ATS resume best practices for 2026

No format guarantees an interview. Good formatting only helps the software and the person reviewing your application find the information you actually have. The practices below are the ones that come up most consistently in recruiter and resume-industry guides.

Layout: keep it to one column

Use a single column and put your content in normal paragraphs and bullets. Avoid tables, text boxes, graphics and skill-rating bars for anything important. Software reads text in a fixed order, and a design with sidebars or boxes can mix sections together, as in the demo on the home page.

Keep contact details in the main body of the document. Information placed in the page header or footer is a common casualty.

Headings: use the ones everyone uses

Parsers look for familiar section names. Use Summary, Experience (or Work Experience), Education and Skills. Headings such as "My Journey" or "What I Do" read well to a person but tell the software nothing.

Fonts and size

Use a standard font such as Arial, Calibri, Georgia or Times New Roman at 10 to 12 points. The font matters far less than the layout, but a common font avoids surprises when the file is opened on another computer.

File type

First, follow the job post. If it asks for a Word file or a PDF, send that. If you can choose, sources disagree: several guides recommend .docx as the safest choice, while others say a text-based PDF is fine. What everyone agrees on is to avoid scanned pages and images, because the software has no text to read. Name the file with your name, for example FirstName_LastName_Resume.

Dates and job details

List jobs in reverse chronological order. Give each one a title, employer, location and dates, and use one date format everywhere, such as "Jan 2022 to Present". Mixing "Jan 2022", "01/2022" and "'22" can confuse both software and readers.

Keywords without stuffing

Read the job post and note the terms it repeats: tools, skills, qualifications and job titles. Use those exact words where they truthfully describe your work.

• Write the term the way the job post does. If it says "Microsoft Excel", do not only write "spreadsheets".
• Spell out an acronym once with its short form, for example "search engine optimisation (SEO)", so either search term finds you.
• Use terms in context, in your bullets, as well as in the Skills section.
• Do not paste a block of keywords. Recruiters spot keyword walls instantly, and it costs you the human read.

Write for the person too

Start each bullet with what you did, and add a number where you can: team size, percentage change, volume, money or time saved. Aim for one to two pages. Tailor your summary and top skills to each job, since the same resume rarely fits every post.

Answer screening questions honestly

Many applications include questions about work authorisation, location, experience or certifications. Recruiters set these themselves, and they are the clearest example of a real filter. Read each question carefully and answer it truthfully.

Before you submit

• Single column, with no tables or text boxes holding key information
• Contact details in the main body, not the page header or footer
• Standard headings: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills
• A text-based file, not a scan or an image
• Copy-and-paste test reads in the right order
• One date format throughout
• Terms from the job post, used truthfully and in context
• No icons, special symbols or skill-rating bars
• File name includes your name

Run the checker

Common questions