Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) parse resumes and score them against job listings. They look for exact keywords, job titles, skills, and dates, and they may discard resumes with unreadable formatting.
For a Photographer, ATS looks for skills like DSLR, studio lighting, flash, strobe, tethering, color grading, RAW workflow, Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, retouching, portrait, commercial, photojournalism, drone operation, composition, exposure control, aperture, ISO, and shutter speed.
Follow these best practices:
- Use clear section titles: "Work Experience", "Education", "Skills", "Certifications".
- Include job-specific keywords naturally from listings, like "studio lighting", "retouching", "Adobe Lightroom", and "commercial photography".
- Avoid complex formatting such as tables, columns, headers, footers, images, or text boxes.
- Use standard fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman and simple bullets.
- Save as PDF or .docx unless the job asks for one specific format.
Common mistakes photographers make include swapping exact keywords for creative synonyms, which ATS may not match. They also hide dates and job titles in headers or footers, so ATS misses them. Many applicants attach portfolio images inside the resume file, which can confuse parsers and reduce keyword visibility.
Keep each section short and labeled. Put certifications like "Adobe Certified Expert" and camera models like "Canon EOS 5D" in the skills or certifications sections. Tailor each resume slightly to match the job's keyword list.