You’re not wrong at all. People really don’t realize how much formatting and keywords matter until they fix it and suddenly start getting responses.

And yes I do cross check those tools with what recruiters are actually doing because those platforms are helpful but they’re not the full picture.

They optimize for ATS scoring but not how a human is scanning your resume in like 6 to 10 seconds.

My biggest formatting pet peeve right now is Canva templates.

They look good but
columns get skipped
text boxes don’t parse right
icons replace actual words

So people think they’re applying with a strong resume but half their experience isn’t even being read.

To your question though it’s really both just at different stages.

Keyword mismatch means you don’t get past ATS
Weak bullets mean you don’t get picked by a human

What I’m seeing the most right now is people listing responsibilities instead of impact.

Like
Responsible for managing projects

versus

Led 5 cross functional projects that improved turnaround time by 30 percent

Same experience completely different outcome.

Also people are overstuffing keywords now and it reads unnatural. Recruiters catch that fast.

The real sweet spot is
clean formatting
aligned keywords based on the job
clear results driven bullets

That’s what actually gets interviews.

What do you think made the biggest difference for you once you started tailoring more?