How to write an ATS-friendly résumé
Updated November 1, 2026
Many employers collect applications in an applicant tracking system (ATS). The system turns your file into text, sorts it into fields such as experience and education, and lets a recruiter search and filter what came in.
A résumé that reads well to a person can still come out of that step in pieces. This guide shows what to check so your text arrives the way you wrote it.
What an ATS does with your file
The system reads the text out of your file, looks for familiar headings and dates, and stores what it finds. A recruiter then usually searches that store for the skills and job titles the posting asks for.
Systems differ, and nobody outside a vendor knows exactly how each one ranks. What they have in common is simple: text they cannot read, they cannot search.
Layout: keep the text readable
Most problems come from layout, not from what you wrote.
- Use one column. Two columns and text boxes can be read straight across, mixing lines from both sides.
- Keep your name and contact details in the body of the page. Some systems skip the page header and footer.
- Do not put text in images, icons or charts. A skill bar or a logo with words in it gives the system nothing to read.
- Avoid tables for the main content. A simple list reads more reliably.
- Use a common font and plain bullet points.
Headings and dates the system recognises
Use plain headings: Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications, Languages. A creative heading such as "Where I made an impact" may not be filed as experience.
Write dates the same way everywhere, for example 03/2022 to 11/2024 or March 2022 to November 2024, and put them next to each role.
Use the posting's words, honestly
Read the posting and mark the skills, tools and duties it names. Where you really have them, use the same words: if the posting says "financial reporting", write that rather than only "worked with numbers".
Do not copy requirements you do not meet, and do not hide the posting's text in white letters. A person reads your résumé after the system does, and an invented claim usually comes out at the interview.
Posting: "Experience with SQL and reporting tools such as Power BI."
Weak: "Worked with data to support decisions."
Better: "Built weekly sales reports in Power BI from SQL queries for a sales team of 12."
PDF or Word?
A PDF saved from a word processor keeps its text, and most systems read it. A scanned PDF is a picture with no text in it. If the posting asks for a Word file, send one.
Give the file a plain name, such as firstname-lastname-resume.pdf.
Check it before you send it
Copy all the text from your PDF and paste it into a plain text editor. If the order is mixed up, words are missing or your contact details are gone, a system may see the same.
Career Agent's free ATS check does this reading for you and can compare your résumé with a posting. It needs no account and stores nothing.
Check your CV for free
See how an applicant tracking system reads your CV and how it compares with a posting. No account needed, nothing is stored.
Check my CVQuestions
- Is there one ATS score that decides everything?
- No single score is shared by every system. Checkers, ours included, look at what most often goes wrong: readable text, headings, dates, contact details and the posting's words. Treat the result as a list of things to fix, not a grade an employer sees.
- Should I list every keyword from the posting?
- List the ones you really have, in the place you used them. A skill shown under a role, with what you did, says more to a recruiter than a long line of keywords.
- Do I need a different résumé for each job?
- The facts stay the same; the order and the words change. Moving your most relevant experience up and describing what you really did in the posting's terms is usually enough.