标题（如“工作经验”）。如果使用不太常用的标题，例如“职业成就”，可能意味着这部分根本不会出现在软件创建的标准版简历当中。同样，在提到过去（或现在）的工作时，不要以入职日期开头。系统会检索公司名称，因此要将名称放在日期前面。
Don’t include tables or graphics, because most tracking systems can’t read them. Likewise, don’t use italics, although boldface type is usually fine, and stick with clear, easy-to-read typefaces. Preptel recommends Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Georgia, Impact, Courier, Lucinda or Palatino.
简历中不要包含表格或图片，因为大多数跟踪系统无法读取这些格式。也不要使用斜体字，虽然粗体字通常是可以接受的，但最好使用清楚易读的字体。Preptel建议使用Arial、Tahoma、Calibri、Georgia、Impact、Courier、Lucinda或Palatino等字体。
Never send a resume as a PDF. Since many systems lack a standard way to structure them, they’re often garbled. The same is true of resumes that are pasted into the body of an email. As ATS software gets more sophisticated, some of these limitations will go away. Most systems are already much better at reading Word documents than they used to be, for example, so Preptel now recommends uploading your resume as a Word attachment.
永远不要发送PDF格式的简历。由于许多系统缺乏分析PDF结构的标准方法，因此它们往往会断章取义。粘贴到电子邮件正文中的简历，同样面临该类问题。随着ATS软件变得更加先进，这些限制终将消失。例如，大多数系统在读取Word文档方面，已经比之前有很大改善，所以Preptel建议，以Word附件的形式上传简历。
Once you get through the digital winnowing stage, your resume matters a lot less. “At that point, forget about keywords and focus on how you’re perceived on social media sites, including your own web site if you have one,” says Miranda Nash, president of online recruiting platform Jobscience. “You want to make sure you’re conveying a consistent personal image online that reinforces your expertise in your field.”
只要通过了数字海选，简历的重要性便会降低。在线招聘平台Jobscience的总裁米兰达•纳什说道：“到达这个阶段，就不要再想关键字了。要把重点放到自己在社交媒体网站上的形象，包括可能有的个人网站。你要保证在网上呈现出的个人形象始终如一，并且能够增强你在相关领域的经验。”
How, exactly? “Publish some of your best work on SlideShare and include that in your LinkedIn profile, for example,” Nash says. “Expand your presentation of your work, using a medium beyond your resume.” One of Jobscience’s clients is Cirque du Soleil, “so a resume is pretty useless,” she notes. “Most applicants submit videos instead, which is getting more common in other fields too.”
具体应该怎么做？纳什说道：“例如，你可以在幻灯片存储与展示网站SlideShare上发布一些你最好的作品，并将其列入LinkedIn的个人资料当中。使用简历之外的媒介展示你的工作。”太阳马戏团（Cirque du Soleil）也是Jobscience的客户。她表示：“（对于这样的组织）简历基本毫无用处。大多数申请者会提交视频，而且这种做法在其他领域也变得更加普遍。”
Nash also recommends “stepping into the interviewer’s shoes and doing some research from their point of view. News about the company, announcements they’ve made recently, what their competitors are doing — knowing these things will help you stand out from other applicants with the people who are making notes on your ATS file.”
此外，纳什还建议“站在面试官的立场，从他们的角度出发进行一些调查。关于公司的新闻，他们最近发表的声明，其竞争对手的动向等，了解这些信息，吸引面试官的注意，这将帮助你从众多求职者中脱颖而出。”