AI is now screening 95% of resumes before any human sees them. That beautiful resume you spent hours perfecting? A robot is deciding in 3 seconds whether it's worth showing to a recruiter.

And that robot doesn't care about your elegant prose, your creative layout, or your thoughtfully crafted career narrative. It cares about keywords, formatting it can parse, and pattern matching.

If you're still writing resumes for humans, you're doing it wrong. Here's how to write for the algorithm first, humans second.

Use Exact Keywords From the Job Description

AI screening works by matching your resume against the job description. Not similar words. Not synonyms. Exact matches.

The job description says: "Experience with React.js required"

Your resume says: "Expert in modern JavaScript frameworks"

AI thinks: No match. Rejected.

Pull the exact phrases from the job description and use them in your resume. If they want "React.js," write "React.js." If they want "project management," write "project management," not "led cross-functional teams."

This feels repetitive and unnatural. Do it anyway. The AI needs exact keyword matches to pass you through.

Don't Get Fancy With Formatting

AI resume parsers hate creative layouts, multiple columns, text boxes, graphics, and unusual fonts. They can't read them properly, which means your carefully designed resume gets scrambled into gibberish.

What works:

• Simple single-column layout
• Standard fonts (Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri)
• Clear section headers (Experience, Education, Skills)
• Bullet points for accomplishments
• Plain text without graphics or images

What breaks AI parsers:

• Two-column layouts
• Text boxes or tables
• Headers and footers with important info
• Fancy fonts or decorative elements
• Infographic-style resumes

Save the creative design for your portfolio. Your resume needs to be boring and parseable.

Spell Out Acronyms (But Also Use the Acronym)

AI might be looking for "Machine Learning" or it might be looking for "ML." You don't know which one the company programmed it to search for.

Solution: Use both. "Implemented Machine Learning (ML) algorithms for customer segmentation."

Same with any industry acronym. "Search Engine Optimization (SEO)," "Application Programming Interface (API)," "Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)."

Yes, it's redundant. Yes, it looks slightly awkward. But it ensures the AI catches the keyword regardless of which version it's searching for.

Quantify Everything

AI loves numbers because they're easy to parse and compare. "Improved sales" means nothing to an algorithm. "Increased sales by 34%" is a measurable achievement.

Instead of: "Managed a team" Write: "Managed team of 8 developers"

Instead of: "Improved customer satisfaction" Write: "Improved customer satisfaction scores from 72% to 89%"

Instead of: "Reduced costs" Write: "Reduced operational costs by $450K annually"

The AI is literally scoring your resume partly based on presence of numerical metrics. Give it numbers to count.

Don't Hide Your Skills in Paragraphs

AI scans for a "Skills" section to quickly assess your capabilities. If you bury "Python" in a paragraph under your job description, the AI might miss it.

Create a dedicated Skills section:

Technical Skills: Python, JavaScript, React, Node.js, SQL, AWS, Docker, Git

Project Management Tools: Jira, Asana, Monday.com, Microsoft Project

Languages: English (native), Spanish (professional proficiency)

List everything relevant. The AI is checking boxes. Make it easy for the algorithm to find what it's looking for.

Address Employment Gaps Directly

AI flags employment gaps as red flags. If you have gaps, explain them directly on your resume so the AI (and humans) understand context.

Instead of:

• ABC Company (2018-2020)
• XYZ Company (2023-present)

Write:

• ABC Company (2018-2020)
• Master's Degree, Harvard Business School (2020-2022)
• XYZ Company (2023-present)

Or:

• ABC Company (2018-2020)
• Parental Leave (2020-2021)
• XYZ Company (2021-present)

The AI is looking for continuous employment or legitimate explanations for gaps. Give it the explanation upfront.

Customize Every Application

Generic resumes get rejected by AI fast. The algorithm is comparing your resume directly against the specific job description. If your resume doesn't closely match, you're filtered out.

This means you need to customize your resume for each application:

• Adjust your skills section to prioritize relevant skills
• Rewrite bullet points to emphasize relevant experience
• Use the exact terminology from the job description
• Highlight projects and achievements most relevant to the role

Yes, this is time-consuming. Yes, you need to do it anyway. Mass-applying with a generic resume has a near-zero success rate when AI is screening.

Use Standard Job Titles

AI matches against databases of common job titles. If your company used a quirky internal title, translate it to standard industry terminology.

Your actual title: "Innovation Catalyst & Culture Champion" What your resume should say: "Senior Project Manager"

Your actual title: "Customer Happiness Hero" What your resume should say: "Customer Success Manager"

You can note the official title in parentheses if you want: "Senior Project Manager (titled Innovation Catalyst internally)," but lead with the standard title AI recognizes.

Include Context for Lesser-Known Companies

AI evaluates candidates partly based on company prestige and size. If you worked at companies nobody's heard of, provide context so the AI understands the scale and significance.

Instead of: "Software Engineer at TechStartup Inc."

Write: "Software Engineer at TechStartup Inc. (Series B SaaS company, $50M ARR, 200 employees)"

This helps the AI understand that you worked at a legitimate, substantial company even if the name isn't recognizable.

Don't Keyword Stuff (But Get Close to the Edge)

There's a temptation to just copy-paste the entire job description into your resume to maximize keyword matching. AI systems are trained to detect this and will flag your resume for keyword stuffing.

What you're going for: Natural use of relevant keywords throughout your resume where they genuinely describe your experience.

What you're avoiding: Dumping a list of 50 keywords at the bottom of your resume in white text hoping the AI counts them.

Use keywords naturally in context, but use them frequently where appropriate.

The Bottom Line

AI resume screening is the gatekeeper to human review. You can be the perfect candidate, but if the algorithm rejects you, nobody will ever know.

Optimize your resume for AI first:

• Use exact keywords from job descriptions
• Keep formatting simple and parseable
• Quantify achievements with numbers
• Create a clear Skills section
• Explain employment gaps directly
• Customize for each application
• Use standard job titles
• Provide context for lesser-known companies

Once you pass the AI screening, humans will read your resume and evaluate you properly. But you have to get past the robot first.

Welcome to recruiting in 2025: write for the algorithm, hope humans eventually see it.