ATS Resume Formatting: The Complete Checklist for 2024

Applicant tracking systems parse submitted resumes by converting them into structured data — extracting your name, contact information, job titles, dates, employers, skills, and education and storing them in searchable database fields. When your resume formatting interferes with this parsing process, critical information gets lost or misclassified, and your application score drops regardless of how qualified you are.

The Most Common Formatting Mistakes That Hurt ATS Scores

Multi-column layouts are one of the most frequent culprits. Many ATS systems read documents left to right, top to bottom — like a simple text file. A two-column layout with your contact information in one column and your summary in another may be parsed as a jumbled, nonsensical string of text. The same problem affects sidebars used for skills or education sections.

Text embedded in images, logos, decorative elements, or header and footer fields also frequently fails to parse. If your contact information lives in the document's header field rather than in the body of the document, many ATS systems will simply not find it. Headers and footers are processed separately and inconsistently across different platforms.

File Type and Font Considerations

The safest file format for ATS submission remains a Word document (.docx), though most modern ATS platforms now reliably parse standard PDFs as well. Avoid submitting resumes as .pages, .odt, or image files under any circumstances.

Font choice affects parsing accuracy. Decorative or unusual fonts may be converted to unrecognizable characters during parsing. Standard, widely supported fonts — Calibri, Arial, Times New Roman, Helvetica, Garamond — process reliably across all platforms. Font size should remain between ten and twelve points for body text, with headings between fourteen and sixteen points.

ATS Formatting Checklist

• Single-column layout with all content in the document body, not headers or footers
• Standard section headings: Work Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications
• Contact information in plain text at the top of the document body
• No text boxes, tables, graphics, charts, or images
• Standard, widely supported font in 10–12pt for body text
• Submitted as .docx or clean PDF with no password protection or digital rights restrictions
• Consistent date formatting throughout (e.g., MM/YYYY or Month YYYY)
• Bullet points using standard characters (•) rather than custom symbols or images

Testing Your Resume Before Submitting

Copy and paste your resume into a plain text editor. If the content reads coherently — with all information in the correct order and no garbled sections — your formatting is likely ATS-safe. If it looks like scrambled text, you have formatting elements that will disrupt automated parsing. ApplyGlide produces resumes that pass this test automatically, generating documents that are both visually professional and structurally clean for ATS processing.