ATS Keywords Recruiters Are Looking For (And How to Find the Right Ones for Your Role)

Search for "ATS keywords" and you'll find lists. Finance keywords. Marketing keywords. Engineering keywords. They're mostly useless.

The right keywords for your CV are not found on a generic list. They're found in the specific job description you're applying to. Here's why — and how to find them.

Why generic keyword lists don't work

Every company writes job descriptions differently. Two roles with identical titles at different companies may use completely different terminology. "Revenue operations" at one company is "sales ops" at another. "Growth marketing" at a startup is "demand generation" at an enterprise.

An ATS is configured for that specific posting. It's looking for the terms that appear in that job description — not the terms on a blog's keyword list.

How to find the right keywords for any role

1. Start with the job description itself

Read through the posting and note every specific term: job titles, tools, methodologies, domain areas, soft skills with specific language. The words that appear most often are the ones the ATS weights most heavily.

2. Look at similar job descriptions

Search for 3-4 similar roles and note the terms they share. Words that appear across multiple postings in your target field are reliable domain keywords worth having on your CV regardless of the specific role.

3. Check the "Requirements" and "Responsibilities" sections separately

Requirements are usually the hard filter — missing these keywords is more damaging. Responsibilities tell you what the role actually involves day-to-day, which helps you prioritise which of your experience to foreground.

How to use keywords correctly

Placement matters. Keywords in your summary and recent experience bullets carry more weight than those buried in an older role. The ATS also considers frequency — a skill mentioned once scores lower than one mentioned across multiple roles.

Use the exact phrasing from the job description where it honestly describes your experience. If the job says "stakeholder management" and you have that experience, use that phrase — not "cross-functional collaboration" or "relationship building", even if they mean the same thing to you.

Common high-value keyword categories by function

While the specific keywords depend on the role, these categories reliably matter across most professional functions:

Technical tools: specific software, platforms, languages (Python, Salesforce, SQL, Figma)
Methodologies: Agile, PRINCE2, Six Sigma, OKRs — whatever the role references
Domain terminology: the specific language of the industry (P&L, churn rate, CAC, LTV, etc.)
Qualifications: exact degree names, certifications, and professional memberships

The fastest way to check your keyword coverage

Manually comparing a job description to your CV is slow and easy to get wrong. CV Magic does it in 30 seconds — upload your CV, paste the job spec, and get a breakdown of which keywords you've covered and which are missing. Free, no account needed.