[ GUIDE · FORMATTING · KEYWORDS · CHECKLIST ]
How to make an ATS-friendly resume
An ATS-friendly resume is one that applicant tracking software can turn into clean, complete text and sort into the right fields: your name, contact details, job titles, dates and skills. In practice that means one column, standard headings, real text instead of images, contact details in the body of the page, and the posting’s own wording for skills you genuinely have.
What does an applicant tracking system do with your resume?
Most medium and large employers take applications through an applicant tracking system such as Workday, Greenhouse, iCIMS or Lever. When you upload a resume, the system pulls the text out of the file and tries to split it into fields — contact details, each job with its dates, education, skills. That is called parsing. Recruiters then search and filter the applications, often by job title, skills or keywords from the posting; some systems also rank applicants against the posting.
Each system works differently, and employers configure them differently, so no tool can tell you exactly what one employer’s software will do. Two things hold everywhere: text that doesn’t come out of your file can’t be read or found, and a resume that uses the posting’s vocabulary is easier to find in a search.
About the “75% of resumes are rejected by an ATS” figure. It is repeated everywhere, but no study behind it was ever published; it is usually traced to a 2012 sales pitch from Preptel, a resume-optimisation company that closed the following year (background). The practical risk is real but narrower: unreadable formatting and missing keywords.
What does a two-column resume look like to a parser?
An illustration of one common failure: a file that stores its text line by line across both columns. The page looks fine; the extracted text runs the sidebar into the job history.
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Whether your file does this depends on the program that made it. The only way to know is to look at the text that comes out — which is what the resume checker shows when you upload a PDF or DOCX.
How should you format an ATS-friendly resume?
- 01
Use one column
Text is pulled out of a file in the order it is stored, which is not always the order you see. Two columns and sidebars can come out one after the other — or line by line across both, so a skill from the sidebar lands in the middle of a job title.
HOW → Keep the main content in a single column. If you like a skills panel, put it as its own section below your experience instead of beside it.
- 02
Keep contact details in the body of the page
Word puts headers and footers in separate parts of the file. Some applicant tracking systems skip those parts, and contact details placed there can go missing.
HOW → Put your name, email, phone and city as the first lines of the page itself, not in Insert → Header.
On this site: The upload reader warns when a DOCX has text in its header or footer.
- 03
Use standard section headings
Parsers split a resume into fields by recognising headings. ‘Experience’ and ‘Education’ are understood everywhere; ‘Where I’ve Made an Impact’ is not.
HOW → Use Summary, Experience, Education, Skills and Certifications, each on its own line.
On this site: ‘Core sections’ looks for experience, education, skills and summary headings.
- 04
No text boxes, layout tables or pictures of text
Text boxes are stored apart from the main text and are often skipped. Tables are read cell by cell. Skill bars, icons and logos are images, so there is nothing in them to read.
HOW → Write everything as ordinary paragraphs and bullets. Show skill level in words (‘Spanish — fluent’), not as dots or bars.
On this site: The upload reader flags text boxes and side-by-side table cells in a DOCX.
- 05
Make sure your PDF has real text
A scanned or ‘printed to image’ PDF is a photograph of a resume. There is no text in it for software to read.
HOW → Export with File → Save as PDF (or Download → PDF in Google Docs). Test it: if you can select a word in the PDF with your cursor, it has a text layer.
On this site: Upload the PDF and the checker shows you what text came out — or tells you there was none.
- 06
Type bullets as characters, in one style
A bullet typed as • or - survives as text. Some design tools draw bullets as small shapes, which vanish when the text is extracted, leaving lines that no longer look like a list.
HOW → Use your word processor’s bullet list, or type •. Pick one bullet style and use it throughout.
On this site: ‘Formatting risk’ deducts for mixed bullet styles; the upload reader notes bullets drawn as shapes.
- 07
Date every role the same way
Systems that build a work history from your resume look for a start and end date on each job.
HOW → Use ‘Mon YYYY – Mon YYYY’ (or ‘– Present’) for every role, on the same line as the title or the line below it.
On this site: ‘Employment dates’ counts the date references it can recognise.
- 08
Use capitals for headings only
Whole lines in capitals are harder for people to read and are sometimes taken for headings by parsers.
