Passing ATS screening is not about gaming the system or using secret tricks. It is about understanding how the technology works and presenting your qualifications in a way the system can accurately process. The strategies in this guide are based on how ATS platforms actually parse, score, and rank resumes, not on myths or outdated advice.
If your resume is getting submitted but generating zero callbacks, the problem is almost certainly at the ATS stage. These twelve strategies will fix that.
Strategy 1: Use an ATS-Compatible File Format
The file format you choose affects whether the ATS can parse your resume at all. Get this wrong, and nothing else matters.
.docx is the safest choice. Every major ATS platform can parse .docx files reliably. The format preserves text in a structured way that parsers understand, and it is the format most recruiters expect.
PDF is usually fine, with caveats. Most modern ATS platforms handle standard PDFs well. However, PDFs created by design tools (Canva, Photoshop, InDesign) sometimes embed text as vector graphics rather than selectable characters. When this happens, the parser sees a blank page. If you use PDF, make sure you can select and copy the text. If you cannot select text in your PDF, the ATS cannot read it either.
Never submit these formats: .jpg, .png, .pages (Apple), .odt, or any image format. These either cannot be parsed or are unreliable across platforms.
For a detailed comparison, see our guide on DOCX vs. PDF for ATS.
Strategy 2: Use a Single-Column Layout
Multi-column layouts are one of the most common causes of ATS parsing failures. When a parser encounters a two-column layout, it may read across both columns on the same line instead of reading down each column separately. This merges unrelated content and produces garbled results.
For example, if your left column lists your job title and your right column lists your skills, the parser might combine them into a single unintelligible string like “Senior Software Engineer Python Django PostgreSQL” as if it were all one field.
Stick to a single-column layout where content flows from top to bottom in the correct reading order. Our ATS-optimized templates all use single-column designs specifically for this reason. For more on this topic, read our guide on one-column vs. two-column resumes.
Strategy 3: Use Standard Section Headings
ATS parsers identify resume sections by matching headings against a list of expected labels. When you use standard headings, the parser correctly categorizes your content. When you use creative headings, the parser may not know where your experience ends and your education begins.
Use these headings:
- Work Experience (or Professional Experience)
- Education
- Skills (or Technical Skills)
- Projects
- Certifications
- Summary (or Professional Summary)
- Volunteer Experience
Avoid these headings:
- My Journey
- Career Highlights
- What I Bring to the Table
- Toolkit
- The Story So Far
- Adventures in Tech
The creative headings might sound more interesting to you, but the ATS simply does not recognize them as section headers. Your content will be miscategorized or ignored entirely.
Strategy 4: Place Contact Information in the Document Body
A surprisingly common mistake is placing your name, email, and phone number in the document header or footer. Some ATS parsers skip headers and footers entirely, which means your contact information is never extracted.
Place all contact information in the main body of the document, at the very top:
- Full name
- Email address
- Phone number
- LinkedIn URL (optional but recommended)
- City and state (full address is not necessary)
- Portfolio or GitHub URL (for technical roles)
Strategy 5: Match Keywords from the Job Description
This is the single most impactful strategy for passing ATS screening. The ATS scores your resume based on keyword overlap with the job description. More matches equal a higher score. A higher score means your resume is more likely to be reviewed by a recruiter.
How to Extract and Use Keywords
- Read the job description carefully and identify every specific skill, technology, tool, qualification, and requirement mentioned
- Note which keywords appear in the “required” section versus the “preferred” section
- Incorporate required keywords into your resume first, then preferred keywords
- Use each keyword in a natural context that demonstrates genuine experience
For software engineering roles, our resume keywords guide provides comprehensive lists organized by specialty.
Include Both Variations
When a term has multiple forms, include both:
- “Machine Learning (ML)”
- “Amazon Web Services (AWS)”
- “Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)”
- “JavaScript (JS)”
This ensures matching regardless of which variation the recruiter used when configuring the ATS search criteria.
Strategy 6: Tailor Your Resume to Each Application
A generic resume submitted to every job will consistently underperform a tailored resume. Each job posting uses slightly different language, emphasizes different skills, and has unique requirements. Your resume should reflect these specific priorities.
This does not mean rewriting from scratch every time. It means:
- Reordering your skills section to prioritize what the posting emphasizes
- Adjusting your professional summary to mirror the role’s key requirements
- Moving the most relevant experience bullets to prominent positions
- Adding project details that align with the job’s technical stack
Our step-by-step guide on how to tailor your resume to a job description covers this process in detail.
Strategy 7: Avoid Tables, Text Boxes, and Graphics
Tables are a primary cause of parsing failures across all ATS platforms. Even a simple two-column table used for layout can completely scramble your resume’s parsed output. The parser reads table cells in an unpredictable order, merging content from different cells into incoherent strings.
Text boxes have the same problem. Content inside text boxes may be extracted out of sequence or skipped entirely.
Graphics, icons, images, and charts are invisible to text parsers. If you use a star rating to show your skill proficiency, the ATS sees nothing. If you use an icon next to your email address, the ATS might not extract your email. If you include a photograph, the ATS simply ignores it (and it takes up valuable space).
