ATS-friendly Resumes: Formatting, Examples, and Common Mistakes

ATS-friendly resumes are resumes that can be easily read and processed by applicant tracking systems (ATS). They use a simple layout with selectable text, standard section headings, and fonts, so all the resume information is sorted out and analyzed without errors. An ATS-friendly resume format avoids complex graphic elements, such as text boxes, tables, and images, but ATS compliance also means ensuring your content clearly demonstrates your skills and achievements. In this guide, you'll learn how to make resume formatting decisions through practical checklists you can easily apply and before-and-after resume examples.

ATS-friendly Resume Format at a Glance

The table below covers the five most important resume formatting rules you should follow to create an ATS-compliant resume. These practices alone can't guarantee ATS success, but can help reduce risks with resume parsing and processing.

Some well-designed two-column resume templates can be handled correctly by ATS, while a plain-looking resume template can still fail. Also, the guidelines above can help you avoid parsing issues and create an ATS-friendly resume template, but they don't change whether your experience matches the target role, which is another job of an ATS to determine.

Common ATS Formatting Mistakes and How to Fix Them

To achieve the best resume format for ATS parsing, avoid the most common mistakes explained below. Each of them is followed by concrete fixes that you can apply when polishing your resume.

1. Complex layouts with multiple columns and sidebars

ATS systems typically read resumes from left to right and top to bottom, so complex layouts can lead to your content being scrambled after they try to pull it out of the resume. To avoid that, you should use a single-column layout and ensure that the logical reading order is preserved during the copy-paste test mentioned. That said, some two-column resume formats work well with the machine readers if designed properly. All resume templates used by and built into Toptal Resume's AI resume builder have been created by industry experts and thoroughly tested.

2. Text boxes, tables, and floating elements

All such elements can disrupt the reading order or even be skipped entirely by the ATS going through your resume. The safest formatting choice is to keep all the content inside the main document body.

3. Graphics, illustrations, and icons

Graphs, logos, and icons don't contain readable text, and if you use progression bars or images to present your skill levels, which is very common among job seekers, they will be invisible to ATS scanners. Fix: replace all graphical skill elements with plain text.

4. Non-standard section titles

If an ATS detects an unusual section heading, it might not connect it with the appropriate fields to which the information should be extracted. For that reason, you should always use standard sections, such as "Professional Summary," "Work Experience," "Skills," and "Education," instead of "Where I've Been," or similar, creative ones.

5. Image-based or scanned PDFs

If the text in your document can't be selected and copied, it's a blank page for most ATS systems. To prevent that, always export your resume directly from Word, Google Docs, or a resume builder.

All of the above can also be identified by running your resume through Toptal Resume's ATS resume checker, which provides a complete ATS compliance analysis before you submit it.

ATS-friendly Resume Example, Before and After

The table below compares the before-and-after formatting solutions for a senior project manager resume example to show exactly what changes when you apply the suggestions provided in the previous sections.

The image that follows shows what this resume looks like after it has been adapted for ATS readability, and it was created using one of Toptal's resume templates.

As you can see in the example image, Alexander's resume is formatted according to all best practices:

• It uses a single-column layout with standard sections listed from top to bottom: Professional Summary, Work Experience, Education, Core Skills, Certifications.
• Contact details are placed in the main document body as selectable text to ensure they are read properly by ATS.
• Skills are listed as normal text (Jira, Confluence, Power BI), and there are no graphic visualizations of levels, progressions, or logos.

To see more ATS-ready resumes, see our complete gallery of resume examples crafted for every role and industry.

How to Check Your Resume Before Applying

Before applying, make sure that you have an ATS-compliant resume by performing a quick check following these five steps:

Step 1: The copy-paste test

Copy and paste the content of your resume into a plain-text document. If it looks normal and as it should, the section order is preserved, and nothing is missing, it will be easily parsed by ATS.

Step 2: Verify your contact details are there

If your contact information is missing when you copy and paste it into a plain text editor, it's probably hidden in a header, footer, or sidebar and will likely be unavailable to ATS scanners as well.

Step 3: Check section headers

All the sections have standard names: Professional Summary, Work Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications.

Step 4: Employers, roles, and dates are listed together

The details of each work experience should be shown together when copied and pasted, rather than scattered throughout the document. Otherwise, the ATS can mix them up.

Step 5: Make sure you have the right file format

Always submit your resume in the file format requested by the employer. If it isn't specified, send a PDF file, as it always preserves the original layout and formatting.

For a deeper analysis, use Toptal Resume's ATS resume checker, which scans your resume against a job description and flags any gaps in both formatting and content.

ATS Resume Keywords Without Keyword Stuffing

ATS scanners look for keywords that represent a job's requirements, and the goal is to include the keywords naturally, as long as they truly correspond to your actual experience. So, it's not only about adjusting your resume format for ATS scanning, but also the content, and you should tailor your resume for each job application.

The resume example analyzed above matches a job posting that includes the following requirement: "Experience managing cross-functional projects using Agile methodologies and tools such as Jira."

What works: Alexander Morris's resume already contains: "Cross-functional Leadership," "Agile & Hybrid Methodologies," and "Jira" in the skills section, plus "coordinating engineering, QA, and business teams" in the experience bullets.

What wouldn't work: Repeating the job posting verbatim, without demonstrating specific results of your work, or stuffing the skills section by adding "Agile project management Jira cross-functional Agile Jira" as a keyword string. Modern ATS systems detect unnatural density, and human reviewers will see it immediately.

While keyword matching is an important aspect of an ATS-friendly resume, you don't have to use every single phrase word-for-word as it's written in the job description to achieve it. Alex's resume doesn't say "managing cross-functional projects," but his bullet points make it clear he does. Modern ATS systems understand context and synonyms, and it's important to be specific and show concrete achievements.

Final ATS-friendly Resume Checklist

Before submitting your resume, run through the quick checklist below, with 10 actionable items that cover all the main aspects of an ATS-compliant resume: format, content, readability, application instructions, and human review.

Layout and format:

• It uses a single-column layout or reading order verified with the copy-paste test
• All contact details are placed in the main document body as selectable text
• It has standard section headings, without unusual inventions
• There are no text boxes, tables, floating elements, or graphic skill ratings
• It's a text-based PDF file (or Word file if the posting requires it)

Content and readability:

• Skills are listed as normal, plain text, without icons or images
• Employers, role titles, and dates are consistent throughout (same format in every role)
• Role titles, employers, and dates appear together when the text is extracted (not scattered around)
• Experience bullets demonstrate real achievements
• File format matches the employer's instructions

Conclusion

An ATS-friendly resume format ensures every detail in your resume is read and organized correctly by an ATS system, and that nothing is lost or misplaced. If you need assistance creating a resume that is compatible with hiring software, Toptal Resume's AI resume builder includes a collection of ATS-friendly resume templates that will help your resume reach a human reviewer.