What is an ATS and why is it important for my application?

ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System — software that companies use for applicant management. Large corporations and many medium-sized businesses use them to manage hundreds to thousands of applications, automatically sort them, and pre-filter candidates. The EU AI Act classifies certain ATS applications as high-risk when they substantially influence employment decisions — many companies must make their systems transparent. In Germany, AGG Section 1 protects against discriminatory algorithms. Practically, this means for you: your CV must be machine-readable (no table layout, no embedded graphics as text), and the keywords from the job posting must be included. Not all companies use ATS — startups and SMEs often do not.