10 ATS-Friendly Resume Tips That Actually Work in 2026
Roughly 75% of resumes are filtered out by an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) before a recruiter sees them. Here's how to be in the 25% that survives.
1. Use a standard file format
Stick to PDF (text-based, not scanned) or .docx. Avoid Pages, Keynote, or image-only PDFs.
2. Mirror the job description's keywords
If the posting says "project management," don't write "managed projects." Use the exact phrasing — ATS does literal matching.
3. Skip headers and footers
Most ATS parsers ignore content inside header/footer regions. Put your name, email, and phone in the body.
4. One column, no tables
Multi-column layouts get scrambled during parsing. Stick to a single linear flow.
5. Standard section names
Use "Experience," "Education," "Skills" — not "My Journey" or "What I Bring."
6. Standard fonts
Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Garamond. Decorative fonts may render as "□□□" on the recruiter's side.
7. No images, icons, or charts
The ATS can't read them. Save the visual flair for your resume website.
8. Spell out acronyms once
"Search Engine Optimization (SEO)" — then use SEO. ATS may search for either.
9. Quantify everything
"Increased revenue by 32%" beats "increased revenue significantly." Numbers survive parsing and impress humans.
10. Save the file as "FirstName_LastName_Resume.pdf"
Recruiters search their downloads folder. Make yourself findable.
Bonus: build a resume website
Once your PDF is ATS-clean, paste the same content into a personal site. The PDF gets you past the bots; the site impresses the humans.