Bernita Williams, PMPManagement| Corporate Solutions & ServicesWashington, DC, United States
You have the knowledge and experience for a number of positions but can't seem to get through the AI bots blocking your resume, what tips do you have for getting your resume seen?
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Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
A very relevant question. As AI becomes more common in recruitment, I think the objective should not be simply getting past automated screening, but ensuring that genuine capability can be recognized through evidence rather than keyword matching alone. Candidates certainly benefit from presenting their experience clearly and aligning it with the role, but organizations also have a responsibility to design selection processes that distinguish real competence from keyword matching alone. Perhaps the real opportunity is not making resumes more visible to AI, but making recruitment more capable of identifying the people who can create the greatest long-term value.
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1 reply by Bernita Williams, PMP
Jul 28, 2026 10:14 AM
Bernita Williams, PMP
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Thank you very much for the feedback. I have noticed, if there is a POC or hiring team member email available, emailing them directly after submitting, helps with getting through.
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Bernita Williams, PMPManagement| Corporate Solutions & ServicesWashington, DC, United States
Jul 28, 2026 9:32 AM
Replying to Luis Branco
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A very relevant question. As AI becomes more common in recruitment, I think the objective should not be simply getting past automated screening, but ensuring that genuine capability can be recognized through evidence rather than keyword matching alone. Candidates certainly benefit from presenting their experience clearly and aligning it with the role, but organizations also have a responsibility to design selection processes that distinguish real competence from keyword matching alone. Perhaps the real opportunity is not making resumes more visible to AI, but making recruitment more capable of identifying the people who can create the greatest long-term value.
Thank you very much for the feedback. I have noticed, if there is a POC or hiring team member email available, emailing them directly after submitting, helps with getting through. Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Thank you, Bernita. That is a very practical observation. Reaching out professionally to the hiring team can certainly help provide context that a resume alone may not communicate. At the same time, I hope recruitment continues to evolve toward processes where strong candidates are identified because their capabilities are recognized on their merits, rather than because they were able to establish an additional point of contact. Ideally, technology should help widen access to talent, while preserving fair and evidence-based evaluation for every applicant. Saving Changes...
Program Manager| HARPER SRLSanto Domingo / Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic
Tailoring your resume to each role and highlighting measurable results can improve the chances of getting through the initial screening, making it more likely that a recruiter will take a closer look. Saving Changes...
For the specific situation of AI scanning resumes, a thing that can help is to highlight your specific abilities with defined and standardized keywords. This will help the automated processes detect that your profile matches the role and characteristics required. AI evaluation systems utilize keywords to identify relevant profiles. Ensure that your abilities are adequately labeled.
Also, writing to the recruitment team helps to create a relationship of confidence and closeness that would enhance relations and give more recognition to the applicant. Saving Changes...
Great question, and one many of us have faced. A few things that have worked for me: mirror the exact language of the job posting in your resume (if they say "stakeholder engagement" don't write "client relations"), keep the format simple with standard section headings and no tables, columns or graphics that parsers choke on, and spell out both the acronym and the full term at least once, for example "PMP (Project Management Professional)" or "Earned Value Management (EVM)".
Beyond the document itself, the biggest difference for me has come from reducing reliance on the portal entirely: applying early in the posting cycle, finding the recruiter or hiring manager on LinkedIn for a short, specific note after submitting, and asking an internal contact for a referral where one exists. Referred applications tend to bypass a lot of the automated filtering.
I'd also echo Luis's point. Optimizing for the screener is a necessary tactic today, but the burden shouldn't fall entirely on candidates. Organizations that rely on keyword matching alone are almost certainly screening out capable people, and that is a process design problem worth naming. Saving Changes...
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