The CV keywords that actually get you past the filter

Most mid-to-large employers screen applications with software before a human ever reads them. That's led to a lot of bad advice — like cramming your CV with keywords or hiding white text in the margins. It doesn't work, and it reads as desperate to the human who sees it next. Here's what actually matters.

What the filters are really doing

Applicant tracking systems mostly look for evidence that you have the specific skills, tools and experience a role asks for — phrased the way the listing phrases them. If a job calls for “stakeholder management” and your CV says “worked with lots of people,” you may not register as a match even though you've done exactly that.

How to find the keywords that count

• Read the listings you're actually targeting — not generic lists. Pull 5–10 real ads for the role and note the skills, tools and phrases that repeat across them.
• Mirror the exact wording for things you genuinely have. If three ads say “GA4” and you use Google Analytics, write “GA4”.
• Prioritise the repeated ones. A keyword that appears in most listings for your role is a near-requirement; one that appears once is optional.
• Never claim what you can't back up. Keywords get you read; the interview tests them. Padding with skills you don't have just moves the rejection later.

Put them where they count

Weave keywords into real achievement bullets, not a keyword-salad “skills” block. “Cut p95 latency 40% by re-architecting our Node.js services” carries the keyword and the proof. The filter sees the term; the human sees the result.

The shortcut

Doing this by hand across every application is slow. dropmycv does the comparison for you: it matches your CV to live roles first, then the optional A$9 CV review shows the exact keywords those specific live jobs ask for that your CV is missing — so you're optimising for real, current demand, not a generic checklist. Or start with a free CV check.