Insights / Résumé writing guides
How to Create an ATS-Friendly Resume
An ATS-friendly résumé should make your actual qualifications easy to read and transfer into an application. The employer’s instructions, the document’s structure, and the relevance of its evidence all matter.
Understand what a parsing check can tell you
Applicant tracking systems support employers’ recruiting workflows. Parsing extracts information from a résumé into fields. A parsing problem and a hiring decision are different things; a readable file does not establish that a candidate meets a job’s requirements or will receive an interview.
Software and employer workflows differ. There is no single public “ATS pass score” that guarantees acceptance across employers.
Use relevant language in context
Keith’s original guide gives this advice:
Rather than just listing skills, incorporate them into descriptions of your work experience to show how you’ve applied these skills in practical settings.
Read the position requirements, then choose accurate examples from your own work. Use recognizable skill and qualification names where they apply. Do not add a skill you cannot support, replace an official employment title with a more senior one, or hide keywords in the document.
Make the structure easy to follow
Use familiar headings such as Experience, Education, and Skills. Keep employer names, roles, dates, and accomplishment statements together. A simple single-column application version reduces avoidable formatting complexity.
Greenhouse’s resume parsing guidance identifies graphics, image-based résumés, tables, text boxes, headers, footers, and columns as potential causes of unsuccessful parsing. This is product-specific guidance, not a claim that every system rejects every document with these features.
Follow the application’s file requirements
Use the file type and size specified by the employer. Where a text-based PDF or Word file is accepted, make sure the text is selectable and that the document is not just a scanned image. Keep contact details in ordinary document text rather than relying on an image or decorative header.
After uploading, review the preview and any fields populated from the résumé. Correct misplaced dates, incomplete titles, and missing information before submission. A local text-copy check can reveal obvious reading-order problems, but it does not reproduce every employer’s software.
Keep human readers in mind
A list of keywords is not a career narrative. Explain your contribution and the results you can substantiate. Prioritize the evidence that matches the role, and keep chronology, qualifications, and scope consistent across your résumé, application form, and LinkedIn profile.
For New York applications, use the résumé tailoring guide to connect a position’s requirements with relevant evidence.
Review the complete application
- Check the required skills and qualifications against your actual experience.
- Confirm employment dates, titles, and contact information.
- Inspect the exported file and uploaded preview.
- Review parsed application fields and answer required questions accurately.
- Include a tailored cover letter when requested or useful to explain relevant context.
- Respect the employer’s follow-up instructions.
Get help with the right part of the process
Customized résumé writing, executive résumé writing, and LinkedIn optimization are offered through Ivy League Résumés. Read each current service page for scope and pricing. Sample résumés illustrate document approaches; they do not establish a particular hiring outcome.
Interview preparation and broader career strategy are provided through Ivy League Coaching. A clearer application can communicate your qualifications; employers retain their hiring decisions.
About the original author
Keith Lawrence Miller is the founder of Ivy League Résumés. His Columbia Career Coaches Network profile documents an M.A. in Organizational & Business Psychology and an Advanced Certificate in Collective Intelligence in Organizations from Teachers College, Columbia University. Academic credentials do not imply university endorsement of this independent business.
Read Keith’s background and named client feedback. Individual experiences are not promises of interviews, offers, or compensation.