How to Make an ATS Friendly Resume That Actually Gets Read

Creating an ATS friendly resume is no longer optional in today’s job market. Over 99% of Fortune 500 companies and 75% of all employers use Applicant Tracking Systems to filter resumes before a human ever sees them. If your resume cannot be parsed correctly by these systems, your qualifications simply do not matter — you will never make it past the first gate.

This guide walks you through every step of building a resume that satisfies both the machine and the hiring manager sitting behind it.

What Makes a Resume ATS Friendly?

An ATS friendly resume is a document structured so that automated parsing software can accurately extract your contact information, work history, education, and skills. The system then scores your resume against the job description and ranks you alongside other applicants.

The key factors that determine ATS compatibility include:

File format: .docx and .pdf files that use standard text (not scanned images)
Clean formatting: No tables, text boxes, headers/footers for critical info, or multi-column layouts
Standard section headings: Using recognizable labels like “Work Experience,” “Education,” and “Skills”
Keyword alignment: Matching the specific terminology found in the job posting
Consistent date formatting: Using a uniform date style throughout

Getting even one of these wrong can cause the ATS to misread or discard your resume entirely. A study by Preptel found that up to 75% of resumes are rejected by ATS software before reaching a recruiter.

Step 1: Choose the Right File Format

The safest file format for ATS submission is .docx (Microsoft Word). While many modern ATS platforms can handle PDFs, some older systems struggle with PDF parsing, especially if the PDF was exported from a design tool like Canva or InDesign.

Rules for file format:

Use .docx unless the job posting specifically requests PDF
Never submit .pages, .jpg, .png, or other non-standard formats
Avoid “creative” resume builders that export resumes as images or use non-standard encoding
Test your PDF by selecting all text (Ctrl+A) and copying it to a plain text editor — if it comes out garbled, the ATS will read it the same way

You can download our free ATS-optimized resume template to start with a format that is already proven to parse correctly across all major ATS platforms.

Step 2: Use a Single-Column Layout

Multi-column layouts are the single most common reason resumes fail ATS parsing. When a system encounters two columns of text, it often reads across both columns on the same line, producing nonsensical output like:

“Software Engineer 2019-2022 Python, Java, SQL Led a team of 8 engineers…”

This happens because ATS software reads documents linearly, from top to bottom, left to right. A two-column layout breaks this reading order.

What to do instead

Use a single-column layout for all content
Stack sections vertically: Contact Info, then Summary, then Experience, then Education, then Skills
Use full-width horizontal lines or simple spacing to separate sections
Avoid sidebars, text boxes, and floating elements

Browse our templates page to see single-column designs that maintain visual appeal while remaining fully ATS compatible.

Step 3: Write Standard Section Headings

ATS platforms are programmed to look for specific section headings. If you get creative with labels like “Where I’ve Made an Impact” instead of “Work Experience,” the system may not recognize that section at all.

Use these exact headings:

Section	Acceptable Headings
Contact	No heading needed (place at top)
Summary	”Summary,” “Professional Summary,” “Profile”
Experience	”Experience,” “Work Experience,” “Professional Experience”
Education	”Education,” “Academic Background”
Skills	”Skills,” “Technical Skills,” “Core Competencies”
Certifications	”Certifications,” “Licenses & Certifications”
Projects	”Projects,” “Key Projects”

Avoid headings like “About Me,” “My Journey,” “Toolbox,” or other non-standard labels. The ATS literally does not know what to do with them.

Step 4: Optimize for Keywords

Keywords are the primary mechanism by which ATS software ranks your resume against a job description. The system looks for exact matches (and sometimes close synonyms) between the words in the posting and the words in your resume.

How to identify the right keywords

Read the job description carefully and highlight every specific skill, tool, technology, certification, and qualification mentioned
Note repeated terms — if a keyword appears multiple times in the posting, it is weighted more heavily
Check related postings for the same role at other companies to find industry-standard terminology
Use both acronyms and full forms — write “Search Engine Optimization (SEO)” so the ATS catches both versions

Where to place keywords

Professional summary: Include 3-5 of the most important keywords naturally
Work experience bullets: Weave keywords into your accomplishment statements
Skills section: List technical skills, tools, and technologies explicitly
Education section: Include relevant coursework keywords if applicable

A tool like Teal can help you analyze job descriptions and identify the exact keywords you need to match, making the optimization process significantly faster and more accurate.

What NOT to do with keywords

Do not create a hidden block of white text stuffed with keywords. ATS platforms detect this, and it will flag your resume as spam.
Do not list keywords that do not reflect your actual skills. You will be caught in the interview.
Do not repeat the same keyword unnaturally. Write “Managed a $2M marketing budget using HubSpot and Google Analytics” rather than “Marketing marketing marketing.”

