# The Six-Second Scan — what recruiters and ATS actually do with your application

Calibration for tailoring an application: optimize for the two readers it really has, in the order they read.

## Reader 1: the parser (ATS)
- It extracts **titles, companies, dates, and keywords** into a schema. It does not "reject" creative formats so much as *garble* them — columns, tables, and headers in graphics often parse as noise.
- Keyword matching is dumber than the folklore says and matters more: if the posting says "stakeholder management" and you wrote "cross-functional alignment," a keyword filter may simply not surface you. **Mirror the posting's exact nouns** for the 4-6 requirements you genuinely meet.
- Don't stuff: recruiters see the parsed view; a keyword wall reads as spam the moment a human looks.

## Reader 2: the human (6-10 seconds, verified by eye-tracking studies)
The scan path, in order: **current title & company → previous title & company → dates (gaps, hops) → education (junior roles only) → then, maybe, bullets.**
- Implication 1: your top third is the interview decision. The summary line must contain the *target* role's language, not your current employer's internal jargon.
- Implication 2: date gaps get noticed before achievements do. Address a gap in one confident clause rather than hoping it hides.
- Implication 3: bullets get read only after you've passed. Their job is arming the phone screen, not winning the scan — front-load each with the metric ("Cut onboarding time 40% by…" not "Responsible for improving…").

## The tailoring budget (per application, 20 minutes)
1. Rewrite the summary line for the target title (5 min).
2. Mirror 4-6 exact requirement phrases you truthfully meet (5 min).
3. Reorder bullets so the posting's top requirement is your first bullet (5 min).
4. The checkable company fact for the cover letter (5 min).
Beyond 20 minutes per application, returns go negative versus applying to one more well-matched role.
