ATS-Friendly Resumé Guide (2026)

Short answer: An applicant tracking system (ATS) stores your resumé and pulls your details into fields that recruiters search and filter. What breaks it is formatting: columns, tables, text boxes, contact details in the header or footer, and resumés saved as images. Use one column, standard headings, a Word or text-based PDF file, and the posting's own words for skills you really have.

This guide works for job seekers in both Canada and the US. For country rules such as spelling and personal details, see our Canadian resumé format guide or our American resumé format guide.

What an applicant tracking system does

An applicant tracking system is the software many employers use to collect and manage applications. When you apply, it stores your resumé and tries to read it, a step called parsing, so your name, contact details, jobs and education land in the right fields of your candidate profile. Recruiters then search, sort and filter candidates inside the system.

The parse matters because it decides how you look to a recruiter who works from the profile. When a parse fails, Greenhouse, a widely used ATS, says the candidate’s details have to be entered by hand, and partial parses need manual correction (Greenhouse Support, Unsuccessful resumé parse). A busy recruiter may not do that carefully.

The “75% of resumés are rejected by ATS” claim

You have probably seen the claim that applicant tracking systems reject 75% of resumés before a person sees them. HiringThing, which sells ATS software, traced the figure back to Preptel, a job-services company that went out of business in August 2013, and quotes an HR consultant who found no study behind it (HiringThing). Keep in mind that an ATS vendor has a reason to defend the software, but no one has produced the study either.

What is true: people set the filters. Recruiters search for terms, sort by criteria and sometimes use screening questions the employer writes. So the goal is not to “beat” a robot. It is to make sure your resumé parses cleanly and uses the words a recruiter will search for.

Formatting that breaks parsing

Greenhouse lists what causes parsing problems in its own system (Greenhouse Support):

Problem	Why it matters	Do this instead
Resumé uploaded as an image	The text cannot be read	Save as Word (.docx) or a text-based PDF
Graphics, photos or word art	Not readable as text	Plain text only
Tables, headers and footers	Content can be skipped or scrambled	Put everything in the main body
Name and contact details in the header, footer or a text box	Your contact details may not be found	Put them as plain text at the top of the page
A columned layout	Lines from two columns can be merged	One column, top to bottom
Very large files	Greenhouse cannot parse resumés over 2.5 MB	Keep the file small; remove images

Other systems differ, but these habits work almost everywhere. Use standard section headings such as Experience, Education and Skills, so the system knows what each section is.

Keywords, used honestly

Settlement.org notes that many recruiters use tools that match keywords from the job ad to your resumé, and advises using the posting’s keywords without making up experience to fit them (Settlement.org). In practice:

Use the posting’s exact terms for skills you have. If it says “Microsoft Excel”, write “Microsoft Excel”, not “spreadsheets”.
Spell out abbreviations once, for example “Basic Life Support (BLS)”, so a search for either form finds you.
Show each skill in your experience, not only in a skills list. A recruiter who searches for a skill and finds it backed by a result is more convinced than one who finds a list.
Never hide keywords in white text or tiny fonts. A recruiter who notices will reject you, and it misrepresents you.

Job Bank also recommends tailoring your resumé to each position by highlighting the experience related to it (Job Bank).

Test your resumé in 2 minutes

Open your resumé and select all the text.
Paste it into a plain text editor, such as Notepad on Windows or TextEdit in plain text mode on a Mac.
Read it top to bottom. Your name and contact details should come first, then each job with its title, employer and dates together, in order.

If lines from two columns are mixed together, contact details are missing, or dates have moved away from their jobs, a parser will probably have the same trouble. Move to a single-column layout and try again.

This is a rough check, not a guarantee. Each system parses a little differently.

ATS-friendly resumé checklist

One column, no tables, text boxes or graphics
Name and contact details as plain text at the top, not in the header
Standard headings: Experience, Education, Skills
Word (.docx) or text-based PDF, well under 2.5 MB
The posting’s exact terms for skills you really have
Each key skill backed by a line in your experience
Abbreviations spelled out once
No hidden keywords
Pasted into plain text, it still reads in order

Want help with yours?

A resumé edit from Think Ahead Careers is $29 CAD ($20 USD). We rewrite it line by line in a clean, single-column layout, use the terms from the posting you send, and send back a clean copy plus a before/after showing every change, by email, with no calls. It is back 24 hours from payment and complete information. No resumé yet? Build one from your details, same price.

Field-specific advice: Software and IT resumé help, Nursing, Administrative.

Related guides

Sources

All accessed 2026-10-25.

Greenhouse Support. Unsuccessful resume parse. https://support.greenhouse.io/hc/en-us/articles/200989175-Unsuccessful-resume-parse
HiringThing. Applicant tracking systems aren’t excluding job applicants, people are. https://blog.hiringthing.com/applicant-tracking-systems-arent-excluding-job-applicants-people-are
Settlement.org. How do I create a Canadian-style resume in order to find a job? https://settlement.org/ontario/employment/find-a-job/resume/how-do-i-create-a-canadian-style-resume/
Job Bank (Government of Canada). How to write a good resume. https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/findajob/resources/write-good-resume

Resumé help for your field: Software and IT, Administrative.