Replace all visual elements with plain text. Instead of a star rating for Python proficiency, list “Python - Expert” or just “Python” in your skills section.
Strategy 8: Use Standard Fonts
Stick with fonts that are universally supported and render correctly across all systems:
- Calibri
- Arial
- Garamond
- Times New Roman
- Cambria
- Georgia
- Helvetica
Unusual or decorative fonts can cause character encoding issues during parsing. A parser that encounters an unrecognized character might substitute a question mark, drop the character entirely, or misinterpret it as a different character. This can corrupt your skills, job titles, or other critical data.
Strategy 9: Format Dates Consistently
ATS platforms use your employment dates to calculate years of experience, which is often used as a filtering criterion. If the parser cannot extract your dates accurately, it might undercount your experience and filter you out.
Use one of these standard date formats and apply it consistently throughout your resume:
- “Jan 2024 - Present”
- “January 2024 - Present”
- “01/2024 - Present”
Always include both month and year. Using only years (“2024 - 2025”) is parseable but can look like you are hiding short tenures.
Strategy 10: Write Strong, Measurable Bullet Points
Passing the ATS gets your resume in front of a recruiter. Strong bullet points keep the recruiter reading and lead to an interview. Every bullet should follow a structure that demonstrates impact:
Action Verb + What You Did + Technology/Method + Measurable Result
Examples:
- “Designed and implemented a real-time notification system using WebSocket and Redis Pub/Sub, reducing message delivery latency from 3 seconds to under 200 milliseconds”
- “Led migration of 15 legacy REST APIs to GraphQL, improving frontend data fetching efficiency by 40% and reducing API calls by 60%”
- “Mentored 4 junior engineers through structured code review sessions and pair programming, resulting in 2 promotions within 12 months”
Each of these bullets includes ATS keywords (WebSocket, Redis, GraphQL, REST APIs) while also demonstrating concrete impact through quantified results.
Strategy 11: Include a Dedicated Skills Section
Do not rely solely on keywords embedded within your experience bullets. ATS parsers specifically look for a skills section and weight the keywords found there in their scoring. A dedicated skills section serves as an explicit declaration of your capabilities.
Organize your skills logically:
Languages: Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, SQL Frameworks: Django, FastAPI, React, Next.js Cloud: AWS (EC2, Lambda, S3, RDS), GCP (BigQuery, Cloud Run) Databases: PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB, Elasticsearch Tools: Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, GitHub Actions Practices: Agile/Scrum, TDD, CI/CD, Code Review
This format is easy for both the ATS and the recruiter to scan. It also ensures keyword matches even if your experience bullets are not perfectly tailored.
Strategy 12: Test Your Resume Before Submitting
The final strategy is validation. Before submitting your resume, test it to confirm ATS compatibility.
Quick Manual Test
Copy all the text from your resume and paste it into a plain text editor. Check that:
- All text appears in the correct order
- No content is missing
- Section headings are recognizable
- Dates are formatted correctly
- Contact information is intact
If the plain text version is garbled, the ATS will see the same garbled output.
Use an ATS Resume Checker
For a more thorough test, use an ATS resume checker that compares your resume against a specific job description. These tools simulate ATS parsing and scoring, giving you a preview of how your application will perform. Our ATS resume checker guide reviews the best tools available.
Teal offers a comprehensive resume checking experience that analyzes your resume’s ATS compatibility, keyword coverage, and overall quality. It is particularly useful for identifying specific keywords you are missing from the target job description.
What Happens After You Pass ATS Screening
Passing the ATS is step one. Understanding what happens next helps you optimize for the complete process.
After the ATS ranks applicants, a recruiter reviews the top-ranked resumes. They typically spend six to ten seconds on the initial scan, looking for:
- Relevant job titles and company names
- Skills that match the role requirements
- Evidence of impact (numbers, percentages, scale)
- Career progression and tenure
- Education and certifications
Your resume needs to communicate your value within this brief scan. Clear formatting, strong bullet points, and a well-written summary all contribute to a positive first impression.
The recruiter then decides whether to move you forward to a phone screen, request additional information, or pass. Resumes that pass ATS screening but fail the human review stage typically have one of these problems: weak or vague bullet points, lack of quantified achievements, or poor formatting that makes the document hard to scan.
Using the Right Template
Starting with an ATS-optimized template eliminates most formatting concerns and lets you focus on content optimization. Our templates page offers several professionally designed options that are pre-tested for ATS compatibility. For tech professionals, our CS Resume Template provides a clean, ATS-friendly layout with dedicated sections for technical skills, projects, and experience.
The Complete ATS-Passing Checklist
Before every application, verify these items:
- File saved as .docx (or well-tested PDF)
- Single-column layout
- Standard section headings
- Contact info in document body (not header/footer)
- Keywords from job description incorporated naturally
- Resume tailored to specific role
- No tables, text boxes, or graphics
- Standard font (Calibri, Arial, Garamond)
- Consistent date formatting
- Quantified bullet points
- Dedicated skills section
- Resume tested with ATS checker
Follow these twelve strategies consistently, and your resume will reliably pass ATS screening. The rest, the interview, the offer, the negotiation, builds on this foundation. Get this right, and everything else becomes possible.