ICYMI, there is a silent gatekeeper standing between you and an interview: the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Most companies are now using this software to scan, rank, and filter resumes before a person gets a thorough look at them. If your resume isn't formatted to be "readable" by these systems, it might be passed over — regardless of your qualifications. 

The goal isn't just to have a great-looking resume; it’s to have a resume with specific content sought out by the software. By making a few strategic updates, you can ensure your hard work gets the visibility it deserves. Here’s how.

Prioritize Simple Formatting
While it’s tempting to use programs like Canva to develop creative layouts, columns, or complex graphics for your resume, these elements often confuse an ATS. Adding fancy sidebars or tables can cause your text to get scrambled or ignored entirely by the software. Stick to a clean, single-column layout with plenty of white space. In the world of the ATS, simplicity equals momentum forward in your job search. 

Strategic Keyword Alignment
The ATS can also be seen as a search engine for recruiters. To rank highly, your resume needs to closely mirror the language of the job description. If the posting asks for “Project Management” and “Data Analysis,” make sure those phrases appear in your skills section or experience descriptions. Industry jargon is best, and variations or synonyms of keywords also count, so don't feel like you need to change wording every single time. 

Choose the Right File Type
There is a long-standing debate between uploading a .docx vs. .pdf with an ATS. While most modern ATS platforms can read both, a good rule of thumb is to use whatever file types are listed in the application instructions. If you do use a PDF, ensure it is searchable (i.e., you can highlight and copy the text) rather than a flat image file. If the system can’t read the text, it won’t be able to rank your information. 

Focus on Standard Section Headers
The ATS looks for specific markers to categorize your information. Using “clever” titles like “Where I’ve Been” instead of “Work Experience” or “My Toolkit” instead of “Skills” can prevent the software from correctly identifying your background. Consolidating two sections into one with headers like "Research Experience & Extracurricular Activities" also won't work. Stick to the traditional headers that the software is programmed to recognize. This ensures your data is parsed correctly into the recruiter’s database. 

Put This Into Action
Want to know more about how to optimize your resume for the ATS, especially when it comes to AI? Join the UMBC Career Center virtually on Monday, April 20th, at 12 PM for a Keys to Success workshop where we break down exactly how to format your documents for modern hiring technology. Hope to see you there!

The 2026 UMBC Sexual Misconduct Campus Climate Survey was launched! Information gathered from the survey will be used to inform our ongoing education, prevention, and response work, and is an important component in campus-wide efforts to stop, prevent, and remedy the effects of sexual misconduct at UMBC.

All students who complete the survey will be entered into a drawing to win one of five $100
UMBC Bookstore gift cards.

You can access the online survey here. The survey will be open from Wednesday,
April 15 until Thursday, April 30, and will take about 15-25 minutes to complete.

This survey is anonymous and confidential. After completing the UMBC Sexual Misconduct Campus Climate Survey, you will be prompted to enter your name and email address in a separate voluntary survey to enter for a chance to win one of the gift cards.

Content note: This survey asks some questions about personal experiences with sexual and
interpersonal violence. Some of the language used in this survey is explicit and direct and
may be triggering or uncomfortable for some participants. Information on how to get help, if you need it, appears before and after the survey and is available on the ECR website.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

Shared from the Office of Equity and Civil Rights. 

This event is part of the daylong Global Asias Symposium & Celebration on Monday, May 4! Full information is available on myUMBC and the event website.

Join us on Monday, May 4 for a celebration of the many accomplishments of the Global Asias Initiative here at UMBC! The Global Asias Initiative, a three-year initiative funded by the Mellon Foundation, has created a forum for engaging in conversations in the fields of Asian American Studies, Asian diaspora studies, and Asian Studies. The Initiative has has created connections across disciplines, institutions, organizations, and communities here on campus and beyond. 

