{"id":1716,"date":"2026-03-17T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/?p=1716"},"modified":"2026-03-17T11:35:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T10:35:48","slug":"niewidzialni-dla-ats-kandydaci-ktorych-nikt-nie-zobaczyl-czesc-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/en\/niewidzialni-dla-ats-kandydaci-ktorych-nikt-nie-zobaczyl-czesc-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Invisible to ATS. The Candidates No One Ever Saw. Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know I gathered momentum and bounced off the ATS like it was a wall?
No? Well, now you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And did you know I did it twice?
No? Then here I am.\nThat nerd who soaks up knowledge like a sponge\u2026 and still couldn\u2019t write a proper CV.\nAnd you know what? That\u2019s okay.\n\nYou have to learn everything at some point.\nSometimes at the cost of sending two CVs into the void instead of to roles that actually mattered.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

How did I know something was off?\n\nI met the requirements.\nI had portfolio projects that matched exactly what the employer was looking for.\nI had the courses needed for the role.\n\nEven the experience I had to create for myself, because I was changing industries and no one was waiting with a ready-made position, felt thoughtful and genuinely valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then\u2026 silence.\nNo response. None.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started to wonder if something was wrong with me.\nWith my skills.\nIf maybe I was overestimating myself.\n\nAnd then it hit me \u2014 something far less dramatic and far more technical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My CV was a collage of aesthetic text boxes.\n\nIt wasn\u2019t a simple, linear document written from top to bottom like a classic Word file.\nHeadings sat next to the content instead of above it.\nThe sections made visual sense to a human, but not logical sense to a system.\n\nThe ATS didn\u2019t know something was \u201cEducation\u201d because the heading was placed beside the description, not over it.\n\nStupid?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a human, maybe.
For technology? Not at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many companies, before a human ever sees your CV, it goes through an ATS.\n\nIt sounds intimidating, but in practice it\u2019s simply a tool for sorting documents.\nIt doesn\u2019t assess potential.\nIt doesn\u2019t see your career change story or the fact that you study in the evenings.\n\nIt checks whether your CV contains the keywords the company is looking for.\nAnd only then does it decide whether to pass you forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And suddenly you realize that it matters whether you save your file as a simple text document or build it out of graphic text boxes.\n\nIt matters whether a section is called \u201cWork Experience\u201d or creatively renamed \u201cMy Career Journey.\u201d\nEven the date format matters \u2014 and whether it\u2019s clear what that date actually refers to.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You know how I started looking at it?\n\nIt may sound controversial, but I began to see my applications as if I were about to become just another record in an Excel table.\nNot a person with a story. A record.\n\nAnd a record has to be clean. Structured. Preferably with no nulls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also realized that matching the job posting matters \u2014 and that doesn\u2019t mean inventing new stories, just adjusting the wording.\n\nIf a company is looking for \u201cSQL Server,\u201d it\u2019s not because they want to test whether you know synonyms.\nThey genuinely mean SQL Server.\n\nThat turned out to be very important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After I started thinking this way, I felt relief.\n\nSuddenly, the silence no longer meant I wasn\u2019t good enough.\nIt meant my \u201crecord\u201d hadn\u2019t been read correctly.\n\nAnd a record can always be corrected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started treating my CV like an analytical project.\n\nIf I can analyze data, I can analyze my own document.\nSo I went drastic.\n\nI stripped out everything except the text.\nAll the visual layout, the columns, the boxes\u2026 gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before applying for the next role, I opened my CV and the job posting side by side in two windows.\n\nI tried to read like an algorithm.\nNo emotions. No assumptions. Just text.\n\nDoes my CV say exactly \u201cSQL Server\u201d?\nDoes it say \u201cGoogle Analytics 4,\u201d not just \u201cGA4\u201d?\n\nI started replacing general phrases with the exact terms used in the posting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also started linking tools to the outcomes they produced.\n\nApparently, modern recruitment systems are increasingly analyzing not just the presence of specific keywords, but the context in which they appear. I\u2019m not an ATS specialist, and I don\u2019t pretend to know how their algorithms work. But if that\u2019s even partly true, then in a situation where other candidates show context and I don\u2019t, I\u2019m automatically placing myself one step behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I reorganized the entire structure of my CV.\n\nHeadings moved above their sections.\nI kept the layout clean and structured, making sure the ATS could read it properly.\nI placed clear, understandable dates close to the headings they referred to.\n\nAnd I used standard section names like Work Experience, Skills, and Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, with every CV I sent out, I made sure the job title from the posting found its way into my document.\n\nIf not in the headline, then somewhere in the description.\n\nAt the same time, I was careful not to create a fictional version of myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did I feel a difference after those changes?\nDefinitely.\n\nI won\u2019t say I was suddenly flooded with interview invitations.\nBut I started receiving system responses.\n\nYou might be smiling right now, thinking, \u201cSo that still didn\u2019t get you anywhere.\u201d\nI see it differently.\n\nMy \u201crecord\u201d made it into the table.\nI stopped being invisible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we work with data, systems, and algorithms, why do we assume recruitment works purely on emotion?\n\nIt doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re also trying to figure out how to communicate with an ATS, maybe I can help a little.\n\nI created my own simple CV templates. The kind that don\u2019t fight the system but let themselves be read by it.\n\nIf you\u2019d like, you can use them.\nMaybe it will save you one collision with the wall\u2026 and one CV sent into the void.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Based on real life<\/p>\n

\"Waderlla\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
\n\n \"Otw\u00f3rz\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n \"Otw\u00f3rz\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n \"Otw\u00f3rz\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

If I had to sum up the CV changes in a few key points:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 A simple, linear layout. No graphic text boxes, no overcomplicated formatting.
\u2022 Headings placed above sections, not beside them. Use standard section names like Work Experience, Technical Skills, and Education.
\u2022 Use the exact keywords from the job posting, written exactly as they appear. No synonyms. No abbreviations if the company doesn\u2019t use them.
\u2022 Link tool names to the context in which you used them, rather than listing technologies without outcomes.
\u2022 Clear dates, unambiguously tied to each role.
\u2022 Weave the job title from the posting into your CV, if it genuinely aligns with your skills and experience.
\u2022 A logical order: from your most recent experience to the oldest.
\u2022 One CV = one role.\nEach application slightly tailored to the specific posting, rather than sending the same universal document everywhere.
\u2022 Keep the file format as simple as possible.\nA PDF generated from a standard text editor, or a .docx file without unusual fonts.
\u2022 No icons or skill-level charts.\nThe system doesn\u2019t understand stars or progress bars.
\u2022 And most importantly: don\u2019t change who you are. Change how you present it.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wiecie, \u017ce si\u0119 rozp\u0119dzi\u0142am i odbi\u0142am od ATS jak od \u015bciany?Nie? To ju\u017c wiecie. A wiecie, \u017ce zrobi\u0142am to dwa razy?Te\u017c nie? Wi\u0119c oto jestem. Ta kujonka, kt\u00f3ra ch\u0142onie wiedz\u0119 jak g\u0105bka, a nie potrafi\u0142a poprawnie napisa\u0107 CV. I wiecie co? To jest w porz\u0105dku. Wszystkiego trzeba si\u0119 nauczy\u0107. Czasem kosztem wys\u0142ania dw\u00f3ch CV w…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kartka-z-pamietnika"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1716"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2310,"href":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716\/revisions\/2310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olgamironczuk.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}