ATS Keywords: How to Find Them in Any Job Post (With Examples)

What ATS keywords actually are

ATS keywords are the specific terms an applicant tracking system uses to rank your CV against a job description. They are not magic words. They are the words the employer used to describe the role, and the ATS checks whether those same words appear in your application.

According to Jobscan's survey of 384 recruiters, 99.7% of recruiters use an ATS to filter candidates. The ATS does not read your CV the way a human does. It extracts text, identifies keywords, and calculates a match score. If the score is too low, a human never sees your CV.

This means finding the right keywords is not a guessing game. The job description tells you exactly what the ATS is looking for. Your job is to extract those terms and place them in your CV where they fit honestly.

The three types of keywords in every job description

Not all keywords carry the same weight. The ATS treats them differently, and so should you.

1. Hard skills (highest weight)

These are specific, measurable capabilities: tools, technologies, languages, platforms, certifications. The ATS weights these heavily because they are easy to match and hard to fake.

Examples: SQL, Salesforce, Python, Google Analytics, AWS, PMP certification, Figma, Tableau, HubSpot

Where to find them: usually in the "Requirements" or "Qualifications" section, often as a bulleted list.

2. Soft skills (medium weight)

These are interpersonal and cognitive capabilities. The ATS matches them, but they are less reliable because everyone claims them. Still, if the job description emphasises "stakeholder management" three times, you should include it if you can prove it.

Examples: stakeholder management, cross-functional collaboration, leadership, communication, problem-solving, strategic thinking

Where to find them: scattered throughout the job description, often in the "Responsibilities" section.

3. Domain and industry terms (medium weight)

These signal that you understand the industry or function. They include methodologies, frameworks, regulatory environments, and business models.

Examples: B2B SaaS, agile, design thinking, GDPR compliance, lean manufacturing, OKRs, A/B testing, lifecycle marketing

Where to find them: in the intro paragraph, the responsibilities, and the requirements.

The extraction method: 3 passes

Read the job description three times, each time looking for a different type of keyword. This is the method I use and recommend. It takes 5-10 minutes per job description.

Pass 1: Circle the hard skills

Go through the job description and mark every tool, technology, platform, certification, or methodology mentioned. Write them in a list. These are your highest-priority keywords.

Example from a data analyst job description:

• SQL
• Python
• Tableau
• Google Analytics
• Excel (advanced)
• Statistical analysis
• Data visualisation

Pass 2: Underline repeated terms

Any word or phrase that appears 3 or more times in the job description is a priority keyword. The employer repeated it because it matters. The ATS weights repeated terms more heavily.

Example: if "stakeholder management" appears in the intro, in the responsibilities, and in the requirements, it is a priority. If "cross-functional collaboration" appears once, it is secondary.

Pass 3: Note the order

The order of requirements in a job description usually reflects priority. The first requirement listed is the most important. The last is the least. If the job description lists "SQL" first and "Tableau" fourth, SQL is the higher-priority keyword.

Use this to rank your keyword list. Put the highest-priority keywords in the most visible parts of your CV: the summary, the top bullets of your most recent role, and the top of your skills section.

Where to put keywords in your CV

Finding the keywords is half the job. Placing them correctly is the other half. The ATS scans specific sections of your CV, and keywords in some sections carry more weight than others.

1. Professional summary (high impact)

Your summary should include 2-3 of the highest-priority keywords. This is the first section the ATS parses and the first thing a recruiter reads.

Before: Experienced data professional with a passion for insights and storytelling.

After: Data analyst with 4 years of experience in SQL, Python, and Tableau, turning raw data into business decisions for e-commerce teams.

2. Experience bullets (highest impact)

Keywords in context carry more weight than keywords in a skills list. The ATS and the recruiter both want to see that you used the skill in real work.

Before: Responsible for analysing data and creating reports.

