How to write an ATS-friendly résumé

One of the most common questions I receive as a professional résumé writer is how to make a résumé ATS-friendly. There are entire classes devoted to this topic. (I know because I’ve taken several of them through the Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches!)

When I work with professionals to strengthen their résumés, I often redesign and rewrite the entire document to ensure that it reads and scores well in Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). ATS streamlines the hiring process by using software to filter and score job applications. Because organizations receive hundreds or even thousands of applications for each job posting, reliance on ATS has exploded in both the private and public sectors. If you want your résumé to survive initial screening and reach a human hiring manager, you need to know how to maximize your résumé’s performance in ATS. Here’s how to do it.

1. Put All Text in the Body

All the text on your resume should appear in the body of the document. And I do mean ALL. That means no text in tables, and absolutely no text in text boxes or in images. Do not put your name and contact information in the header; instead, type it at the top of the résumé in the body of the document. Shrink the top margin if needed to make the contact information appear closer to the top of the page. If your résumé spans multiple pages, do not put “Page 2” or your name in the footer. Instead, put that information at the bottom of the page, in the body of the document.

You want all the text on your résumé to get read by ATS in the right order, properly associated with the correct job role or section heading. Some ATS software cannot read text in the header or footer, or in text boxes. You don’t want a prospective employer to not contact you because their ATS software couldn’t extract your contact information from your résumé.

2. Apply Simple Formatting

One of the most common mistakes I see in client résumés is complex formatting that unsophisticated ATS software can’t read well. Simple is best. Little icons of an envelope next to your email address or a house next to your address may look cute, but they aren’t worth the ATS risk. Icons and images sent through the ATS churn may not render as they appear on your screen. Similarly, photo headshots have no place on your résumé—with few exceptions, such as if you are applying for jobs in acting or modeling.

If you search online for résumé templates, you’ll find an avalanche of examples that exhibit some of the worst practices. For example, avoid using columns. I love the look of a two-column résumé, but I don’t create them for clients because a single-column format is wildly superior in ATS. It’s the safe choice. When it comes to applying for your dream job, you don’t want to risk getting rejected because your two-column résumé ended up garbled with line fragments running together out of order.

The list of items to avoid is endless. Don’t use tables. Don’t use checkmarks or arrows in place of traditional round bullet points. In my quest to use the simplest characters possible, I don’t even use ampersands when writing résumés anymore. By minimizing the use of characters and elements that have even a whiff of a chance of not being read correctly, you’ll ensure that your résumé looks (and scores) as perfectly as possible in ATS.

3. Deploy Standard Fonts

If you can’t name the font off the top of your head, it’s not a good one to use on your résumé. You want to use a classic, sans-serif font that is widely recognized by both PC and Macintosh computers. Good choices include Arial, Calibri, Garamond, Helvetica, and Verdana. Times New Roman is fine, too, but so boring that I usually skip it. I do use Times New Roman sometimes for federal and military résumés.

It’s important to use a standard font because the layout and formatting of your résumé will change if ATS is unable to read your chosen font exactly as you intended. Sentences that previously fit neatly onto a single line may spill over and mix with text that wasn’t meant to be read together. Your whole resume could be unreadable if you choose a really exotic font that ATS does not recognize. Stick with a traditional font, and you’ll ensure that both ATS and a human résumé screener see the same document and love it.

4. Call Me Maybe

By this point you may be thinking, “Isn’t modern ATS software smart enough to read text with modestly complex formatting?” Sure, in some systems. But I want your résumé to perform well in every system. You might be surprised at how antiquated some ATS software still is.

I remember when I worked at the White House and used machine-reading software to identify and redact phone numbers before we released documents to the public. Our system could recognize the most standard phone number format: (555) 123-4567. If one of our staff used dots in their phone number, however, writing it as 555.123.4567, our machine reading system couldn’t recognize it as a phone number.

The last thing you want when applying for jobs is to not get called for an interview because ATS could not extract your phone number from your résumé. Write your phone number in the most standard, traditional phone format. Don't use creative periods or spaces between the numbers, even if it looks cool. The same guidance applies for your email address; don’t write it with “dot” or “at” spelled as words. By keeping every element of your résumé as straightforward as possible, you’ll maximize your chances of getting that follow-up call.

5. Use Standard Section Headings

Beyond your contact information, it is also important to use standard formatting for section headings. ATS is programmed to recognize common headings such as Experience and Education. When you use a more descriptive heading like "Synergistic Activities," it may not recognize what the information in that section is. I’ve seen clients who used headings like “Who I Am” and “What I Do” on their resume. Though that approach may work great on a website where originality engages human readers, ATS has trouble figuring out what you’ve done when it doesn’t recognize your section headings.

Another common error I’ve seen is when résumés combine two different categories of information together into one section. For example, I often see section headings like “Education and Affiliations” on client résumés. The problem with these space-efficient combo headings is ATS can’t always distinguish what’s an educational degree and what’s a professional association. If ATS is filtering applications for people with Bachelor of Science degrees, and it can’t tell if you have that degree, your application won’t succeed.

Keep your section headings standard and ideally, limited to one category of information. You can sometimes get away with closely related combinations like “Licenses and Certifications,” but it’s still best practice to split out the information into a standalone section or use other formatting tricks like one overarching descriptive heading followed by subheadings within that section.

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There are many other techniques that can enhance your résumé, including strategic use of keywords—topic that I could write an entire separate post on. Every person’s career journey is unique, and that’s why no two résumés are identical. While there is no single design that’s right for everyone, applying these basic principles to your résumé will help maximize its performance. For individual insights on how to strengthen your résumé and ensure that it conveys your experience well in ATS, contact me.