Free guide
ATS resume checklist (2026)
Applicant tracking systems still discard a huge chunk of applications before a human looks. Most failures are boring structure issues—not talent.
Pass these before you apply
- Single column — no sidebars, multi-column, or text boxes
- Real text contact line — email/phone not only in design header
- Standard headings — Experience, Education, Skills (plain English)
- Simple bullets — start with verbs; avoid icon bullets only
- Metrics — %, $, counts, time on recent roles
- Job keywords you truly have — mirror the posting without stuffing lies
- Export sanely — .docx or text-based PDF; avoid design-tool PDFs
Fail these often
- Photos / skill bars / graphics with words inside
- "References available upon request"
- "Responsible for various duties as assigned"
- Two-column "modern" templates from random freemium sites
- Link-only resumes with empty parse-able body
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