What is a Core Competencies Index on a resume? Core competencies, also known as your "core qualifications" is a list of your qualifications for a job. A core competencies section includes your skills, certifications, knowledge of different software products, and personality traits that make you a desirable candidate. When targeting a specific job opportunity, the index entries can be adjusted to match the employer's nomenclature in order to better sync with ATS.
For example, ATS is an exact match engine, and if ATS is seeking "mechanical design engineer" and your index entry has "mechanical engineer" you will not score as high for this term as another candidate who has matched the exact term. You can adjust your Core Competencies Index to exactly match an employer's posted requirements. This is a very powerful strategy that is highly effective in passing ATS screening gates.