ATS keywords for your resume, by industry
ATS keywords are the terms from a job posting that an applicant tracking system looks for in your resume: the job title, tools, qualifications and skills. There is no universal list: the best keywords are in the specific posting, and you should only use the ones your experience backs up.
By Alberto Mateo Alcalá, creator of Beatjob. Updated on . How we write our guides.
Why keywords matter
Many companies screen applications automatically before a person reads them. According to the 2021 study by Harvard Business School and Accenture, more than 90% of the employers surveyed use automated systems to filter or rank middle- and high-skill candidates. If your resume does not contain the terms the system looks for, it can rank below others even if you have the right profile.
To understand how these systems work, start with our ATS guide.
How to find and use the keywords in a job posting
- Read the posting and highlight the key terms. Mark the job title, tools, technologies, degrees, certifications and skills that come up more than once.
- Compare the posting with your resume. Separate the terms your experience already backs up from the ones you don't have.
- Use the posting's terms for what you already have. If you describe something equivalent in other words, use the posting's term instead: “tested software to find bugs” can become “QA testing”.
- Place them where the ATS looks for them. Include them in your summary, experience and skills, naturally and without overusing them.
- Don't add what you don't have. What the posting asks for and you lack should not appear on your resume. It is better to prepare to close the gap than to make it up.
Keyword examples by industry
These are common terms in job postings for each industry. Use them as a reference for what to look for in the posting, not as a list to copy: only include the ones that describe something you can really do.
| Industry | Common keywords |
|---|---|
| Tech and software development | JavaScript, TypeScript, React, SQL, Git, REST APIs, QA testing, Agile, Scrum |
| Accounting and finance | Accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank reconciliation, month-end close, Excel, SAP, GAAP |
| Retail and customer service | Customer service, upselling, issue resolution, CRM, sales targets, POS |
| Healthcare | Patient care, medication administration, electronic health records (EHR), protocols, triage |
| Marketing and communications | SEO, PPC, Google Analytics, social media, email marketing, content marketing |
| Logistics and warehousing | Warehouse management, inventory control, order picking, forklift certification, WMS |
| Hospitality and tourism | Front of house, reservations, food safety, front desk, guest relations, languages |
| Education | Lesson planning, differentiated instruction, assessment, classroom management, student support |
Best practices for using keywords
Write the term the way the posting does
If the posting says “customer service” and you wrote “dealing with clients”, use the posting's term. For acronyms, write both the full form and the short form at least once: “Customer Relationship Management (CRM)”.
Spread them through your content
A skills list helps, but keywords carry more weight when they appear inside your experience, with context: “Resolved customer issues through the CRM” shows more than “CRM” on its own.
Don't overuse or hide them
Repeating the same word many times makes the text sound artificial, and hidden or white text can show up when the system displays the extracted content. Write for a person: the ATS is only the first filter.
How Beatjob helps you with keywords
Paste the job posting into Beatjob and the AI extracts the skills, technologies and responsibilities it asks for. It then optimizes each section using the posting's terms only where your experience already backs them up, and points out the missing keywords so you can decide whether you can really add them.
To word each bullet precisely, check our list of action verbs and our resume writing tips.
Frequently asked questions about ATS keywords
What are ATS keywords?
They are the terms an ATS looks for in your resume to compare it with the job posting: the job title, tools, technologies, degrees, certifications and skills the employer asks for.
Where do I find the keywords in a job posting?
In the posting itself: in the job title, the requirements and the responsibilities. Terms that come up repeatedly or are listed as required are usually the most important.
Can I add keywords I don't have to get past the filter?
No. Even if you got past the filter, the recruiter or the interview would catch it. Only use the terms your experience backs up and prepare to close the gaps.
Does hiding keywords in white or invisible text work?
It is a bad idea. Many systems show the recruiter the text extracted from your resume, so hidden text can be seen and leave a poor impression. Use keywords naturally in your content.
Sources
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