Considering that these days many companies use Applicant Tracking Systems which scan uploaded documents, strip formatting, look for keywords, etc, I'm wondering what recommended ways exist to upload a cover letter that lets the ATS do its thing.
Right now, I have a cover letter I want to use that I've printed, signed, and scanned back to PDF, but by my understanding, this might hinder the ATS properly detecting the words. So, how can I achieve maximum ATS-compatibility while still having my signature on the document? To make it clear, I'd prefer not to simply import a picture of my signature into the block, say in Microsoft Word - it would be trivial to save it to a file/use it/etc.