Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) screen thousands of applications — and in South Africa, employers, recruitment agencies and job portals increasingly rely on them to shortlist candidates. This guide explains how ATS works, which South African keywords and formats matter, and shows concrete examples and an easy checklist to help your CV reach a human recruiter.
What is an ATS and why it matters in South Africa
An ATS is software used by employers and recruitment firms to parse, rank and store CVs. For South African jobseekers this matters because:
- Large employers and recruitment agencies standardise screening to meet labour compliance (e.g., EE/B-BBEE considerations).
- Job portals and corporate career pages often feed applications directly into ATS tools.
- A CV that’s ATS-unfriendly can be filtered out before a recruiter ever sees it.
If you’re unsure where employers are sourcing candidates, compare channels in our overview: Top 10 South African Job Portals Compared — Career Guidance South Africa.
How ATS reads your CV: keywords, structure and metadata
ATS systems extract structured data (name, contact, job titles, dates) and scan the unstructured text for keywords and phrases. Key points:
- Keywords: single terms and phrases from the job description matter (e.g., “accounts receivable”, “SAP”, “project manager”).
- Synonyms & acronyms: include both (e.g., “EE” and “Employment Equity”, “B-BBEE” and “Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment”).
- Job titles: match real job-title variations common in South Africa (e.g., “HR Officer” vs “HR Practitioner”).
- Location: include city/region (e.g., “Cape Town”, “Durban”) — many roles filter by location.
- Formatting: plain text flow, clear headings, and standard date formats improve parsing accuracy.
For guidance on tailoring for city-specific employers, see: How to Tailor Your CV and Cover Letter for Johannesburg Employers — Career Guidance South Africa.
ATS-friendly formats — what to upload
Use clean, modern formats. Below is a comparison of common file types and how ATS handles them:
| File format | ATS friendliness | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| DOCX (Microsoft Word) | High — widely parsed accurately | Preferred for most ATS; editable for recruiters |
| PDF (text-based) | High — OK if exported as searchable text | Use when employer accepts PDF; avoid image-only PDFs |
| TXT | Medium — very safe but loses layout | Good for copy-paste or plain text submissions |
| RTF | Medium — parsed but less common | Backup option |
| PDF (scanned/image) | Low — OCR errors often drop keywords | Avoid unless you know it’s searchable |
Important formatting tips:
- Use standard headings (e.g., “Work Experience”, “Education”).
- Avoid multi-column layouts, headers/footers for critical info, and graphics that contain text.
- Use common fonts (Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman) and standard bullet symbols.
If you want ready-made ATS-friendly structure, download templates from: Downloadable CV and Cover Letter Templates for South African Jobseekers — Career Guidance South Africa.
Keyword strategy: research, prioritise, and place
-
Research the role
- Copy the job description (JD) and highlight required skills, tools, certifications and soft skills.
- Note location, industry-specific terms and compliance tags (e.g., “SARS”, “B-BBEE”, “NQF Level 6”).
-
Prioritise keywords
- Primary: those repeated or listed under “requirements”.
- Secondary: desired skills and industry terms.
-
Place keywords where ATS expects them
- Job title (top of CV), Summary/Profile, Work Experience bullets, Skills section, Certifications/Education.
Example mapping (job description → CV phrasing):
| Job description phrase | ATS-friendly CV phrase (exact/synonym) |
|---|---|
| “3+ years’ experience in payroll management” | “Payroll Manager — 3+ years payroll management (Paye, UIF, SDL)” |
| “Experience with SAP” | “SAP HR/Finance – hands-on experience with SAP ERP” |
| “Bachelor’s degree” | “BCom in Accounting (NQF Level 7) — University of Cape Town” |
For a step-by-step CV rewrite and templates tailored to ATS, see: Career Guidance South Africa: The Ultimate ATS-Friendly CV Template and Guide.
Concrete examples — before and after
Job description excerpt:
- “Senior Project Manager — Scrum, stakeholder management, PMP preferred, 5+ years in construction projects, Cape Town.”
Before (weak):
- “Led projects for 6 years. Good with clients.”
After (ATS-optimised):
- “Senior Project Manager — Construction (5+ years), Scrum, Stakeholder Management, PMP (preferred). Managed multi-disciplinary construction projects in Cape Town.”
Why “After” works:
- Matches job title and contains exact keywords: “Senior Project Manager”, “Scrum”, “PMP”, “construction”, “Cape Town”.
- Includes measurable detail (5+ years).
Local considerations for South Africa
- Include B-BBEE or related compliance experience where relevant — many corporates ask for this.
- Use South African date formats (Month Year or YYYY) consistently to avoid parsing issues.
- Spellings: British English (e.g., “organisation”, “behaviour”) is commonly used in South Africa — but ATS rarely penalises either; consistency matters.
- If applying via agencies or portals, follow specific upload instructions; agencies often accept DOCX while some company portals prefer PDF.
Compare application channels in: Job Portal vs Recruitment Agency in South Africa: Which Gets You Hired Faster?.
If you’re targeting Cape Town roles, read local strategies here: Cape Town Job Search Guide: Local CV, Application and Interview Strategies.
Quick ATS-optimisation checklist (H3)
- Bold your job title and include industry keywords in the first 2–3 lines.
- Use a clear Skills section with comma-separated keywords.
- Include both acronym and full term (e.g., B-BBEE / Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment).
- Save as DOCX (or searchable PDF) unless portal requests otherwise.
- Remove tables/columns or place important text outside them.
- Tailor each CV to the JD — change 6–10 key phrases per role.
- Keep contact info in the main body (avoid header/footer for email/phone).
Also optimise your recruiter-facing profiles:
Next steps & resources
- Use the ATS-friendly template and checklist to rebuild one CV version, then tailor per application: Career Guidance South Africa: The Ultimate ATS-Friendly CV Template and Guide.
- Apply directly where possible and complement with agency outreach: Applying Directly to Employers in South Africa: A Targeted Approach for Career Guidance South Africa and Agency Secrets: How to Work with South African Recruitment Firms to Land Interviews.
- Compare portals and target the right channels: Top 10 South African Job Portals Compared — Career Guidance South Africa.
Follow these steps, tailor each application, and test one role: upload a DOCX with targeted keywords, then track responses. Small, consistent improvements to how you use keywords and formats produce big gains in passing ATS filters.