Applicant Tracking Systems, or ATS, scan resumes for keywords and standard sections. They rank or filter candidates before any human sees your file. For a Professor role, ATS look for teaching, research, grants, and credential keywords.
Use clear section titles like "Work Experience", "Education", and "Skills". List degrees and certifications such as Ph.D., Ed.D., or tenure-track status. Mention pedagogy, curriculum development, course design, assessment, and LMS names like Canvas or Blackboard.
- Include research terms: peer-reviewed publications, grant writing, IRB, conference presentations.
- Include teaching terms: lecture, syllabus, mentoring, student advising, curriculum mapping.
- Include service terms: committee service, accreditation, departmental leadership.
Avoid complex formatting. Don’t use tables, columns, text boxes, headers, footers, images, or graphics. ATS often misread those elements and drop content.
Pick standard fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman. Save as .docx or PDF unless a job posting specifies otherwise. Keep layout simple and consistent.
Common mistakes include swapping exact keywords for creative synonyms. ATS match exact phrases, so don’t write "learner facilitation" instead of "teaching". Another error is hiding dates or education in headers or footers. You may also omit key tools like "grant writing" or "Canvas" and lose matches.