Free ATS Checklist for Your Resume: 30 Checks Before You Apply

File type and text layer

Start with the file, because nothing else matters if the text can't be read. What is an ATS explains the parsing step these checks are built around.

• Send the file type the ad asks for; otherwise a PDF or DOCX. Current systems read both well, while an old .doc, a Pages file or a link to a shared drive may not open at all.
• Pass the copy-paste test. Select all the text in your PDF, paste it into a plain text editor and read it top to bottom: what comes out is roughly what a parser gets.
• Make sure the resume is real text, not a scan or a photo. An image has no text layer, so the system has to guess the words with character recognition and often guesses wrong.
• Search your own PDF for two key skills. If Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on a Mac) can't find a word you can see, the font or the export has broken it, and a recruiter's search won't find it either.

Layout and reading order

• Use one main column, or a sidebar that reads as its own block. Parsers read text in sequence, so each column needs to come out whole rather than interleaved line by line.
• Keep text out of tables, text boxes and images. Some systems read tables across rows or skip text boxes, which can merge two jobs into one or drop a section.
• Replace skill bars, star ratings and icons with words. A graphic carries no text, so a five-star Python rating comes out as just "Python" or as stray symbols.
• Avoid decorative fonts and joined letter pairs. Some fonts merge pairs such as fi or tt into one glyph, which can break words like "efficient" in the extracted text.

An ATS-friendly resume template takes care of all four before you write a word.

Section headings

• Use the usual names: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills. Parsers look for familiar headings to decide where each section starts, and "Where I've worked" may not register.
• Keep each heading as plain text on its own line. A heading drawn as an image or merged into a decorative band can vanish from the extracted text.
• Give extra sections plain names too. Certifications, Projects, Publications and Languages tell a parser and a reader exactly what follows.

Contact details

• Put your name on the first line, as text. Systems usually treat the first prominent line as your name, so a logo or a job title above it can confuse them.
• Keep email, phone and city in the body of page one, not in the header or footer. Some parsers skip header and footer areas, which can leave your profile with no way to reach you.
• Write the phone number with its country code and use a plain, professional email. A recruiter in another country can dial it, and standard formats are easy for software to recognise.
• Spell out your LinkedIn or portfolio address. A word like "Portfolio" with a hidden link loses the address when the text is extracted.

Job titles and dates

• Give every role a job title, employer and dates, in the same order each time. A consistent pattern is what lets a parser tell a title from a company name.
• Use one date format with month and year, such as Mar 2022 — Present. Consistent dates let the system work out how long you held each job; mixed styles can leave gaps or wrong totals.
• Add the common title when your internal one is unusual. Recruiters search for standard titles, so "Software Engineer (internal title: Member of Technical Staff)" is found where the internal name alone is not.

Keywords from the job ad

• List the hard skills, tools and qualifications the ad names. These are the words a recruiter is most likely to type into a search, so cover every one that is true of you.
• Use the ad's exact wording, and spell out each acronym once. A search for "Power BI" won't match "Microsoft BI tools", and writing "search engine optimisation (SEO)" catches both forms.
• Never hide keywords in white or tiny text. Extracted text loses its colour and size, so hidden words show up plainly on the recruiter's screen.

Resume keywords for ATS screening shows how to pick them from an ad.

Skills, bullets and numbers

• Group skills under plain labels such as Languages, Tools or Clinical skills. Short comma-separated lists extract cleanly and are quick for a person to scan.
• Show key skills in your bullets, not only in the skills list. A skill used in context, with a result, is what convinces the person who opens your profile.
• Start each bullet with a verb and keep it to one or two lines. Short, separate bullets stay attached to the right job when the text is split into fields.
• Add a number wherever you honestly have one. Figures such as "cut processing time 30%" give the reader a reason to shortlist you once the software has surfaced you.

Tailoring and final checks

• Rewrite your summary and top bullets for each job. Many systems rank applicants by how closely they match the job description, and the top of the page is also what a recruiter reads first.
• Answer the application form's screening questions carefully. Questions about work rights, licences or location often filter more firmly than anything in the resume, so make sure your answers match it.
• Proofread the names of tools and qualifications. A misspelt skill such as "Javascipt" won't match a search for the correct word.
• Name the file clearly, such as Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf. Recruiters download and forward files, and a clear name keeps yours attached to you.
• Run an ATS check, then read it as a person would. The ATS resume checker shows how readable the file is, and your own read catches what software can't.

For the full process behind these checks, see how to make an ATS-friendly resume.