HOW → Short headings in capitals are fine. Write job titles, company names and sentences in normal case.
On this site: ‘Formatting risk’ deducts for all-caps lines of four or more words.
- 09
Pick the file type the posting asks for
Most current systems read a text-based PDF or a .docx. Some application portals state a preference; follow it.
HOW → If the posting doesn’t say, either is a reasonable choice. Upload both versions to the checker and compare the text that comes out — use the one that reads cleanly.
Fonts matter less than people think, because the text layer is what gets read. The exception is a decorative or icon font that doesn’t record which letters its shapes stand for; the upload reader warns when characters in a PDF can’t be decoded.
How do you match keywords without stuffing them?
- Use the posting’s exact words. If it says “stakeholder management” and you wrote “worked with leadership”, use its phrase — for things you have actually done.
- Spell out acronyms once. “Certified Public Accountant (CPA)” matches a search for either form.
- Put key skills in two places. In the skills section, and inside a bullet that shows you using them.
- Never hide keywords. White or tiny text is still text: it shows up in the plain-text view recruiters see, and it reads as an attempt to game the system. The upload reader flags white text in PDFs.
Paste the posting into the checker to see its repeated terms, which ones your resume already has, and which hard skills are missing. The method is documented on the scoring methodology page.
ATS-friendly resume checklist
- Name, email, phone and city at the top of the page body
- One column; no text boxes, layout tables or images of text
- Headings: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills
- A start and end date on every role
- Bullets typed as characters, one style throughout
- At least half of your bullets contain a number
- Most bullets start with an action verb (Led, Built, Cut)
- No ‘I’, ‘my’ or ‘we’; no stock buzzwords
- No bullet longer than about 45 words
- Roughly 150–900 words in total
- The posting’s exact wording for skills you really have
- A text-based PDF or .docx, named Firstname-Lastname-Resume
The number-based items match the thresholds the checker scores against, so a resume that ticks every box here passes those checks.
How do you test whether your resume is ATS-friendly?
- 1. Upload the exact file you’ll send to the resume checker. It is read in your browser; nothing is uploaded to a server.
- 2. Read the extracted text. Your name and contact details should be at the top, every job should have its dates, and nothing should be scrambled or missing.
- 3. Fix what the reader flags — header text, text boxes, tables, drawn bullets — then upload again.
- 4. Paste the job posting and work through the missing keywords that are true for you.
Starting from scratch? The free resume builder’s Classic template is single-column with plain headings, and its PDF keeps a real text layer. The resume examples and resume summary examples follow every rule above.
Common questions
What is an ATS resume?
An ATS resume is a resume formatted so that an applicant tracking system — the software employers use to receive and search applications — can read it accurately. It isn't a special template. It's an ordinary resume with one column, standard headings, real text and the posting's own vocabulary, so the text that comes out of the file matches what a person sees on the page.
Are PDF resumes ATS-friendly?
A PDF made with Save as PDF from Word, Google Docs or a resume builder has a text layer, and most current systems read it. A scanned PDF or one exported as an image has no text at all. Upload yours to the checker on this site: it shows exactly what text comes out, or tells you there is none.
Can an ATS read tables and columns?
Sometimes, and not always in the order you intended. Tables are read cell by cell and columns can be read across or one after the other, depending on how the file stores them. Since you can't know which system an employer uses, a single-column layout is the safe choice.
Are Canva or other designed resume templates ATS-friendly?
Some are and many aren't. Designs that use columns, icons, skill bars or text placed in shapes often extract poorly. If you use one, export a PDF and upload it to the checker: if the extracted text is in order and complete, it's readable; if it's scrambled or missing, switch to a single-column template.
Does an ATS automatically reject resumes?
Usually not in the way people fear. Many systems simply store applications and let recruiters search and filter them; applications are most often screened out by knockout questions on the application form (such as work authorisation or a required licence) or by a person. What formatting and keywords decide is whether your resume can be read and found when someone searches.
Do I need a different resume for every application?
You need a tailored one, not a new one. Keep a master version, then for each posting adjust the summary, reorder bullets so the most relevant come first, and use the posting's wording for skills you really have. The checker's keyword match shows which of the posting's terms are missing.