After: Wrote SQL queries and Python scripts to analyse 2M+ rows of customer data, building Tableau dashboards that identified a 15% churn risk segment.

The after version includes 4 keywords (SQL, Python, Tableau, data analysis) in context, with a quantified outcome. The ATS sees the keywords. The recruiter sees the impact.

3. Skills section (medium impact)

List your skills in priority order, with the job description's top keywords first. Do not list 40 skills. A focused list of 12-15 skills with the top 5 matching the job description is more effective.

4. Job titles (low but non-zero impact)

If your previous job title does not match the job description's language, consider adding a standardised title in parentheses. If your title was "Data Wizard" but the job description says "Data Analyst," write: Data Analyst (listed internally as Data Wizard).

The keyword density question

People ask: how many times should a keyword appear? The answer is: once in context is better than three times in a list. The ATS does not require repetition. It checks for presence. A keyword that appears once in a well-written bullet counts. A keyword that appears five times in a stuffed skills list may trigger a spam filter.

The rule: each priority keyword should appear at least once in your CV, in the context of real work. If you used SQL at your last job, it should appear in a bullet that describes what you did with SQL. That is enough.

What not to do

Do not stuff keywords

If you list 50 keywords in a skills section, the ATS may flag your CV as spam. The recruiter will see a wall of terms and assume you are gaming the system. Keywords should appear naturally in real sentences.

Do not invent skills

If the job description asks for Salesforce experience and you have never used Salesforce, do not put it on your CV. The interview will expose you. You can highlight adjacent experience (HubSpot, CRM administration) but you cannot claim a skill you do not have.

Do not use white text

The old trick of hiding keywords in white text at the bottom of your CV does not work. Modern ATS systems detect it and flag it as manipulation. It will get your application rejected.

Do not copy the job description verbatim

Some people copy entire sentences from the job description into their CV. The ATS may match it, but the recruiter will notice. It looks lazy and dishonest. Use the keywords, but write your own sentences.

A worked example

Here is a real-world example of the extraction method applied to a job description for a Marketing Manager role at a B2B SaaS company.

Job description excerpt

We are looking for a Marketing Manager to lead demand generation for our B2B SaaS platform. You will own paid search, LinkedIn ads, and lifecycle email campaigns. You should be comfortable with HubSpot, Google Analytics, and marketing automation. Responsibilities include managing a $500K+ marketing budget, optimising CAC, and working cross-functionally with sales and product teams. Requirements: 5+ years in B2B marketing, experience with demand generation, HubSpot certification preferred.

Extracted keywords (ranked by priority)

1. Demand generation (appears 2x, first responsibility)
2. B2B SaaS (appears 2x, defines the context)
3. HubSpot (appears 2x, hard skill, certification preferred)
4. Paid search (hard skill)
5. LinkedIn ads (hard skill)
6. Lifecycle email (hard skill)
7. Google Analytics (hard skill)
8. Marketing automation (hard skill)
9. CAC (domain term, tied to outcome)
10. Cross-functional collaboration (soft skill, appears 1x)

Tailored summary

Marketing manager with 6 years driving demand generation for B2B SaaS companies. Managed $600K+ in annual marketing budget across paid search, LinkedIn ads, and lifecycle email, reducing CAC by 22% while increasing qualified pipeline 3x. HubSpot-certified, Google Analytics- proficient.

This summary includes 8 of the 10 priority keywords in 2 lines, in context, with quantified outcomes. The ATS will score it high. The recruiter will read it and understand exactly what the candidate does.

Quick checklist

• Extract hard skills from the Requirements section
• Mark terms that appear 3+ times as priority keywords
• Note the order of requirements (first = highest priority)
• Place top keywords in summary, top bullets, and skills section
• Each keyword appears at least once in context
• No stuffing, no invented skills, no white text

If you want to skip the manual extraction, paste a job description into cvlinkd and get the priority keywords automatically, placed in your CV where the ATS and recruiter expect them.