ATS-friendly resume builder
Build an ATS-friendly resume, and see how it reads
Applicant tracking systems turn your resume into a database record before a recruiter sees it. Here is what they do, the formatting that trips them up, and how to check your own resume.
No card. One resume and two templates on the free plan, for as long as you like.
What is an ATS?
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is the software many employers use to receive applications, store them and move candidates through hiring. When you apply online, the system usually extracts the text from your resume and sorts it into fields: name, contact details, job titles, employers, dates, education and skills.
Recruiters then work from those records. They search and filter candidates by job title, skills or keywords, and open the resume itself once someone looks promising. So the first reader of your resume is often a parser, and the second is a person looking at what that parser found.
Why ATS-friendly formatting matters
If the parser misreads your resume, the record a recruiter sees can be wrong: a missing phone number, two jobs merged into one, dates attached to the wrong role, skills that never made it into the skills field. Your experience is still there, but it is harder to find in a search and harder to read at a glance.
In most systems a layout does not get a resume thrown out by itself; filtering rules are set by each employer. What a clean, simple format does is make sure that whatever the rules are, they are applied to the resume you actually wrote.
Common ATS resume mistakes
Most parsing problems come from a handful of layout choices that look good on screen and read badly as plain text.
Columns and tables
Parsers often read straight across the page, so a sidebar beside your experience can end up woven into your job descriptions.
Contact details in the header or footer
Some systems skip the document header and footer entirely. Put your name, email and phone in the body of the page.
Text inside images, icons or text boxes
A phone icon instead of the word “Phone”, a logo, or a text box can carry nothing a parser can read.
Creative section headings
“Where I have made an impact” reads well to a person, but “Experience” is what a parser is looking for.
Skill bars and ratings
Five stars for Excel is a picture, not text. List the skill, and show it in a role or project instead.
Inconsistent dates
Mixing “Jan 2023”, “2023-01” and “Spring 2023” makes it harder to work out how long you held each role. Pick one format.
Missing the words in the job ad
If the ad asks for “stakeholder management” and your resume only says “worked with teams”, a search for the first will not find the second.
Scanned or image-only PDFs
A photo or scan of a resume has no text layer at all. Export from the document itself so the text is selectable.
How ResumHero helps
The builder handles the formatting side by default, and gives you tools to check the content side yourself.
One-column templates.
Every template puts your text in one column, in reading order, under standard headings. Switching template never changes your content.
See the templatesAn ATS check in the editor.
It shows how an applicant tracking system reads your resume: contact details, structure, content and format. It is instant and free to re-run as often as you like.
Keywords from the actual job ad.
The job matcher scores skills, experience, keywords and formatting against the description you paste, and lists what is missing. You add only the skills you really have.
How tailoring worksA readiness checklist.
Completeness, targeting, links and ATS details in one list before you apply, with one-click fixes where they make sense.
Text-based PDF and Word files.
Both exports carry the same content in the same order, so you can send whichever the application asks for. Both are free on every plan.
A quick ATS-friendly resume checklist
Whatever tool you use, run through this before you apply.
- One column, read top to bottom.
- Name, email, phone, and city and country in the body of the page, not the header.
- Standard section headings: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, Projects.
- Your target job title near your name, worded the way the ad words it.
- One date format throughout, with a start and end for every role.
- Skills written as text, and backed up by a role or project.
- The key terms from the job ad, where they are true of you.
- A text-based PDF or Word file, as the posting asks.
What no resume builder can promise
Every employer’s ATS is configured differently, and some are much older than others. No tool, ResumHero included, can guarantee how a particular system will parse your file or rank your application. What you can control is a clean format and content that matches the job, and those help with every system and every recruiter.
ATS questions
ATS questions, answered plainly
Should I send a PDF or a Word file?
Follow the job posting. Most current systems read a text-based PDF without trouble, but some application forms ask specifically for a Word document. ResumHero exports both with the same content in the same order, so you can send either.
Will my resume be guaranteed to pass an ATS?
No one can honestly promise that. Each employer configures its own system and filters. ResumHero removes the common formatting problems, shows you how a parser reads your resume, and points out missing keywords from the job ad; the rest depends on the role and the employer.
Are two-column resumes always rejected?
Not always. Some newer parsers handle simple columns, but many still read across the page and mix the content together. One column is the safest choice when you do not know which system an employer uses, which is why every ResumHero template uses one.
Should I add as many keywords as possible?
No. Use the terms from the job ad where they are true of you, in context, in your experience and skills. Lists of keywords with nothing behind them do not help with a recruiter, and the quality check flags skills that are not backed by a role or project.
Is the ATS check free?
Yes. The ATS check in the editor is instant and you can re-run it as often as you like, on the free plan too.
Keep exploring
Check how your own resume reads.
Import your current resume, run the ATS check, and fix what it finds. Free, and as often as you like.