Welcome & Belonging and Community Luncheon: Conversations on Asian experiences at UMBC
Monday, May 4
11:00am-12:30pm

Join us for our Belonging and Community luncheon to kick off the Global Asias Closing Symposium, which is dedicated to the power of storytelling, creative expression, and community. We will share personal stories through art and reflection to celebrate the joy, calm, and cultural heritage that sustain us. From these individual stories, we will build a shared vision of grounded community and understanding of Asian experiences at UMBC. Through a series of collaborative art activities and dialogue, we will turn our hopes for connection and belonging into a visual representation of our future at UMBC. Hosted in partnership with the Mosaic Center, the Center for Democracy and Civic Life, and the Office of Residential Life.

Location: Fine Arts Room 011
Lunch is Provided

*

This events are open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

See the original post and RSVP here. 

Voyages: Chapter Seven

Presenters: Michael Duffy, Christian Price-Burnett
Mentor: Nigel Semaj, Theatre

Special Exhibit, 2 – 2:30 p.m., RAC Upper Track, First Floor

The National Aquarium provides an annual residency wherein local Baltimore artists create a focused performance piece supporting the Aquarium’s mission of awareness and compassion for nature. In collaboration with Submersive Productions, we researched and developed choreography to portray the interaction between flowing water and marine life. We discussed our personal emotional connections to ocean life, participated in guided improvisation exercises, and explored emergent ensemble movement behavior from simple choreographed rules; with this, we developed a vocabulary of movement, both in terms of dance and character physicality. This vocabulary synergized with puppeteering, costumes, projections, and sound to create a cohesive and immersive audience experience. The research culminated in a one-night performance throughout the Aquarium, directly welcoming the audience as part of the experience. We gained exposure to collaborative devising practices, interdisciplinary methods of embodied storytelling, and the unique challenges of site-specific theatre.

This work was funded, in part, through an Undergraduate Research Award from the UMBC Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu

UMBC’s Department of Information Technology highlighted the work of two of its student security technicians who have played a critical role in ensuring that UMBC’s digital environment remains safe and uncompromised. They are Grace Robinson and Ouwen Dai, who have served in their DoIT roles during their academic careers and are now taking the next step into the professional world. Both are 2026 graduating CSEE seniors who have followed the cybersecurity track in the Computer Science program.

Read more about Grace and Ouwen and their work in DoIT’s Meet the Seniors Behind UMBC’s Cybersecurity post.

The Indigenous Peoples' Union is hosting a potluck-styled event in celebration of the spring season, the semester reaching its end and of the deep heritages of cuisines familiar to Indigenous communities - appropriately titled "Food Heritages Day."

Thursday, April 30th | 5-7 PM | Center for Well-Being 118

We will be enjoying a variety of dishes and drinks while having enriching discussions about the histories and pathways of different ingredients (wheat, maize, eggs, etc.) in relation to Indigenous peoples globally. For instance, frybread is a staple amongst Northern American Indigenous communities, in spite that wheat is not a native species to the Americas and is intertwined with colonialism, cultural adaptations, and food sovereignty.

Please RSVP by April 28th if you'd like to attend and let us know if you will bring a contribution. The contribution does NOT have to be food/considered Indigenous (we will have some 'Non-Native' dishes as well (ex. Flan)) as we'll be talking about foods and ingredients of all backgrounds and histories. Event is not limited to students. Come with an appetite, a contribution (encouraged), an interest to learn, and a tupperware!

The RSVP form is set to allow edits after you've responded in order to prevent duplicate responses. If you have any questions or inquiries, you can email one of the leads, send a message to one of our socials or email c280@umbc.edu.

• RSVP Here: https://forms.gle/AxKj4Lt45FfCZntv7
• Take a peek at what others are bringing here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/

"He is right; banana trees are not native to our El Salvador. Banana trees were introduced during colonialism between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries in Latin America through the development of plantations. Banana trees are indeed native to the South Pacific and Southeast Asian regions, Yes, under the lens of Western environmentalism, banana trees are an invasive species to my ancestral native lands. However, to us, bananas are not invasive; they are displaced relatives that have adapted well to our climates and are now incorporated into our traditional diets. Ultimately, the kinships and relationships we have developed with them have made them our relatives as well. All I can think of is that, like me and many Indigenous peoples in the diaspora, banana trees have also been displaced. We have been displaced from our native and ancestral lands and forced to adapt to our new environments and form new kinships with our new land." Jessica Hernandez (Maya Ch’orti and Binnizá-Zapotec) in Fresh Banana Leaves.

