CV keywords: how to get past the ATS

Where keywords come from

The best keyword list is the job description itself. Read it closely and note the skills, tools and phrases the employer repeats — those are exactly what the applicant tracking system is told to look for.

Then make sure those terms appear naturally in your CV: in your skills section, and — more powerfully — inside real project and experience bullets that prove you actually used them.

How to include keywords without stuffing

Keyword stuffing (repeating terms unnaturally) reads badly to humans and can be flagged. Instead, weave each keyword into a genuine achievement.

• Weak: a long list of 30 skills with no context.
• Strong: “Built a REST API in Python and FastAPI, tested with pytest — used by a 4-person project team.”