Step 5: Format Your Work Experience Correctly

Each work experience entry should follow this structure:

Job Title
Company Name | City, State | Month Year - Month Year

- Accomplishment statement with quantified result
- Accomplishment statement with quantified result
- Accomplishment statement with quantified result

Key formatting rules

Job title on its own line so the ATS can clearly identify your role
Dates in a consistent format throughout the entire resume (e.g., “Jan 2022 - Present” or “01/2022 - Present”)
Use standard bullet points (round dots). Avoid arrows, checkmarks, diamonds, or custom symbols that may not render correctly.
Start each bullet with an action verb — “Led,” “Developed,” “Increased,” not “Responsible for” or “Helped with”
Quantify results wherever possible — percentages, dollar amounts, team sizes, and timeframes

Example of an ATS-friendly experience entry

Senior Product Manager
Acme Corporation | San Francisco, CA | Mar 2021 - Present

- Led cross-functional team of 12 to launch B2B SaaS platform, achieving 140% of first-year revenue target ($4.2M ARR)
- Reduced customer churn by 23% through implementation of data-driven onboarding flow using Mixpanel and Intercom
- Managed product roadmap across 3 product lines, coordinating with engineering, design, and marketing stakeholders

Step 6: Handle Your Skills Section Strategically

Your skills section serves two purposes: it gives the ATS a concentrated block of keywords to match, and it gives the human recruiter a quick snapshot of your capabilities.

Best practices for the skills section

List skills as comma-separated text or simple bullet points — not in a table or multi-column grid
Group skills by category if you have many: “Programming Languages: Python, Java, SQL” and “Tools: Jira, Confluence, Figma”
Match the exact terminology from the job posting — if they say “Adobe Photoshop,” do not write “Photoshop” alone
Include both hard and soft skills but prioritize hard skills, as these are what ATS systems primarily scan for
Order skills by relevance to the target role, placing the most important ones first

Step 7: Avoid These Common ATS Killers

Even with good content, these formatting mistakes will cause your resume to fail:

Headers and footers: Many ATS platforms cannot read content placed in document headers or footers. Never put your name, contact info, or page numbers there.
Images and graphics: Logos, headshots, icons, skill bars, and infographics are completely invisible to ATS software.
Tables: While some modern ATS can handle simple tables, many cannot. Avoid them entirely for safety.
Text boxes: Floating text boxes are frequently skipped during parsing.
Custom fonts: Stick to standard fonts like Arial, Calibri, Garamond, or Times New Roman. Decorative fonts may not render correctly.
Special characters: Em dashes, smart quotes, and non-standard symbols can cause parsing errors. Use standard hyphens and straight quotes.

Step 8: Write a Targeted Professional Summary

Your professional summary sits at the top of your resume and is the first content block the ATS parses after your contact information. This is prime keyword real estate.

Write 2-4 sentences that include:

Your professional title and years of experience
Your primary area of expertise
3-5 of the most important keywords from the job description
A notable quantified achievement

Example

Results-driven Data Scientist with 6+ years of experience in machine learning, statistical modeling, and data visualization. Expertise in Python, TensorFlow, and SQL with a proven track record of building predictive models that have driven $15M+ in revenue impact. Skilled in translating complex data insights into actionable business strategies for cross-functional stakeholders.

This summary hits multiple keyword targets while reading naturally to a human reviewer.

Step 9: Test Your Resume Before Submitting

Before you send your resume into the void, test it:

Copy-paste test: Select all text in your document and paste it into Notepad or a plain text editor. If the text appears in the correct order with no garbled characters, the ATS will likely read it correctly.
ATS simulation tools: Use online tools to simulate how an ATS will parse your resume. Check that your name, contact info, job titles, companies, dates, and skills are all extracted accurately.
Keyword match check: Compare your resume against the job description and calculate your keyword match percentage. Aim for 70% or higher.
File size check: Keep your resume under 2MB. Large files with embedded images may time out during upload.

Read our detailed guide on checking your resume’s ATS compatibility for a complete walkthrough of the testing process.

Step 10: Customize for Every Application

A single generic resume will not perform well in ATS screening. Each job posting uses different keywords, emphasizes different skills, and requires different qualifications.

For each application:

Adjust your professional summary to mirror the language of the posting
Reorder your skills section to lead with the most relevant skills
Tweak your experience bullets to emphasize accomplishments most relevant to the role
Add any missing keywords that truthfully reflect your experience

This does not mean rewriting your entire resume for every job. It means making 15-20 minutes of targeted adjustments to align with each specific posting.

For a deeper walkthrough of this process, see our guide on how to tailor your resume to a job description.

The Bottom Line

An ATS friendly resume is not about gaming the system. It is about clear communication. When you use clean formatting, standard headings, and relevant keywords, you make it easy for both the machine and the human to understand your qualifications.

Start with a proven foundation — download our free ATS-optimized template and customize it with the strategies above. Your resume will not just pass the ATS. It will stand out once it reaches the hiring manager’s desk.

Check out our full library of industry-specific ATS templates for designs tailored to software engineering, marketing, finance, healthcare, and more.