To see the original post, click here. 

Did you see the academy award winning film Sinners?  Come hear Phoenix' critical take on this and more!

Conceptions of Blackness: A Fantastical Re-Imagining of Black Heroism and Villainy

Presenter: Phoenix Gordon
Mentor: Sharon Tran, English

Oral presentation: RAC 106 | 10 – 10:15 a.m.

This study examines constructions of Blackness in relation to pain. I explore how Black heroism is accompanied by pain and whether it is still revolutionary when removed from it. The notion that Black people do not feel pain has been used to justify their dehumanization/villainization. Black presence in White-dominated spaces has birthed many polarizing categorizations of Blackness: “the good” versus “the ghetto”; “not Black enough” versus “Black enough.” Such distinct labels render Blackness only acceptable when gentrified by the removal of pain, and uncouth when backed by the acknowledgement of it. I analyze how Black creatives intervene in these narratives by engaging in textual analysis of historical and contemporary depictions of Blackness, informed by critical race theory, through film, television, and literature. By focusing on Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys, Misha Green’s Lovecraft Country (2020), and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025), I consider realist iterations of Black pain and how they are reconstructed through fantastical elements. When coupled with wizardry and vampires, I argue that audiences gain a whole new perspective of understanding Blackness, power, and oppression. These works recreate the Black “hero” and “villain” into multidimensional beings who do not exist solely in hardship, or as victims.

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu

This Thursday, April 16th at 7:30pm, join this special event to honor Mr. Walter Lomax and the 5 year anniversary of the passing of the Maryland Walter Lomax Act. 
Gathering this event will be Mr. Lomax, elected officials, members of the Maryland state government, and others integral in the passing of the Act which compensates wrongly convicted and incarcerated individuals. 

Presented by the Department of English, The School of Public Policy at UMBC, The Dresher Center for the Humanities, The Shriver Center, the Department of American Studies, and the Department of Political Science.

This event is open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

Location - PAHB 132

7:30-9pm

RSVP at https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/publicpolicy/events/152318

Visualizing Enforcement: ICE Activity and Community Response in Maryland

Presenter: Andrea Quispe, Sondheim Scholar
Mentor: Tamara Bhalla, American Studies

Oral presentation: RAC 230 | 11:40 – 11:55 a.m.

My capstone research and public humanities project in American Studies examines the chronological escalation of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Maryland through the creation of a digital timeline. The digital timeline visualizes how enforcement has heightened over the past two years using two forms of public recording: social media and mainstream news media. This presentation examines how social media functions as an information network for the Maryland Latinx community compared to mainstream media news coverage to understand how different platforms decide what counts as urgent and shareable. While mainstream media prioritize large-scale enforcement stories, social media circulates localized warnings and “know your rights” resources. Using content analysis of ten Maryland-based Facebook group posts and three mainstream news coverage sites, this project will uncover the differing criteria and purposes that go into publishing community encounters with ICE. This digital visualization not only brings attention to the ongoing realities of enforcement, but also demonstrates how Maryland communities have responded by creating rapid communication networks to protect one another.

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu

UMBC’s CSEE department will hold its annual Research Day on Friday, April 17th, from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm in University Center 312. It will bring together students, faculty, and staff for a day of presentations, posters, and community engagement.

Three CSEE faculty will present their research:

• Dr. Dong Li, From Everyday Devices to Intelligent Health Sensing, 10:00-10:25 am

• Dr. Ergun Simsek, Dispersion Metrology with Neural Networks, 11:10-11:35 am

• Dr. Tejas Gokhale, Cognitive Vision: Intelligence as Concept Learning, 1:00-1:25 pm

There will be additional talks by CSEE alumna Dr. Janerra Allen and undergraduate, MS, and Ph.D. students, as well as a poster session featuring more than 20 student research posters. Refreshments and lunch will be provided for all attendees. See the full schedule and get more information here, and RSVP if you plan to attend.