PRODUCER’S NOTE: AI technology and automation dramatically change how applicants look for a new job.  Know where that change is more impactful than how you construct your resume.  Beware.  The internet is loaded with outdated advice.

Should I focus my resume’s content on getting past the applicant tracking system, or should I sell myself – my strengths, value, experience, and accomplishments?

This is not a binary choice. 

That a machine is making the initial decision about your status as an applicant in the vast majority of job searches today does not alter the fact that your resume is your first interview.  Yes, you need to incorporate the keywords and phrases from the job description to make the scanner happy, but that does not require you to dumb down or eliminate information regarding your value, your experience, and accomplishments.

Do you know why 80 percent of the resumes submitted online for a given job are never seen by a human because someone like you made a binary choice?