ATS Keywords
ATS Keywords Every PPC Specialist CV Needs to Include
PPC Specialist CVs are unusually easy to score against, because the role revolves around a small set of platforms, certifications, and performance metrics that recruiters and ATS software both search for by name. A CV that says 'managed online advertising' gets filtered out next to one that says 'managed a €300K Google Ads budget at 4.5x ROAS'. This guide lists the exact keywords, phrases, and formatting choices that get PPC applications past the filter and in front of a hiring manager.
Optimize Your CVATS Optimisation
Must-Have Keywords
Include these keywords in your CV to improve your ATS score.
Strengthen Your CV
Power Phrases
Use these multi-word phrases to strengthen your CV.
Avoid These
Words to Avoid
Remove these overused or weak words from your CV.
ATS Score
Before & After ATS Optimization
Before
Missing Keywords
After
Added Keywords
Formatting
ATS-Friendly Format Tips
List each platform certification, such as Google Ads or Meta Blueprint, as its own line with the issuing platform name, since ATS parsers match on exact phrasing.
Use standard section headers like 'Work Experience' and 'Certifications' instead of creative labels, since ATS parsers rely on recognized headers to categorize content.
Spell out acronyms at least once, such as Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) and Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), so the CV matches both acronym and full-term searches.
Avoid tables, text boxes, and multi-column layouts in your experience section, since many ATS parsers scramble or drop content trapped inside them.
Save and submit as a .docx or standard text-based PDF, not a scanned image or design-heavy PDF, so the text layer stays machine-readable.
Mirror the exact terminology used in the job posting, such as 'paid social' versus 'social advertising', since ATS keyword matching is often literal rather than semantic.
Quantify every bullet with a number, using %, €, or x, placed near the relevant keyword, since many modern ATS and recruiter tools rank keyword-metric proximity.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
They look for platform names like Google Ads and Meta Ads Manager, certifications, and performance metrics like ROAS, CPA, and CTR, since these map directly to the skills listed in most PPC job postings.
Yes, but note the year and mention you are renewing it. The keyword match still helps you pass the ATS scan, and most hiring managers understand certifications lapse between renewal cycles.
ATS systems don't score numbers directly, but many feed parsed text into ranking algorithms that reward keyword-metric proximity, and human recruiters reviewing shortlisted CVs are heavily swayed by quantified results.
Include both, since different companies and ATS configurations search for either term, and using only one risks missing a match on the other.
There is no hard cap, but keyword-stuffing a summary section without context reads as spam to both ATS ranking systems and recruiters, so weave keywords naturally into real achievement bullets instead.
Yes, if you have real experience with them. Naming the specific platforms beyond Google and Meta shows breadth and matches keyword searches for multi-channel paid media roles.
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