What is an ATS-Friendly Resume?

The following post explores the question What is an ATS-Friendly Resume?

ATS-friendly is a term that gets thrown around a lot today. But do you truly understand what it means? It’s a common phrase in job seeker advice circles, yet one that’s often misunderstood.

Read: Making Compromises as a Job Seeker

Related: Submitting Your Resume to Recruiting Firms

When you apply to jobs online, your Resume is usually reviewed by software before a person sees it. Making your Resume ATS-friendly ensures your document is properly evaluated by systems.

Here’s what you need to know.

What ATS Means

In the world of job seekers, ‘ATS’ stands for applicant tracking system. These are software platforms that employers use to receive, store, parse, and screen applicants for the jobs they are trying to fill.

One of the core functions of an ATS is automation: instead of a person reading every Resume, the ATS reads them, pulls out structured data, compares that data to the job posting, and looks for matches.

That automation speeds hiring but creates a single hard constraint for applicants: if the software can’t extract the right information from the document, the Resume may never reach a human.

That is why there’s so much emphasis on making sure your Resume is ATS-friendly when applying to jobs online. Pictured below, is an example of an ATS-friendly Resume layout.

ATS-Friendly is a General Term

An ATS-friendly Resume is a document written and formatted so applicant tracking systems (ATS) can read, parse, and evaluate it reliably. But people often treat it like a magic label — upload this file and you’re safe.

The reality is that “ATS-friendly” is a generality, not a guarantee.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different ATS platforms in use across corporate America (including well-known systems like Workday and Taleo) and many more proprietary or lesser-known solutions.

Each system has its own quirks and parsing methods, which means a Resume that works well for one ATS might not work perfectly for another. Similar to how writing quality can shift depending on audience and context – a point illustrated in this EssayHub review analyzing the peculiarities of academic writing – Resume formatting must adapt to the specific system it encounters.

Being ATS-friendly means avoiding formatting and content choices that break automated parsing and following structures that most systems are trained to read.

Avoid Graphs, Tables, and Charts

A fundamental rule of ATS-friendly is removing elements that are not plain, extractable text. For instance, images, graphs, charts, text embedded inside pictures, and table-based layouts can confuse parsers.

When an ATS encounters non-text elements it either ignores them or attempts a best-effort conversion that often returns garbled or missing data. Because ATS are performing automated extraction, anything that makes extraction harder increases the chance important details get lost or misread.

Avoid Columns and Table Boxes

Most ATS engines read like a person reading English: top-to-bottom, left-to-right.

That’s why it’s important to avoid multi-column layouts, sidebars, and floating text boxes can disrupt that linear flow and lead to swapped or dropped sections.

Using a single-column layout with standard section headings (work experience, education, core competencies, etc.) helps the ATS correctly segment and label information.

When it comes to building an ATS-friendly Resume, simplicity is not boring, it’s functional.

ATS-Friendly Doesn’t Mean Tailored

Being ATS-friendly does not replace the need to tailor your content to the specific job posting.

An ATS-friendly Resume focuses on format and structure, making sure the system can parse your information correctly, but it does not automatically ensure that the content matches the employer’s requirements.

To be competitive, your Resume still needs to use the same keywords that align with the job description.

Think of ATS-friendly as the foundation. It ensures your Resume is readable by the system, while tailoring ensures your Resume is relevant and compelling once it reaches a human reviewer.

Practical Tips

• File type: use a text-based format the employer requests (DOCX and PDF are widely compatible).

• Fonts and symbols: use standard system fonts and avoid decorative symbols or special characters.

• Dates and formatting: use simple, consistent date formats and put job titles on their own lines.

• Headings: use clear, common headings. ATS use these labels when parsing and mapping sections.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, I hope this article helps you understand what it means to be ATS-friendly and gives you practical guidance to make sure your Resume reaches a human reviewer.

If you’re looking for professional assistance with building an ATS-friendly and visually appealing Resume, please fill out the Contact Us form or Submit Your Resume for a risk-free evaluation. We are an A+ BBB-rated service that has earned multiple consecutive Complaint Free Awards. We look forward to hearing from you!