ATS-Friendly Resume Tips

Practical guardrails to keep formatting, keywords, and structure ready for modern tracking systems.

Understand how ATS read resumes

Applicant tracking systems convert your resume into plain text before ranking it. Anything that cannot be parsed—columns, tables, text boxes—simply disappears.

Design for linear reading order and assume a screen reader is consuming the document.

  • Stick to a single column layout
  • Avoid headers/footers for important data
  • Export to .docx whenever possible

Keep the layout simple

Use one font family, consistent margins, and bullet lists. Graphics or icons rarely survive parsing and often distort spacing.

White space is your friend—short paragraphs and plenty of breathing room make scoring easier.

  • Use fonts like Calibri, Arial, or Georgia
  • Rely on bold/underline instead of text boxes
  • Keep file size below 1–2 MB

Treat keywords like requirements

Mirror the language from the job description exactly—singular vs. plural and acronyms matter. Spread keywords across summary, experience, and skills rather than stuffing one block.

Mention both the tool and its spell-out (e.g., “CRM (Salesforce)”) to cover variations.

  • Highlight concrete skills before soft skills
  • Quantify impact next to keywords
  • Refresh keywords for every application

Use standard section headings

ATS look for predictable headings: Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications. Creative labels sometimes fail to match the parser.

If you include optional sections (Projects, Volunteer Work), keep titles straightforward.

  • Group contract roles under “Experience”
  • Place contact info at the top, in body text
  • Spell out months (Jan → January)

Test before sending

Save a fresh copy of your resume, then run it through an ATS simulator (like ResumeATS) or copy/paste into a plain text editor to spot formatting glitches.

Review the pasted version to confirm order, bullet symbols, and section titles survive.

  • Keep a clean master file in .docx
  • Create a PDF version only if job posting explicitly allows it
  • Re-test after major edits