The previous article on this blog explained why CVs get rejected before a human sees them. This one goes deeper: the specific mistakes that trigger rejection, ranked by how common they are.

Most of these are invisible to the job seeker. The CV looks fine on screen. The formatting looks clean. The experience is relevant. But the ATS reads it differently from how a human does — and small errors at the technical level can eliminate you from roles you are genuinely qualified for.

75%
of CVs are rejected by ATS before a recruiter sees them, according to studies by Harvard Business School and Gartner

Here are the ten mistakes, in order of how often they cause silent rejections.

The 10 Mistakes

1
Using synonyms instead of the employer's exact keywords
You wrote "requirements gathering." The job description says "requirements elicitation." To you, they mean the same thing. To the ATS, they are different strings — and only one of them scores a match. This is the single most common reason qualified candidates are filtered out. The ATS doesn't understand meaning. It pattern-matches text.
Copy the exact terminology from each job description into your CV. Not paraphrases. The actual words.
2
One generic CV sent to every role
A CV written once and sent unchanged to every application will score poorly on ATS for most of them. Different employers, different sectors, different company sizes — they all use different language for the same skills. A "Project Manager" at an NHS trust and a "Project Manager" at a fintech startup are looking for completely different things, and their job descriptions reflect that.
Tailor your CV to each role. At minimum, rewrite your professional summary and update your skills section with the language from that specific job description.
3
Hiding keywords in tables, text boxes, or headers
Many ATS systems cannot read text inside tables, text boxes, columns, or document headers and footers. If you've put your contact details in the header, your skills in a table, or your qualifications in a text box — the ATS may not parse any of it. Your contact details might be invisible. Your skills might not exist as far as the software is concerned.
Use simple, single-column formatting with standard body text for all content. No tables. No text boxes. Contact details in the main body, not the document header.
4
Submitting a PDF when the employer wants a Word document
Some ATS systems struggle to parse PDFs, particularly those created from design software rather than Word. The formatting comes through as garbled text, or the file is rejected entirely. Many job applications explicitly ask for a Word document — and a significant number of applicants ignore this and submit a PDF anyway.
Read the application instructions. If they ask for Word, submit Word. If they don't specify, keep both versions ready. When in doubt, Word is safer.
5
Using graphics, icons, and images
Skill bars, icons, profile photos, logos — none of these are readable by ATS. The software sees an image file where you intended a skill or a qualification. A CV that looks impressive to a human may be almost empty to the software that decides whether it reaches a human at all. This is a particular problem with templates downloaded from design websites.
Remove all graphics from your CV. Replace skill bars with written descriptions. Save the visual design for creative roles where a portfolio is submitted separately.
6
Non-standard section headings
ATS software is trained to look for standard CV sections: Work Experience, Education, Skills, Qualifications. If your headings are creative — "My Journey," "Where I've Been," "What I Bring" — the system may not classify the content correctly. Your ten years of experience might not be categorised as experience at all.
Use conventional headings: Work Experience, Professional Summary, Education, Skills, Certifications. Keep it predictable — your content is where you differentiate, not your headings.
7
Abbreviations without the full term
You wrote "PMP." The job description says "Project Management Professional." Or you wrote "NHS" and the system was looking for "National Health Service." ATS systems search for exact strings. If the abbreviation and the full term don't both appear in your CV, you may miss matches on both.
Write the full term followed by the abbreviation in brackets on first use: "Project Management Professional (PMP)." After that, you can use either. This way, you match both search patterns.
8
Burying keywords in the wrong section
Some ATS systems weight different sections differently. Keywords in your professional summary or skills section may score higher than the same keyword buried in a bullet point from a role you left seven years ago. If the most important keywords for this role aren't visible near the top of your CV, you may score lower than a less experienced candidate who front-loaded them correctly.
Mirror the most important keywords from the job description in your professional summary and skills section — not just in your job history. The closer to the top, the better.
9
Applying for the wrong level
ATS systems increasingly use experience-level filtering. If the role requires five years' experience and your CV doesn't clearly demonstrate it — even if you have it — the system may not surface you. This often happens when candidates are too modest, listing responsibilities without making the seniority of those responsibilities visible, or when the formatting doesn't make career progression clear.
Make the scope and seniority of your roles explicit. "Managed a team of 8" is clearer than "team management responsibilities." Years in role and job titles should be prominent and easy to parse.
10
Ignoring the job market you're applying to
A UK CV sent to a US company will flag as unusual — different length expectations, different section conventions, different terminology (CV vs resume, modules vs courses, university vs college). Similarly, applications for roles in the UAE, Canada, or Australia have their own conventions. ATS systems in different markets are tuned to local norms. A document that scores 85% in the UK may score 60% for the same role in the US.
Match your CV format and terminology to the market you're applying in. UK CVs are typically 2 pages. US resumes are 1 page. Some Gulf markets expect a photo. Know the conventions before you apply.

How to Check Your ATS Score Before You Apply

The most reliable way to know how your CV will perform is to scan it against the job description before you submit. This gives you an objective score — the percentage of the employer's keywords that appear in your document — and shows you exactly what's missing.

An ATS score below 70% is unlikely to make it through automated filtering at most large employers. Between 70% and 80% is borderline. Above 80% puts you in the range where a recruiter is likely to see you.

What a good ATS score doesn't mean: A score of 90% doesn't guarantee an interview. It means your CV will reach a human. After that, it's your experience, your achievements, and how you present them that matter. ATS optimisation is the floor — not the ceiling.

A Note on Over-Optimisation

Some candidates go too far. They stuff every keyword from the job description into their CV — even skills they don't have — in the hope of gaming the ATS score.

This doesn't work for two reasons.

First, recruiters aren't fooled. When a human does read the CV, inconsistencies are obvious immediately. A candidate who claims "extensive experience in financial modelling" and then can't discuss it at interview is a wasted hire — and recruiters have seen this pattern hundreds of times.

Second, increasingly sophisticated ATS systems are beginning to detect keyword stuffing and penalise it.

The right approach: include keywords you genuinely have evidence for, and make that evidence specific and visible. "Led financial modelling for a £40m infrastructure project" is better than just "financial modelling" — it scores the keyword and demonstrates it credibly.

Check your ATS score in 30 seconds

Paste your CV and the job description. CVShortlist analyses keyword match, identifies what's missing, and rewrites your CV to close the gaps — using the employer's exact language, for their specific market. Early users are seeing scores jump from the 50s and 60s into the 80s and 90s.

Try free — no card required See pricing →

The Checklist

Before submitting any application, run through these ten points:

  1. Have I used the employer's exact keyword phrases — not my own paraphrases?
  2. Have I tailored this CV specifically for this role and this employer?
  3. Is all text in the main body — no tables, text boxes, or document headers?
  4. Have I submitted in the format the employer asked for?
  5. Have I removed all graphics, skill bars, and icons?
  6. Are my section headings conventional and easy to parse?
  7. Have I written out abbreviations in full at least once?
  8. Are the most important keywords prominent near the top?
  9. Is my seniority and scope of experience clearly visible?
  10. Does my CV match the format conventions of the market I'm applying to?

If you can answer yes to all ten, your CV is in a strong position. The rest is down to your experience and how well it genuinely matches the role.

The goal isn't to trick the system. It's to make sure the system doesn't dismiss you before a human has the chance to see why you're right for this role.

Emmanuel Anyaegbu is the founder of CVShortlist and CEO of Zustech, a technology training firm that has helped over 1,000 professionals build careers in tech. He has worked as an IT consultant with organisations including the Bank of England, HSBC, NatWest, and Lloyds.