ATS & applicant systems
12 questions · 12 pages
- How many keywords from the advert should I reuse?About ten — and four of them are in the job title. Measured across the Swiss adverts currently open on SwissJobs.app: how many words an advert actually offers, which of them count, and why copying the title beats translating it. As of 29 August 2026.
- How do I get my CV through an ATS in Switzerland?Check whether software is reading at all before you optimise for it. About two thirds of English-language Swiss adverts route into an applicant system — but only about a quarter of German-language ones. Own analysis, 26 August 2026.
- Do tables and columns break CV parsing?We laid out one CV eleven ways, exported each to PDF and read them back with two extraction libraries. Nothing was lost — but four layouts came out in the wrong order.
- Is one CV enough for every application?For most of the dossier, yes — but the question is settled by language, not by applicant software. Two Swiss adverts picked at random are in different languages 59.5% of the time. Our own analysis, 28 August 2026.
- Will an AI screen my CV out before a human sees it?53.3% of the English-language Swiss adverts we hold route into a system whose vendor markets AI applied to applications — against 10.9% of German-language and 2.2% of Italian-language ones. None of those vendors markets automatic rejection. Own analysis, 29 August 2026.
- How can I tell whether a vacancy runs through an ATS?Three checks in order: the apply link, the page source, the form. Plus a field guide to the address shapes that give away Prospective, SuccessFactors, Umantis, Workday and the other systems behind Swiss adverts. Our own analysis, 29 August 2026.
- Which file format gets through an ATS?PDF. We opened more than two hundred Swiss application pages: every readable upload configuration allowed PDF, only half allowed Word, and none allowed Word without PDF. The text layer matters more than the extension. Own analysis, 29 August 2026.
- Which Swiss employers use no ATS at all?There is no list of companies, there is a company size. On close to six in ten small Swiss employers we found no trace of recruiting software; on the largest careers sites the ratio is inverted. Our own analysis, checked 29 August 2026.
- Can I bypass an ATS altogether?We opened 365 Swiss application pages and tested seven ways of hiding keywords in a CV. Where a human is reachable next to the form — and why the tricks do nothing.
- What is an ATS, and do Swiss employers actually use one?An ATS is the employer's admin software, not a judge of your CV. Whether a Swiss employer has one depends on size: about a third of the smallest, nine in ten of the largest. Our own survey of Swiss application pages, 29 August 2026.
- Which applicant tracking systems sort candidates with AI?Of Swiss adverts whose system can be identified, about three in four run on software whose vendor markets AI matching. Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, SmartRecruiters, Abacus Umantis, Workable, Greenhouse, Ashby, Recruitee and Join, quoted from their own pages. Own analysis, September 2026.
- I'd like to know how to increase the number of job interview requests I receive.Three in four Swiss adverts whose system can be identified run on software that ranks applications against the advert. A generic CV ranks low however good it is. Vendor claims quoted, own analysis, September 2026.