ATS-Friendly Resume Formatting: What Actually Matters

Formatting advice for resumes is full of absolutes, and much of it is outdated. Here's what genuinely affects whether your resume is read correctly, by software and by people.

PDF or Word?

Modern applicant tracking systems read text-based PDFs and DOCX files well. Two rules matter more than the format itself:

• Follow the job posting. If it asks for a Word document, send one.
• Make sure the text is real text. A scanned page or an image saved as a PDF can't be read by most systems. If you can't select and copy words in your PDF, rebuild it from the original document.

Layout

• Single column is the safest choice. Two-column designs often look great but can be extracted in the wrong order, mixing up dates, titles and employers.
• Avoid tables and text boxes for main content. They're among the most common causes of scrambled parsing.
• Keep your name and contact details in the main body, not in the document header or footer, which some systems skip.
• Leave reasonable white space. Shrinking margins below about 1.5 cm to fit more in makes the page harder to read.

Fonts and text

• Use a standard, readable font such as Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, Georgia or Garamond.
• Body text at 10–12 pt, with headings a little larger.
• Write contact details as text: “email@example.com”, not an envelope icon with no label.
• Use simple bullet characters. Unusual symbols can turn into question marks when parsed.

Section headings

Use names that every system and recruiter recognises: Summary, Experience (or Work Experience), Education, Skills, Projects, Certifications, Volunteering. Creative headings like “Career Adventures” don't add personality; they add confusion.

Dates

Use one format throughout, ideally month and year: “Jan 2021 – Mar 2024”, and “Present” for your current role. Avoid seasons (“Summer 2022”) or years alone for recent roles. Many systems calculate your years of experience from these dates.

Graphics, charts and photos

• Skill bars and star ratings can't be read by software, and they don't mean much to people either: what does “4 out of 5 in Python” tell a recruiter? List the skill and show it in your experience instead.
• Logos, charts and decorative icons are invisible to parsers.
• Photos: in the US, UK and Canada, leaving out a photo is standard practice, partly to reduce bias. In some other countries a photo is still common. Follow the norms of the country you're applying in.

File name

Name the file so a recruiter can find it again: “Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf”. Avoid “resume_final_v3_NEW.pdf”.

Checklist

1. Text can be selected and copied in the order you'd read it.
2. Single column, with no tables or text boxes for main content.
3. Contact details in the body as plain text.
4. Standard section headings.
5. Consistent month-and-year dates.
6. No skill bars, rating graphics or text inside images.
7. A standard font at a readable size.
8. A clear file name, in the format the posting asks for.