How to Create an ATS-Friendly CV for Entry-Level Jobs

Overview

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software that may help an employer organise and search applications. It does not replace human judgement, and not every employer uses the same system. However, a straightforward CV is useful in every case because recruiters can scan it quickly and identify your skills, education, experience, and contact details without unnecessary distractions.

An ATS-friendly CV is not a document filled with repeated keywords. It is a focused CV that uses familiar headings, simple formatting, and wording that accurately reflects the vacancy. Your goal is to show why you are suitable for the specific role while making the document easy for both software and people to read.

For most entry-level jobs, a concise CV is enough. Prioritise relevant evidence rather than trying to include every activity you have completed. A useful structure is:

• Contact details: name, phone number, professional email address, and location if relevant to the role.
• Profile: two or three sentences describing your target role, strengths, and the value you can offer.
• Skills: a selected list of technical, practical, and transferable skills related to the vacancy.
• Experience: paid work, volunteering, placements, projects, campus activities, and other relevant responsibilities.
• Education and training: qualifications, courses, certifications, and expected completion dates where appropriate.

Use the job description as your starting point. Before editing your CV, identify the duties, skills, tools, qualifications, and personal qualities that appear important. A related guide to resume keywords by job category can help you think through the language used in different types of work.

Checklist by scenario

If you have little or no formal experience

• Start with a clear profile that names the type of entry-level job you want.
• Move relevant skills and education higher on the page if they provide stronger evidence than your work history.
• Include coursework, practical assignments, personal projects, volunteering, student societies, caring responsibilities, or community activities when they demonstrate useful abilities.
• Describe what you did and the result. For example, “Organised weekly stock records for a student event” is more informative than “Helped with administration.”
• Do not apologise for being new to the workplace. Focus on reliability, learning, communication, organisation, and role-specific skills that you can support with examples.

If you are changing careers

• Write a profile that explains the direction of your career change without criticising your previous field.
• Translate earlier responsibilities into skills relevant to the new role. Customer-facing work may demonstrate communication and problem-solving; scheduling work may demonstrate planning and attention to detail.
• Place relevant training, certificates, projects, or recent experience where they will be noticed quickly.
• Use a targeted skills section, but support important skills with evidence in your experience or project descriptions.
• Remove older details that do not help the reader understand your fit for the new role.

If you are applying for several similar jobs

• Keep a strong master CV with your full employment, education, and project history.
• Save a separate copy for each application and change the profile, skills, and bullet points to match the vacancy.
• Use the employer’s wording when it truthfully describes your experience. Do not add a skill merely because it appears in the advert.
• Check that the job title in your profile matches your intended application and does not refer to a different role.
• Record the version you submitted. An application tracker can help you remember the CV, cover letter, closing date, and follow-up details for each role.

If you are applying for remote or customer-facing work

• Give specific examples of written communication, digital collaboration, customer support, time management, or independent working.
• Name relevant software only when you can use it confidently or explain your level of familiarity.
• For remote jobs, show how you organised tasks, met deadlines, handled queries, or communicated across channels.
• For retail jobs or other shift-based roles, state relevant availability only if requested and highlight service, cash handling, stock, safety, or teamwork experience where applicable.

What to double-check

Keywords: Compare your CV with the job description line by line. Include relevant terms naturally in your profile, skills, education, and experience sections. Use both the full term and a recognised abbreviation when useful, such as “customer relationship management (CRM),” but avoid repeating the same phrase in every section.

File format: Follow the application instructions exactly. If no format is specified, a clean, text-based document is generally easier to process than a heavily designed file. Open the final file after exporting it to confirm that headings, bullet points, dates, and spacing remain intact.

Layout: Use standard headings such as “Profile,” “Skills,” “Experience,” and “Education.” Choose one readable font, consistent date formatting, and clear spacing. Tables, text boxes, decorative columns, icons, charts, and images can make information harder to extract, so use them cautiously or leave them out.

Evidence: Replace vague claims with actions and outcomes. “Improved,” “coordinated,” “resolved,” “processed,” or “supported” are useful starting points when they accurately describe what you did. Add a measure only when it is truthful and you can explain it.

Consistency: Check spelling, punctuation, verb tense, capitalisation, phone number, email address, and employment dates. Make sure the information on your CV agrees with your application form and professional profiles.

A resume builder or CV optimizer can help with structure and prompts, but treat its suggestions as a review aid rather than an automatic rewrite. You remain responsible for accuracy, tone, and relevance.

Common mistakes

• Using a design-heavy template: A visually impressive layout may hide dates or section headings from a text parser and can distract from your evidence.
• Copying the vacancy: Keyword matching is not a substitute for proof. Connect each important skill to something you have actually done.
• Listing duties without results: Explain how you contributed, solved a problem, served someone, completed a task, or learned a process.
• Including every skill: A long list can weaken your application. Select the capabilities most relevant to the role and show them in context.
• Writing one CV for every job: A general document often misses the employer’s priorities. Tailoring does not require starting from scratch; update the sections that affect relevance.
• Relying on the checker alone: Software may flag formatting or keyword issues, but it cannot confirm whether your examples are credible or whether the role is right for you.
• Submitting an unchecked file: A final export can introduce missing characters, broken links, or unwanted page breaks. Always review the exact version you plan to send.

After your CV is ready, prepare for the next stage rather than treating the application as complete. Review these common interview questions for entry-level jobs and keep examples that support the claims in your CV.

When to revisit

Revisit your ATS-friendly CV whenever the target role, application method, or your evidence changes. Review it before a seasonal job-search period, after completing a course or project, when you gain new work experience, and whenever you begin applying in a different industry. You should also update your approach when an application portal changes its file instructions or when your current CV repeatedly produces little response.

Use this five-minute final checklist before each application:

1. Save a copy with a clear file name, such as your name and the role title.
2. Confirm that the profile and first skills listed match the vacancy.
3. Check that every keyword is accurate and supported by evidence.
4. Remove irrelevant details, formatting elements, and unexplained gaps where clarification is needed.
5. Open the submitted file, proofread it once aloud, and confirm that your contact details and links work.

Keep a master version and record each tailored version you submit. That simple habit makes future updates faster and helps you identify which examples, keywords, and job types deserve more attention in your search for no experience jobs, graduate jobs, or other entry-level opportunities.