Applicant Tracking Systems, or ATS, scan resumes for keywords and structure. They rank resumes and often filter out ones that look unreadable to the system.
For a Veterinary Technician, ATS look for skills like patient handling, anesthesia monitoring, IV catheterization, radiography, dental prophylaxis, lab testing, cytology, and certifications like CVT, RVT, or VTNE. They also look for software terms like Avimark, Cornerstone, or ImproMed.
- Use standard section titles: Work Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications.
- List core clinical skills and tools: anesthesia monitoring, dental scaling, jugular venipuncture, fecal flotation, blood chemistry analyzer.
- Include relevant certs: CVT, RVT, state licensure, CPR certification.
Avoid fancy formatting like tables, columns, text boxes, headers, footers, images, or graphs. Those elements often scramble when ATS parse the file.
Use clear, readable fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman. Save your file as a .docx or a simple PDF. If you use PDF, keep the layout simple and text-based.
Write bullets that start with action verbs and include measurable outcomes. For example, note how many anesthetic procedures you monitored or how many lab samples you processed per week.
Common mistakes include swapping exact keywords for creative synonyms. If the job asks for "radiography," don’t only say "imaging." Avoid putting vital info in headers or footers. Don’t omit key tools or certs the job lists.
Follow these tips and you’ll get past filters and into a human reviewer’s hands.