ATS Resume Formatting: What Works and What Kills Your Score

Many candidates invest in beautifully designed resumes — only to have them rejected before a human ever reads them. The culprit is almost always formatting that confuses ATS parsers.

Formats That ATS Systems Love

• Simple single-column layout — the most reliably parsed structure
• Standard fonts — Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, or Georgia (10–12pt)
• Standard section headings — "Work Experience", "Education", "Skills", "Certifications"
• Consistent date formats — "January 2023 – March 2025"
• PDF or .docx — both work with modern ATS systems

Formats That Break ATS Parsers

• Tables and columns — ATS reads left to right and may jumble column content
• Text boxes — content inside text boxes is often completely invisible to ATS
• Headers and footers — contact information placed here is often skipped
• Graphics, icons, and images — these cannot be read by any ATS
• Infographic-style resumes — visual charts for skill levels mean nothing to a machine

The Two-Column Trap

Many Canva templates use two-column layouts. While visually appealing, most ATS systems will read both columns left-to-right in a single pass — jumbling your sidebar skills with your work experience.

Test Your Resume Before You Send It

Paste your resume text into a plain text editor (like Notepad). If it reads clearly and in the right order, your ATS formatting is solid.