How to Write an ATS-Friendly Resume (With a Free Word Template)

What an ATS actually does

An ATS is a database for job applications. When you apply, it reads (“parses”) your file and copies your name, contact details, job titles, dates, education and skills into separate fields. Recruiters then search those fields, for example for “project manager” plus “Excel”, and open the matching applications.

So the two real risks are simple: the software misreads your resume because of complex formatting, or a recruiter’s search does not find you because the right words are missing. Fix both and you are in front of a human.

Formatting rules that keep your resume readable

• Use one column. Two-column layouts can be read across the columns, mixing your skills into your job history.
• Use standard section headings: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications. Creative headings such as “My journey” may not be recognised.
• Keep important details out of headers, footers, text boxes and tables. Some systems skip them, so put your name and contact details in the main body.
• Choose a common font such as Calibri, Arial or Georgia at 10–12 pt, with plain bullet points.
• Avoid images, icons, charts and skill bars. Software cannot read a five-star rating for “Excel”; write the skill as text.
• Write dates consistently, for example 03/2022 – 08/2025 or Mar 2022 – Aug 2025.
• Use the file type the job ad asks for. If it does not say, a .docx file or a text-based PDF (not a scanned image) works with most systems.

Choose the right keywords

Read the job advert and note the job title, the tools, the hard skills and the qualifications it repeats. Then use the same wording where it is true for you:

• Match the exact job title if you have held that role or one very close to it.
• Write skills the way the advert does: if it says “customer relationship management”, do not write only “client care”.
• Spell out acronyms once: “Search Engine Optimization (SEO)”.
• Put the most important keywords in your summary, your recent job bullets and your skills section.

Never copy the whole advert or hide keywords in white text. Recruiters read the resume too, and keyword stuffing looks dishonest.

Section by section

Contact details

Name, phone number, professional email address, city and country, and a LinkedIn or portfolio link. A full street address is rarely needed.

Summary

Two or three lines about who you are professionally, your main skills and what you want next. Example: “Customer support lead with 5 years in SaaS. Cut average response time by 40% by introducing a help centre and ticket tags. Looking for a support operations role.”

Experience

List jobs newest first. For each job give the title, company, location and dates, then three to five bullet points about results, not duties.

Education, skills and certifications

Keep education short once you have work experience. List skills as plain words separated by commas or bullets, grouped if you have many (for example Tools, Languages).

A bullet-point formula that works

Action verb + what you did + measurable result.

No exact figures? Use honest estimates (“about 30 orders a day”) or scale (“for a team of 8”).

Test your resume before you apply

1. Save it as PDF, open the PDF and try to select the text. If you cannot, it is an image and the ATS cannot read it either.
2. Copy all the text and paste it into a plain text editor. Check that sections appear in the right order and nothing is missing or jumbled.
3. Check the length of your summary and bullets with our Word Counter; most summaries read best under 60 words.
4. Name the file clearly: FirstName-LastName-Resume.pdf.

Start from a clean, ATS-friendly template

Our free Clean Resume Template for Word follows every rule above: one column, standard headings, real text instead of icons, and contact details in the body. Download it, replace the sample text and export to PDF.

Frequently asked questions