How to write a resume an ATS reads correctly

How does an ATS read a resume?

An ATS (Applicant Tracking System) does not look at the page the way a person does. It extracts the text from the file in the order it is stored, then splits it into fields: name, contact details, job titles, companies, dates, education, skills. The recruiter then searches and filters on those fields.

That gives you the basic rule: everything you want read has to be text, and the order of the text in the file has to be the order in which a person reads it. A resume that looks great can have its text scrambled inside the file, and the parser sees exactly that scramble.

Which file format should I use, PDF or DOCX?

A PDF exported from Word, Google Docs or LaTeX contains selectable text and is read correctly by most current systems. DOCX is the safe choice when the posting asks for it explicitly or when you apply through an older system at a large company.

A PDF made from an image (a screenshot, a scan, an export from a design tool that rasterizes the text) has no text layer. The parser sees it as empty, and the resume lands in the system with no experience and no skills.

• Open the PDF and try to select a paragraph with your mouse. If it will not select, the file has no text.
• Leave the file without a password and do not upload it inside an archive.
• Name it after yourself: First-Last-Resume.pdf. Recruiters find it faster in their downloads.

Which structure and section titles does an ATS read correctly?

Use a single column, top to bottom, in this order: contact details, short summary, work experience, education, skills, languages. The parser recognizes the usual titles and maps the content under them to the right field.

A creative title such as "My journey" or "What I can do" can leave the section unmapped. Use "Work Experience", "Education", "Skills".

For each job, write the title, company, location and dates on consistent lines, in the same format everywhere, for example 03/2022 - 09/2024. A mixed date format produces wrong or missing periods.

• Put your name, phone number and email in the body of the page. Some parsers skip the header and footer, and the contact details disappear.
• Write your email and LinkedIn link out in full, as plain text.
• Use simple bullets (• or -). Decorative symbols can show up as strange characters.

Which design elements break resume parsing?

Templates with a sidebar or two columns are the most common cause. The parser reads line by line, so a row from the left column gets glued to a row from the right column and sentences from different sections get mixed together.

Tables and text boxes cause the same problem. Skill level bars (five dots, a half-filled bar) convey nothing in a text file, so write the level in words, for example "English: C1" or "Excel: advanced, pivot tables".

• Multiple columns and sidebars: switch to a single column.
• Tables and text boxes: replace them with paragraphs and lists.
• Text inside images, company logos, charts: write the information as text.
• Icons in place of labels (an envelope instead of "Email"): write the label.
• Headers and footers holding important information: move it into the body of the page.

How do I choose keywords from the job posting?

Copy the posting into a document and mark the skills, tools and certifications that appear under the required qualifications or more than once. These are the words a recruiter filters on.

Reuse the exact wording of the posting. If the posting asks for "Google Analytics 4", write exactly that instead of turning it into "web analytics". When a term has a short and a long form, include both, for example "Search Engine Optimization (SEO)".

Place the keywords in your experience bullets, next to what you did with them, and add only what you have actually used. A list of keywords with no context reads like filler, and an interviewer will ask for examples.

• Illustrative example, weak bullet: "Responsible for online campaigns."
• Illustrative example, strong bullet: "Managed Google Ads campaigns and tracked conversions in Google Analytics 4, cutting cost per lead by 22%."

How can I check whether an ATS reads my resume?

Open the PDF or DOCX, select everything (Ctrl+A), copy it and paste it into a plain editor such as Notepad. The result is very close to what the parser sees.

Check three things: the sections are in the right order, the contact details are present, and each job has its title, company and dates on adjacent lines. If the text appears scrambled or is missing, fix the source and export again.

For an automatic check, the free Joben scan gives you a score from 0 to 100 and the points to fix. The score is Joben’s estimate of readability for ATS, so use it as an indicator.

Frequently asked questions