How Strategic Job Title Tweaks Helped a UX Designer Pass ATS and Get Interviews

Sometimes, landing interviews isn’t about rewriting your entire resume — it’s about reframing what’s already there. For one UX designer, the key was reworking job titles that were confusing both to humans and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). Here’s how a few strategic title tweaks helped her resume get noticed and start landing interviews.

The Problem: Confusing Job Titles That Tanked Her Chances

Even the best resumes can get stuck in limbo if job titles don’t make sense to an ATS. That’s exactly what happened to one of my clients: a UX designer whose experience was solid, but whose titles didn’t reflect her true expertise.

Despite her deep background in UX research and product design, her applications were disappearing into the void before ever reaching a hiring manager.

The culprit? Vague, misleading titles like:

• Self-Service Tools Associate

• Product Implementation & Optimization Associate

• Clinical Strategy Associate

To an ATS — and most recruiters — these titles suggested unrelated work, like admin or healthcare operations. The software simply couldn’t connect her experience to the UX and product roles she was targeting.

The Fix: Strategic Title Tweaks to Align with Her Career Goals

To make her expertise immediately clear, I rephrased her titles to reflect her real scope and skills while staying fully truthful. Here’s how we transformed them:

• Self-Service Tools Associate → UX Researcher & Product Designer, Self-Service Tools

• Product Implementation & Optimization Associate → User Researcher & Product Designer, Platform Optimization

• Clinical Strategy Associate → Clinical Research & Strategy Associate

Each revised title introduced relevant keywords — UX, Product Designer, Research — directly matching her target job listings. Once updated, her resume started passing ATS filters and getting callbacks from design hiring teams.

Why Job Titles Matter More Than You Think

Job titles carry more weight than most people realize. They’re one of the first fields an ATS scans and one of the first details a recruiter reads. If your titles don’t clearly align with the job you want, your resume may never get a fair look.

Here’s how to check if your titles are helping or hurting you:

• Align with your target role. Make sure each title clearly reflects the type of work you’re pursuing.

• Use keywords wisely. Integrate relevant industry terms to signal fit, like UX, Research, or Product Designer.

• Keep it honest but strategic. Tweaks are fine, as long as they stay true to your actual responsibilities and scope.

Final Takeaway: Don’t Let Your Job Titles Hold You Back

Your job titles should work for you, not against you. Sometimes, a single word change can shift how your entire career story is perceived by both ATS software and human decision-makers.

If your resume isn’t landing interviews, it might be time to look beyond formatting and bullet points, and start with how your experience is framed.

Need help refining yours? Let’s make your resume as strategic and aligned as the roles you’re after. Work with me →