What is an ATS?
ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System — software that automatically captures, analyses, and pre-sorts applications before a human ever sees them.
The invisible first round
When you apply for a job online, your application doesn't land on a recruiter's desk first. It lands in an ATS — software that parses your CV, scans it for keywords, and scores it. Only then does the system (or a configured filter) decide which applications are even shown to a human recruiter.
The principle is simple: a single job posting can attract hundreds of applications. The ATS filters out unsuitable candidates so the recruiter can focus on the most promising ones. It saves time — but there's a catch.
The keyword problem: good candidates fall through the cracks
ATS are not always optimally configured. Often a fixed list of keywords is extracted from the job posting. If an expected keyword is missing from your CV — even if you describe the same skill with a different word — your score drops. Write "client management" when the ATS expects "account management" and you're filtered out. Not because you're unqualified, but because the system doesn't recognise the term.
This means: an excellent candidate can be rejected before a human reads their CV — simply because a keyword was missing or the PDF format was mis-parsed by the ATS. This isn't an isolated case; it's a structural problem that affects everyone who applies online.
Why 100% ATS scores are impossible
No CV reaches 100% in every ATS system. Swiss companies use a wide variety of systems: Workday, SuccessFactors, Taleo, Greenhouse, Personio, Umantis, Abacus. Each system has its own rules for parsing and scoring PDFs. A CV that scores 95% in Workday might only reach 70% in Taleo — with identical content.
That's not a flaw in your CV — it's the systems themselves. A realistically good ATS score is 75–85%. Anything above that is luck, not system.
The biggest ATS systems in Switzerland
| System | Spread | Specialty |
|---|---|---|
| Workday | Large enterprises | Workday's own parsing engine |
| SuccessFactors | Mid-market+ | SAP integration, keyword matching |
| Taleo | Large enterprises | Oracle, often strict keyword matching |
| Greenhouse | Tech startups | Modern, less strict |
| Personio | SMEs | German market leader, CH presence |
| Umantis | CH-specific | Swiss-developed, public sector |
| Abacus | CH-specific | Swiss ERP, integrated HR module |
What jobsuchi.ch does differently
Our score is not a black-box AI number. It's based on a weighted formula:
- •Keywords (40%): How well do your skills match the job description?
- •Format (20%): Is your CV machine-readable? No tables, no images as text.
- •Completeness (20%): Are all relevant positions and dates present?
- •Language (10%): Is the language consistent and professional?
- •Structure (10%): Is the layout logical and ATS-friendly?