An applicant tracking system sits between you and the hiring manager. Over 97% of Fortune 500 companies and roughly 75% of mid-size employers use one. Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, iCIMS, Taleo - the specific software varies, but the function is the same: parse your resume into structured data, then let recruiters search and filter that data.
If the system cannot parse your resume correctly, your qualifications never make it into the database. You become invisible regardless of how perfect you are for the role.
Here is exactly how to build a resume that gets through.
Use a single-column layout
This is the single most impactful formatting decision. ATS software reads documents from top to bottom, left to right. When you use a two-column layout, the parser often reads across both columns on the same line, mixing unrelated content together. Your job title ends up merged with a skill name. Your dates end up next to random bullet points.
A clean, single-column layout eliminates this problem entirely. It does not have to look plain - you can still use bold text, horizontal lines, and strategic spacing to create visual hierarchy. But the underlying structure needs to be linear.
Use standard section headings
ATS parsers look for specific section labels to categorize your information. Use the headings the software expects:
- Work Experience (or "Professional Experience") - Education - Skills (or "Technical Skills" / "Core Competencies") - Certifications - Summary (or "Professional Summary")
Creative headings like "Where I Have Made an Impact" or "My Toolbox" confuse the parser. The software does not understand that "My Toolbox" means "Skills." It may skip the entire section.
Format work experience consistently
For each role, include these elements in a consistent order:
Job Title Company Name | Location | Start Date - End Date
- Achievement or responsibility bullet point - Achievement or responsibility bullet point
The parser is looking for this pattern. When it finds "Software Engineer" followed by "Google" followed by "2022 - 2025," it knows how to categorize each piece. When these elements are scattered or formatted inconsistently between roles, the parser guesses - and guesses wrong.
Use standard date formats: "Jan 2023 - Present" or "2023 - 2025." Avoid abbreviations the parser might not recognize.
Choose the right file format
Submit .docx unless the application specifically asks for PDF. Most modern ATS platforms handle both, but .docx has the highest compatibility rate across systems. Some older ATS platforms (Taleo, in particular) have a history of mangling PDFs.
If you do submit a PDF, make sure it was created from a word processor, not from a design tool like Canva or Photoshop. PDFs generated from design software often store text as image data, which means the ATS sees a blank page.
Never submit .jpg, .png, or .pages files. These either cannot be parsed at all or parse with significant errors.
Get your keywords right
ATS keyword matching is straightforward: the recruiter types a search term, and the system returns resumes containing that term. No synonym matching, no fuzzy logic in most systems.
This means you need to use the exact language from the job description. Go through the posting and note:
- Hard skills: specific technologies, tools, platforms, and methodologies - Soft skills: leadership, communication, and collaboration terms they emphasize - Certifications: include both the full name and the abbreviation - Job title variations: if they say "Data Analyst" and your title was "Business Intelligence Analyst," include both
Place keywords in context. "Managed Google Ads campaigns with monthly budgets of $50K, achieving a 3.2x ROAS" is better than listing "Google Ads" in a skills section with no context. Ideally, do both - mention the skill in your experience bullets and list it in your skills section.
Avoid these formatting traps
Tables. Even simple tables can cause parsing failures. Many ATS systems cannot read content inside table cells correctly. If you use a table for your skills section, the parser might see jumbled text or miss the section entirely.
Text boxes. Same problem as tables. Content inside text boxes often gets skipped or appended to the end of the parsed output in random order.
Headers and footers. Do not put your name, email, or phone number in the document header. Many parsers ignore header and footer content. Place all contact information in the main body of the document.
Graphics, icons, and images. A small envelope icon next to your email looks nice to a human but creates a parsing gap for the ATS. Any text embedded in an image is invisible. Skill rating bars (showing four out of five stars in Python, for instance) provide zero information to the parser.
Unusual fonts. Stick with Calibri, Arial, Garamond, Times New Roman, or Helvetica. Decorative fonts can cause character encoding issues where the parser replaces your text with garbled symbols.
Test your resume before submitting
Copy all the text from your resume and paste it into a plain text editor like Notepad. Read through it. If the content appears in the correct order, with job titles next to the right companies and dates, your formatting is likely ATS-safe.
If the text is jumbled, out of order, or missing entire sections, the ATS will see the same thing. Go back and fix the layout.
You can also submit your resume to a free job posting on a platform that uses ATS (many do) and then check how your profile appears in the system.
The bottom line
Building an ATS-friendly resume is not about dumbing down your formatting. It is about understanding that a piece of software is your first reader, and that reader has specific limitations. Work within those limitations, and you get your resume in front of the person who actually makes hiring decisions. Ignore them, and it does not matter how qualified you are - nobody will ever know.