What are ATS keywords?
ATS keywords are the words an applicant tracking system scans for when it decides which resumes a recruiter sees first. They aren't secret — they're in the job posting. Every posting has its own set, which is why one generic resume sent to 50 jobs scores poorly on most of them.
The six types of resume keywords
- Hard skills
- SQL, financial modeling, forklift operation, patient intake
- Tools & software
- Salesforce, HubSpot, Excel, Figma, SAP, Epic
- Job titles
- Account Executive, Warehouse Associate, Product Manager
- Certifications
- PMP, CPA, OSHA 10, RN license, AWS Certified
- Industry terms
- B2B SaaS, quota attainment, inventory control, HIPAA
- Soft skills (sparingly)
- stakeholder management, cross-functional leadership
How to find the right keywords for a job
- 01
Copy the job posting
Paste the full description somewhere you can mark it up — including the 'requirements' and 'nice to have' sections.
- 02
Highlight repeated terms
Skills, tools and titles that appear twice or more, or in the requirements list, are the ones the ATS weights most.
- 03
Match only what's true
Cross off anything you don't actually have. Never add a keyword for a skill you can't talk about in an interview.
- 04
Use the exact phrase
Write it the way the posting does. Add the acronym and the full term once each, e.g. 'Customer Relationship Management (CRM)'.
- 05
Put keywords in bullets
A keyword inside an achievement ('Grew pipeline 30% using Salesforce forecasting') beats one listed alone in a skills box.
- 06
Check the match
Run your resume and the posting through the checker above to see what's still missing.
ATS keywords list by role
Common starting points. Always check them against the actual posting — the checker above does this for you.
Sales resume keywords
- Quota attainment
- Pipeline management
- B2B sales
- Salesforce
- Prospecting
- Account management
- Negotiation
- Closing
- Forecasting
- Upselling
Warehouse & logistics resume keywords
- Inventory control
- Order picking
- Forklift certified
- Shipping & receiving
- RF scanner
- WMS
- OSHA compliance
- Pallet jack
- Cycle counts
- Loading & unloading
Executive & leadership resume keywords
- P&L ownership
- Strategic planning
- Board reporting
- M&A
- Change management
- Revenue growth
- Organizational design
- Stakeholder alignment
- Budget oversight
- Turnaround
Marketing resume keywords
- Demand generation
- SEO
- Paid acquisition
- Marketing automation
- HubSpot
- A/B testing
- Content strategy
- Google Analytics
- Campaign ROI
- Lifecycle marketing
Software engineering resume keywords
- TypeScript
- React
- REST APIs
- CI/CD
- AWS
- System design
- Unit testing
- Microservices
- SQL
- Agile
Customer service resume keywords
- CSAT
- Ticket resolution
- Zendesk
- De-escalation
- First-call resolution
- CRM
- Customer retention
- Live chat
- SLAs
- Product knowledge
Where to put keywords on your resume
- Summary: the exact job title and your two most relevant skills.
- Work experience bullets: keywords inside real achievements carry the most weight.
- Skills section: tools and hard skills, written the way the posting writes them.
- Standard headings: "Work Experience", "Skills", "Education" — see our ATS resume templates.
Questions
What are ATS keywords?
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ATS keywords are the skills, tools, job titles, certifications and qualifications an applicant tracking system looks for when it ranks resumes. They come straight from the job posting, so the right keywords change with every job.
How many keywords should a resume have?
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There's no magic number. Aim to cover the hard skills and tools the posting mentions more than once, plus the exact job title. Most strong matches cover roughly 70–80% of a posting's key terms — without repeating any of them unnaturally.
Is keyword stuffing a good idea?
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No. Hidden white text and long keyword dumps can get a resume flagged, and a recruiter reads it after the ATS. Only include keywords for skills you genuinely have, inside real bullets.
Should I use the exact wording from the job posting?
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Yes. Many ATS tools match literal phrases, so write 'project management' if the posting says 'project management', and include both the acronym and full term once (e.g. 'Search Engine Optimization (SEO)').
How do I find which keywords my resume is missing?
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Paste your resume and the job posting into the free checker on this page. It lists every missing and matched keyword and gives you an ATS match score in about 20 seconds.
Stop guessing. See your missing keywords.
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