Before a human ever reads your CV, most large employers run it through an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), software that scans, parses and ranks applications. A strong candidate with a poorly formatted CV can be filtered out automatically. Here are the five mistakes we see most often, and how to fix them.
1. Fancy layouts the software cannot read
Multi-column designs, text boxes, tables and graphics often turn to gibberish when an ATS extracts your text. Your beautiful CV becomes unreadable to the machine.
Fix: use a clean, single-column layout with standard headings (Experience, Education, Skills).
2. Missing the keywords from the job advert
An ATS looks for the skills and terms in the job description. If the advert says "financial reporting" and your CV says "did the accounts", the match is weak.
Fix: mirror the exact language of the advert where it is honestly true of you, especially for skills and tools.
3. Putting key details in the header or footer
Many systems ignore text inside document headers and footers, so a phone number or email tucked up there can simply vanish.
Fix: keep your contact details in the main body of the document.
4. The wrong file and the wrong job titles
Image-based PDFs (or a scanned CV) usually cannot be parsed, and overly creative titles like "Numbers Ninja" do not match what recruiters search for.
Fix: save as a text-based .docx or PDF, and use recognisable job titles.
5. One CV for every role
A single generic CV rarely scores well, because no two adverts ask for exactly the same things.
Fix: tailor the top third and your skills section to each role you seriously want.
The bottom line
Getting past the ATS is not about tricks, it is about a clean, keyword-aware CV that is easy for both software and people to read. That is exactly what our CV writing service is built around: ATS-ready documents tailored to your target roles, here in Zimbabwe and for the diaspora.
Chat on WhatsApp