Getting Past ATS and AI Screening in 2026

Almost every mid-size and large UK employer screens with software before a human reads anything. Here is how to stay in the pile without gaming it.

**Structure the machine can read.** Standard section headings work best: Profile, Key Skills, Experience, Education, Certifications. Exotic headings ("My Journey") confuse parsers.

**One column. No tables. No text boxes.** Anything placed in a header, footer, sidebar or image is frequently discarded entirely.

**Dates in a consistent format.** "Mar 2023 - Present" throughout. Gaps are fine; explain them in one short line rather than hiding them with year-only dates.

**Job titles that translate.** If your internal title is "Talent Ninja", write "Recruitment Consultant (internal title: Talent Ninja)".

**Use the employer's vocabulary.** Pull the six to ten repeated terms from the advert and make sure each appears naturally in your experience where it is true. Never paste white text or hidden keyword blocks - modern systems and recruiters detect it and it is an instant reject.

**Quantify.** Numbers survive summarisation. AI summarisers compress your CV into a few lines for the hiring manager; measurable results are what makes it through.

**Test it.** Copy your PDF and paste it into a plain text document. If the order scrambles or characters vanish, the parser sees the same mess.

**Use AI as an editor, not an author.** Draft in your own words, then ask a model to tighten and check consistency. Fully AI-written CVs read generically and lose the specifics that get interviews.