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How to Make an ATS-Friendly Résumé (Without Gaming the System)

What applicant tracking systems really do, the formatting that parses cleanly, how to use keywords honestly, file type questions, and the myths you can safely ignore.

GotOffered editorial teamUpdated October 1, 2026 8 min read
On this page

On this page

  1. What an ATS actually does
  2. Formatting rules that matter
  3. Keywords: relevance, not stuffing
  4. PDF or Word?
  5. Myths to ignore
  6. ATS checklist
  7. FAQ

“Beat the ATS” advice is everywhere, and much of it is wrong. You don’t need tricks. You need a résumé that software can read accurately and that contains the words a recruiter will search for. Here’s what actually matters.

What an ATS actually does

An applicant tracking system (Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, iCIMS, SmartRecruiters and many others) is the database behind a company’s careers page. When you apply, it:

  1. Parses your résumé into fields: name, contact details, job titles, employers, dates, education, skills.
  2. Stores it, along with your answers to any application questions.
  3. Lets recruiters search, filter and rank applicants, often by keywords and sometimes with a match score.

So two things can go wrong: the parser misreads your résumé (your job titles end up in the wrong fields, or a whole section disappears), or a recruiter’s search simply doesn’t surface you because the right terms aren’t there.

Formatting rules that matter

DoAvoidWhy
Single columnTwo or three columns, sidebarsParsers may read across columns and jumble the text
Standard headings“My Journey”, “What I bring”Parsers look for known section names
Real textText in images, icons, charts, skill barsImages can’t be read
Contact info in the bodyContact only in header/footerSome parsers skip headers and footers
Consistent dates (Mar 2022 – Present)Mixed formats or seasonsDates calculate your experience
Common fontsDecorative or icon fontsUnusual glyphs can be misread

A clean single-column design can still look modern. All one-column GotOffered templates follow these rules; two-column designs are labelled so you can choose.

Keywords: relevance, not stuffing

Recruiters search for the skills, tools, certifications and job titles in their own job post. Use those exact terms wherever they’re true for you, in your summary, in bullets next to results, and in your skills section. Include both the acronym and the full term once for important ones: “search engine optimisation (SEO)”.

Not sure which terms matter? The job keyword scanner ranks them by importance. For a full walkthrough, see tailoring your résumé to a job description.

PDF or Word?

Follow the employer’s instructions first. Otherwise, a text-based PDF exported from a word processor or résumé builder is safe for modern systems and keeps your design intact. Test it by opening the PDF and selecting the text. If you can highlight and copy it cleanly, so can the parser. Avoid scanned documents and image-based PDFs.

Myths to ignore

  • “75% of résumés are rejected by robots.” This statistic is widely repeated, but it has no reliable source.
  • “You need a 100% keyword match.” Nobody matches every requirement. Cover the must-haves you genuinely have.
  • “ATS can’t read PDFs.” Text-based PDFs are fine in modern systems.
  • “Use a plain .txt résumé.” Unnecessary. Clean formatting parses well.

ATS checklist

Is your résumé ATS-friendly?

  • One column, standard headings (Experience, Education, Skills)
  • Name and contact details at the top, in the body
  • Job titles, employers and dates on consistent lines
  • No text in images, tables used for layout, or skill bars
  • Must-have keywords from the job post included (where true)
  • Text-based PDF (or DOCX if requested) — you can select the text
  • Clear file name: Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf

Get a score and a prioritised list of fixes in 30 seconds with the free ATS résumé checker.

Frequently asked questions

Do ATS systems reject résumés automatically?

Some employers set up knockout questions (for example, work authorisation or a required licence), but most ATSs store, parse and help recruiters search applications. People usually make the decision. The bigger risk is your résumé being parsed badly, or not matching what recruiters search for.

Can an ATS read a PDF?

Modern systems read text-based PDFs well. Avoid scanned PDFs or PDFs made from images. If an employer asks for a Word document, send one.

See how your résumé measures up

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