Lever ATS: how to get your application through
Who uses Lever in the UK?
Lever is Greenhouse's main rival at tech companies and scale-ups in the UK. Its applications are typically minimal — CV plus a few fields — and it doubles as a candidate-relationship database, meaning companies use it to track people they might hire later, not just current applicants.
What happens to your application
Your application becomes a candidate profile in Lever's pipeline. Recruiters move profiles through stages, tag them with skills, and — crucially — search the whole database when new roles open. Like Greenhouse, Lever isn't auto-rejecting CVs on keywords by default; humans screen, knockout questions filter, and database search determines whether you resurface for future roles.
How to prepare your CV for Lever
- Front-load your most recent, most relevant role — Lever's profile view rewards a skimmable top third.
- Use the advert's exact skill terms ("React", "Kubernetes", "B2B SaaS") — those are the tags and search terms recruiters use across the database.
- Single-column CV, no graphics — clean parsing makes your profile complete and searchable.
- The optional cover-note field is read at scale-ups — three specific sentences about why this company beats a generic letter.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Lever and Greenhouse?
For candidates, very little — both are human-screened tech ATSs with knockout questions. Lever leans harder into long-term candidate relationship tracking.
Does Lever auto-reject applications?
Only via knockout questions where employers use them; CV screening is human.
Do companies keep my Lever profile after rejection?
Typically yes, subject to their data retention policy — and they search past candidates when new roles open.
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