Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) scan resumes for keywords and structure. They rank or filter candidates before a human reads your resume, so you need to make yours readable by the machine.
For a Private Equity Associate, ATS looks for terms like LBO modeling, financial modeling, IRR, DCF, EBITDA, due diligence, portfolio management, deal sourcing, debt financing, and LP reporting. Also include certifications like CFA and software names like Excel, Capital IQ, PitchBook, and Bloomberg.
Use clear section titles that ATS expects.
- Work Experience
- Education
- Skills
- Certifications
Avoid complex layouts. Skip tables, columns, text boxes, headers, footers, images, and graphs. These elements often confuse parsers and cause keyword loss.
Write keywords naturally. Mirror phrasing from the job description when it fits your experience. For example, if the posting asks for "LBO modeling" use that exact phrase rather than a synonym.
Pick standard fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman. Save as a Word .docx or a text-friendly PDF. Avoid heavily designed templates that dump content into images.
Common mistakes include using creative section names, burying skills in paragraphs, and omitting key PE terms like due diligence or IRR. Also avoid putting vital info in headers or footers where ATS may skip it.
Keep content concise and action-oriented. Use bullet points for achievements with metrics. Let the ATS find your skills, then let a human see clear impact when they open your file.