‘Keyword stuffing’: The No. 1 resume mistake

Lately, the biggest resume mistake I’ve been seeing people make is “keyword stuffing” — or trying to use as many keywords from the job description as possible.

Job seekers often do this because they believe the resume scanning software many employers use — known as Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) — automatically rejects resumes that have too few keywords.

But the primary function of an ATS is to organize applications and make the hiring process easier for recruiters. It does things like keep track of applicants and interview schedules.

It doesn’t actually reject applications.