ATS-Friendly Resume Format: Fonts, Layout and What to Avoid

An ATS-friendly resume format is simple: one column, standard headings, a common font, clear dates and no important details hidden in tables, text boxes or headers. Do that and most applicant tracking systems will read your resume correctly. Everything else is detail.

This post is the practical, "what do I actually click" companion to our full ATS resume guide.

The layout

Use a single column. Put your name and contact details at the top of the page body. Then, in this order for most people: summary, work experience, education, skills. If you're a recent graduate, education can come before experience.

Why single column? Parsers read left to right, top to bottom. With two columns, they sometimes mash lines from both sides together, so your "Skills" list can end up in the middle of a job description.

The best fonts for a resume

Plain, common fonts are safest: Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Georgia, Garamond. Aim for 10-12pt for body text and slightly larger for headings. It's not exciting, but exciting fonts can turn into gibberish if the system doesn't recognise them.

Section headings that work

Stick with the standard ones: Summary (or Professional Summary), Work Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications.

Some people like "Where I've Worked" or "What I Bring". Don't. The software expects the boring names. (I once wrote about a single heading that quietly ruined a resume for years. It's here: the heading that was breaking my resume.)

PDF or Word?

This comes up constantly. The honest answer: follow what the job posting says. If it says "upload a PDF" or "Word doc", do that. If it doesn't, a clean .docx is the safest option. A PDF exported from Word or Google Docs (so the text is selectable) is usually fine too. A PDF made from a scan or a screenshot is not, because the system can't read it.

Test it: open your PDF and try to highlight a line of text. If you can't, neither can the ATS.

Things that cause trouble

Tables for layout. Fine for a portfolio, risky for a resume.

Text boxes and shapes. Content inside them can get skipped.

Headers and footers holding your phone number or email.

Icons instead of words (a little phone symbol instead of "Phone").

Skill bars, charts and star ratings. Pretty, but meaningless to a parser.

Photos. In the UK, US and Canada especially, they're usually not expected and can raise bias concerns. Norms differ by country, so check what's standard where you're applying.

Unusual bullet symbols. Standard round bullets are fine.

A quick format checklist

1. One column
2. Standard fonts, readable size
3. Plain section headings
4. Contact details in the main body
5. Dates in one consistent format (e.g. Mar 2021 – Jun 2024)
6. Real, searchable text, not an image
7. A sensible file name ("Jane-Okafor-Resume.docx", not "final_v7_REAL.docx")
8. One to two pages

Test it yourself

Copy your whole resume and paste it into a plain text editor such as Notepad. If the order is jumbled or things are missing, a parser might struggle too. You can also run it through our free resume audit to flag formatting issues automatically.

If you'd rather start from something already built the right way, the resume builder has ATS-friendly templates. Once the layout is sorted, the next job is the words. Resume keywords: how to find the right ones is a good next read, and there are more downloads on our free resources page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best font for an ATS resume?
Arial, Calibri and Times New Roman are all safe choices at 10-12pt.

Can ATS read PDFs?
Mostly yes, if the PDF has real, selectable text. Scanned or image-based PDFs can't be read.

Are resume templates from Canva ATS-friendly?
Some are, many aren't. Avoid multi-column designs, icons and text-heavy graphics, or export a simplified version for online applications.

Should I include a photo?
In most English-speaking countries, no. In some other regions it's normal. Check local norms.