Choosing the wrong resume template can get your application rejected before a human ever reads it. Many popular design templates — the ones with coloured sidebars, skill progress bars, and profile photos — look impressive but are completely invisible to ATS software. This guide explains what makes a template truly ATS-friendly, and what to look for.
What Makes a Resume Template ATS-Friendly?
An ATS-compatible template has one defining characteristic: every piece of information is accessible as plain, linear text. This means no columns, no text boxes, no images, and no fancy design elements that trap content outside the main text flow. The best ATS resume templates are often the simplest-looking ones — and that is intentional.
- ✓Single-column layout — content flows top to bottom, never left-to-right across columns
- ✓Standard fonts only (Calibri, Arial, Garamond, Georgia, Times New Roman)
- ✓Black or dark grey text on a white background
- ✓Section headers in bold, not styled as image-based graphics
- ✓No sidebar, no skill bars, no icons, no profile photo
- ✓Contact information in the body of the document, not in a design header element
The 3 Best Resume Formats for ATS
1. Reverse-Chronological (Best for Most Candidates)
The reverse-chronological format lists your most recent job first and works backwards. It is the default format for most hiring managers and the one ATS software is best trained to parse. If you have a solid work history without major gaps, this is the format to use for any ATS system resume. It is predictable, structured, and machine-readable by design.
2. Functional / Skills-Based (Use with Caution)
A functional resume groups your experience by skill category rather than by employer and date. While this can help candidates with employment gaps or career changers, it is a risky choice for ATS submission. Most ATS platforms are trained on chronological resumes and may fail to correctly extract dates and employer names from a functional layout — resulting in a lower score even if your skills are a strong match.
3. Combination / Hybrid Format
A hybrid resume combines a skills summary section at the top with a traditional reverse-chronological work history below. When formatted as a single column, this can be both ATS-safe and compelling to read. It works well for experienced professionals who want to lead with core competencies before diving into their work history.
Template Features That Silently Kill Your Application
- ✓Two or three-column layout — ATS reads columns left-to-right line by line, mixing your content into nonsense
- ✓Skill rating bars (e.g. five-star or percentage-based) — ignored entirely by parsers
- ✓Profile photo or headshot — treated as an opaque image block
- ✓Text inside a text box or shape — often completely skipped
- ✓Colour-coded section headings stored as images — the text is invisible to ATS
- ✓Tables used for layout — columns merge into a single unreadable line
- ✓Document headers and footers — many ATS platforms do not parse these areas
What an ATS-Optimised Resume Template Should Include
- 1.Contact information (name, email, phone, LinkedIn, location) — in the body, at the top
- 2.Professional Summary — 2–4 sentences with your core value proposition and key keywords
- 3.Work Experience — reverse-chronological, with company, title, dates, and bullet points
- 4.Education — institution, degree, field, graduation year
- 5.Skills — a flat list or short grouped list (no progress bars)
- 6.Optional: Certifications, Projects, Volunteer Work, Publications
How to Check If Your Template Is ATS-Compatible
The most reliable way to verify your template is to run your completed resume through an ATS checker. Even if your template looks clean, subtle issues — like a contact block stored in a Word header element — can cause parsing failures. Our free ATS checker runs 30+ tests on your resume in seconds.