ATS-Friendly Resume Writing Tips

Essential tips and best practices to make your resume ATS-compatible and increase your chances of getting hired

1. Choose ATS-Friendly Fonts

Applicant Tracking Systems can struggle with decorative or unusual fonts. Stick to standard, professional fonts that are easily readable by both humans and machines.

✓ Recommended Fonts:

  • Arial
  • Calibri
  • Times New Roman
  • Georgia
  • Helvetica
  • Cambria

✗ Avoid:

  • Decorative fonts (Comic Sans, Papyrus)
  • Script or handwriting fonts
  • Ultra-light or ultra-bold fonts
  • Fonts smaller than 10pt or larger than 12pt

2. Use Standard Section Headings

ATS systems look for specific section headings to parse your resume. Using creative or non-standard headings can confuse the system and cause important information to be missed.

✓ Standard Section Headings:

  • Work Experience or Professional Experience
  • Education
  • Skills or Technical Skills
  • Certifications
  • Summary or Professional Summary
  • Contact Information

✗ Avoid Creative Headings Like:

  • "Where I've Been" instead of Work Experience
  • "My Superpowers" instead of Skills
  • "What I Know" instead of Education
  • "Let's Connect" instead of Contact Information

3. Format Dates Consistently

ATS systems need to understand your employment timeline. Use consistent, clear date formatting throughout your resume.

✓ Good Date Formats:

  • January 2020 - March 2023
  • Jan 2020 - Mar 2023
  • 01/2020 - 03/2023
  • 2020 - 2023 (if only year matters)

✗ Problematic Formats:

  • Mixing formats (Jan 2020 - 03/2023)
  • Vague dates ("Summer 2020")
  • Special characters (2020•2023)
  • No dates at all

4. Optimize for Keywords

ATS systems scan for specific keywords from the job description. Naturally incorporate these keywords throughout your resume.

How to Find Keywords:

  1. Read the job description carefully
  2. Identify required skills, qualifications, and tools
  3. Note repeated terms and phrases
  4. Look for industry-specific terminology
  5. Use our Keyword Optimization Tool to analyze

⚠️ Important:

Use keywords naturally in context. Don't just create a list of buzzwords or stuff your resume with keywords. ATS systems and human recruiters can detect this.

5. Submit the Right File Format

The file format you submit can make or break your application. Some formats are more ATS-friendly than others.

✓ Best Formats:

  • .docx (Microsoft Word)
  • .pdf (if the job posting allows)

Most ATS systems handle these formats well.

✗ Avoid:

  • .jpg or .png images
  • .pages (Mac Pages)
  • .rtf (Rich Text Format)
  • Password-protected files

6. Keep Layout Simple

Complex layouts can confuse ATS systems. Stick to simple, single-column designs with clear sections.

✓ ATS-Friendly Layout:

  • Single-column layout
  • Clear section breaks
  • Standard bullet points (•)
  • Left-aligned text
  • Simple lines or spacing for separators
  • Contact info at the top

✗ ATS-Unfriendly Elements:

  • Multi-column layouts
  • Tables for layout
  • Text boxes
  • Headers and footers (except for page numbers)
  • Images or graphics (logos, photos)
  • Charts, graphs, or infographics

7. Format Contact Information Properly

Your contact information must be easy for ATS systems to parse and extract.

✓ Include These Details:

  • Full Name (prominently displayed at top)
  • Phone Number (standard format: 555-123-4567)
  • Email Address (professional address)
  • Location (City, State or just State)
  • LinkedIn Profile (optional but recommended)
  • Portfolio/Website (if relevant)

8. Use Strong Action Verbs

Start each bullet point with a strong action verb to make your accomplishments clear and impactful.

Leadership:

  • Led
  • Managed
  • Directed
  • Coordinated
  • Supervised

Achievement:

  • Achieved
  • Improved
  • Increased
  • Reduced
  • Generated

Technical:

  • Developed
  • Designed
  • Built
  • Implemented
  • Programmed

9. Test Your Resume

Before submitting your resume, test it to ensure ATS systems can read it properly.

Testing Methods:

  1. Use our Free ATS Resume Checker to analyze your resume
  2. Copy and paste your resume into a plain text file - if it's unreadable, so is it for ATS
  3. Save as PDF and text file to verify all content is preserved
  4. Have someone else review for readability

Quick ATS Resume Checklist

✓Standard fonts (Arial, Calibri, etc.)
✓Standard section headings
✓Consistent date formatting
✓Relevant keywords from job posting
✓.docx or .pdf format
✓Simple, single-column layout
✓No tables, text boxes, or images
✓Clear contact information
✓Strong action verbs
✓Tested with ATS checker

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