Analysis: Passing the Screening – The Keywords That Save Your CV

Introduction & Problem Formulation

Many job seekers feel like their applications disappear into a black hole. Despite being well-qualified and spending hours on their cover letters, they often receive an automated email stating that they have not moved forward. A key explanation for this is the widespread use of ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems)—software that automatically scans, indexes, and ranks incoming applications based on keywords.

According to recruitment industry surveys, up to 70–75% of all resumes are filtered out automatically by these systems before they are ever read by a human recruiter. The screening occurs as the system compares the text in your CV against the keywords and requirements specified by the employer in the job description. If the match score is too low, the resume is discarded. This means that the choice of words in your CV is directly critical to your chances of landing an interview.

This report maps the most common skills and soft keywords in the Swedish labor market. By understanding which concepts are requested most frequently, job seekers can adapt their CVs to pass the automated screening.

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Methodology & Dataset

This study is based on text analysis of the Bytajobb Analytics database, containing over 10 million job advertisements published in Sweden between January 2006 and June 2026.

We scanned the texts of the job listings for the occurrence of common personal traits, work methods, and collaborative skills (soft skills). We then calculated the percentage occurrence of these terms across the entire dataset to identify the most frequently demanded keywords.

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Results: The Most Demanded Keywords in the Job Market

1. Collaboration and Drive: The Market's Constant Favorites

The data indicates that the ability to collaborate and take initiative are valued highest by Swedish employers.

• Collaboration Skills (samarbetsförmåga) is the most common soft requirement, appearing in 42.5% of all job ads.
• Keywords related to being Driven (or initiativtagande, proaktiv) come in second place, appearing in 38.1% of listings.
• This means that nearly half of the postings in the market demand these two traits. If your CV lacks these exact terms or close synonyms, the risk of being filtered out by automated screeners increases significantly.

2. Structure and Independence: The Value of Order and Autonomy

The ability to organize one's work and operate without micro-management is also highly demanded.

• Communicative (kommunikativ) is requested in 33.4% of ads.
• Being Structured (or organiserad, noggrann) appears in 29.8% of postings.
• The ability to work Independently (or självständig) is demanded in 27.2% of cases.
• These figures signal a modern labor market where flat organizations and hybrid offices place high demands on employees' self-leadership and remote communication abilities.

3. Responsibility and Flexibility: Navigating Change

• Responsible (ansvarsfull) appears in 22.0% of postings.
• Being Flexible (or anpassningsbar, lösningsorienterad) is requested in 21.3%.
• Problem Solving (problemlösningsförmåga) appears in 19.5% of all advertisements.

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Conclusions: How to Optimize Your CV for the Screeners

To improve your chances of passing automated ATS screenings, apply the following strategies to your CV:

1. Mirror the language of the ad: Do not just write a generic CV. If the ad requests "collaboration skills" and being "structured," ensure these exact words (or very close synonyms) appear in your profile summary and work history.
2. Show, don't tell: It is not enough to simply list the keywords ("I am driven and communicative"). Instead, describe achievements demonstrating these traits (e.g., “As a project manager, I drove [Driven] the implementation of...”). This is appreciated both by systems and by human recruiters in the next stage.
3. Avoid rare buzzwords: Use established, common terms that match standard text analysis models. Unusual phrasing can cause the system to miss that you possess the requested competency.

Sources and Academic Studies

The figures and ATS insights presented in this report are based on the following research and industry sources:

• Harvard Business School (Managing the Future of Work): "Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent" (Joseph B. Fuller et al., 2021) – Detailed study demonstrating how automated applicant tracking systems (ATS) and rigid keyword filters reject up to 75% of qualified applicants.
• Jobscan / Kelly Services: Research reports on CV parsing engines, matching algorithms, and search engine optimization practices among major global recruiters via Jobscan.
• Bytajobb Analytics: Text analysis and keyword frequency calculations of soft attributes and skills across over 10 million Swedish job postings (2006–2026).

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Want to know exactly how well your current CV matches the requirements and keywords in the job ad you want to apply for? Let our CV Auditor analyze your profile against the job description directly and give you concrete suggestions: