How to optimise your CV for applicant tracking systems

"It is estimated that over 50% of companies use applicant tracking systems. These ATSs filter uploaded CVs and put them into 'buckets' for employers. If your CV gets into the right bucket a human will read it so it does ultimately need to satisfy the human reader, however, an incredible 72% of CVs are never read by a real person: you've got to get it past the machines first."

Source: Mashable; Interview Mastermind; Optimal Resume on 01 Jan 2012 08.57 am,  sent to me by Richard at Abintegro  - http://www.abintegro.com/public/home

Tricks and tips based on the article - good advice for any CV, whether electronically submitted or not:

1. Identify and use as many of the key words, terminology, buzzwords and jargon as possible - use the job advert, job description, personal specification, and company website to find these.
2. Follow instructions exactly, and complete requested information, regardless of whether it is included in your CV. Leaving information out will cause the filter to overlook your CV.
3. Don't use crazy fonts. Stick to standard fonts such as Arial, Georgia, Tahoma, Impact, Courier, Lucinda, Palatino, Tahoma, Trebuchet, Verdana, Sans Serif (the Optimal CV selected fonts).
4. Use generic file types such as .RTF or .DOC. Avoid PDF, DOCX, WPD, WPS or HTML. Sometimes if you use the latest version of Word, it is better to save document as an older version, as companies may not have adopted the new version of Office.
5. Keep it simple: remove graphics, borders, shading and symbols. Special characters used for bullets like arrows can cause problems.
6. Check for any spelling mistakes: the ATS will miss important keywords when they are misspelled.
7. Don't use white font to hide keywords. Employers are on to this trick and simply highlight the document to spot it - many consider it to be deceitful; some systems can tell if white font is used and eliminate CVs on that basis.
8. Spell out your skills or qualifications. Employers more often than not tend to search on a technical or specialised skill. It's advisable to spell these out as well as using acronyms and abbreviations as it's difficult to predict the exact search term that will be used. The more technical your profession, the more important keywords are.
9. Only include relevant skills and experiences. The rest is just taking up space on an otherwise concise and pertinent CV. However, always list work history date order starting with the most recent. 
10. If you are used to using a more traditional CV an example of a Skills CV can be found on the www.prospects.ac.uk -  see link below. http://www.prospects.ac.uk/assets/assets/documents/cv_skills_based.pdf