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You spot a role with your dream EdTech company.
You tweak your CV, tailor a couple of lines, hit apply.
Ten minutes later, an automated rejection lands in your inbox. Or nothing at all.
So you start the usual mental loop.
“Is the ATS blocking me”
“Do I need more keywords”
“Is there something wrong with my CV”
Most people decide the villain is the ATS, the applicant tracking system. The mysterious software that scans CVs and silently rejects anyone who is not a ninety percent match.
From the recruiter side of the screen, especially in EdTech, that is simply not what is happening.
The real problem is not rejection.
The real problem is invisibility.
At RecruitHer, we sit inside ATS platforms all day, reviewing applications for sales, product, learning design and leadership roles across EdTech. Here is how these systems actually work and what you can do to reach more recruiters who are hiring in this sector.
The T in ATS stands for tracking.
Think of it as a searchable filing cabinet. It helps us:
That is it. No secret robot judge. No glowing red eyes scanning for the word “stakeholder”.
Sometimes we add a few basic knock out questions to the application form. For example:
If you select an answer that does not meet the requirement, the system can send an automatic rejection. That part is real.
But the idea that the ATS is reading every line of your CV and rejecting you because you missed one buzzword is a myth.
In theory we can search the ATS by keywords like “multi academy trust” or “learning design” or “renewals”. In practice, recruiters in EdTech are more likely to skim.
We open the job, see a long list of applicants and click into CVs one by one. We look first at:
If your experience in schools, universities or publishing is not obvious in the first few seconds, we move on. Not because a bot rejected you, but because the CV did not make your value easy to see.
What to do instead
Use the language of the sector in clear sentences.
Instead of “Responsible for customer relationships” write
“Managed strategic relationships with ten secondary schools across one multi academy trust, increasing renewal rate from eighty to ninety two percent.”
You have the keyword, but you also show impact.
You have probably seen sites that tell you your CV is “sixty seven percent match” and needs more keywords.
Those percentages do not come from any ATS we use. They are invented by third party tools that are trying to sell you templates and audits.
No hiring manager in EdTech ever sees a percentage next to your name. We see your CV and your LinkedIn profile.
What to do instead
Forget the score. Focus on:
If it is easy for a tired recruiter to skim on a laptop, it is ATS friendly enough.
Please do not do this.
When CVs are pulled into the ATS, the system strips out design and converts everything into plain text. All the white font tricks appear as one messy block of repeated keywords.
On the recruiter side it looks like spam and tells us you are trying to game the process.
What to do instead
If you genuinely have a skill, show it where it matters. For example:
“Co designed a new digital reading program with curriculum leads in two primary schools, aligned to UK National Curriculum for Key Stage Two.”
That single line is worth more than twenty hidden mentions of “curriculum alignment”.
Most ATS platforms used in EdTech are older than TikTok. They were built to track applicants, not to assess them.
On top of that, employment law in many countries expects humans to be able to review and explain hiring decisions. That limits what automation can do.
The system may help us search, but the decision to progress or reject is still made by people.
What to do instead
Write your CV as if a busy human will spend six seconds on the first pass.
Make sure that in those six seconds they can see:
If you work in EdTech sales, for example, and your CV does not mention schools, districts, MATs, universities or ministries until page two, you are making it hard for yourself.
Instant or very fast rejection usually comes from knock out questions.
If a role needs previous K12 experience and you tick “no”, the system will send a rejection. If a company cannot sponsor visas and you tick that you need sponsorship, the same.
Frustrating, yes. Mysterious, no.
What to do instead
Read the requirements carefully before you apply.
If a role clearly needs three years of EdTech experience and you are only just leaving the classroom, that role will be a long shot. You are better off focusing on roles that are open to career switchers, then using your CV to translate your teaching experience.
Once you stop fighting a mythical robot, you can focus on the real job: making your value obvious.
Here is what consistently gets candidates noticed in EdTech searches.
Recruiters scan for evidence that you understand education.
Use your profile and recent roles to make that clear:
“Senior Account Manager, UK schools and MATs”
“Learning Designer for higher education clients in Europe and the Middle East”
“Customer Success Manager for university partnerships”
If you have been a teacher, state your phase and subject clearly. Then show the bridge into EdTech through projects, side work or tech use.
Activity based bullets sound like this:
• Managed demos with school leaders
• Ran webinars for teachers
Outcome based bullets sound like this:
• Delivered product demos to senior leadership teams in twenty secondary schools, resulting in eight new multi year contracts
• Designed and ran training webinars for two hundred teachers, increasing weekly active usage from forty to seventy percent
In a long sales cycle market like EdTech, these outcomes matter a lot.
For commercial, implementation and customer success roles, we look for signs that you know the buying journey.
Mention things like:
• procurement processes
• pilot programs
• decision making units
• budget cycles
• impact measurement
This immediately signals that you are not new to the sector, even if you are new to a specific job title.
Boring is your friend.
Use one column.
Use standard fonts.
Avoid graphics, icons and complicated timelines.
If we can copy and paste your CV text into a notes app without it falling apart, the ATS will read it fine.
For mid level and senior roles in EdTech, we often find people in the ATS and then immediately check LinkedIn.
If your profile is empty, has no photo, no headline and no activity, you look less engaged with the sector than you probably are.
At minimum:
• add a clear headline that mentions EdTech
• list your current role and responsibilities
• show a short about section
• connect with people in the space and react to content you genuinely care about
Your ATS application gets you on the list. Your LinkedIn presence often decides whether we call.
In EdTech, the algorithm you are trying to impress is not a piece of software.
The algorithm is:
If your CV does not help those people see your fit quickly, no amount of “ATS optimisation” will compensate.
Focus on clarity, sector language and real outcomes. That is what gets you seen and invited to interview.
If you want help translating your education or EdTech experience into a CV that recruiters can actually work with, you can schedule a 60-mins CV and LinkedIn audit with me, or a bigger package that includes interview prep and job search strategy. Book a free 30-mins consultation to find out which option is right for you.
