ATS Resume Format: The Format That Works in 2026

Formatting is the part of ATS optimisation you fix once and benefit from forever. Get the structure right and every tailored version you send will parse cleanly.

Good vs bad ATS format

Parses well:

• One column, top to bottom
• Name and contact details as normal text at the top
• Standard headings: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills
• Simple round or dash bullets
• Dates on the same line as the job title

Often breaks:

• Two or three columns, sidebars
• Tables for layout, text boxes, shapes
• Skill bars, icons instead of words, charts
• Contact info inside the document header/footer
• Creative headings like "Things I'm Proud Of"

The recommended section order

1. Name and contact: phone, email, city, LinkedIn URL
2. Professional summary: 2–3 lines with your target title and top skills
3. Experience: reverse chronological, 3–6 bullets per role
4. Skills: grouped hard skills matching the ad
5. Education and certifications
6. Optional: languages, projects, volunteering

Graduates can move Education above Experience.

Fonts, sizes and spacing

• Fonts: Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Georgia, Cambria, Garamond
• Sizes: name 18–24 pt, headings 12–14 pt, body 10–12 pt
• Margins: 1.5–2.5 cm
• Line spacing: 1.0–1.15

Colour is fine for headings — parsers ignore colour. Just keep body text dark on white for readability.

Headings ATS recognise

Use these exactly: Summary or Professional Summary, Experience or Work Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications, Languages, Projects. Avoid merging sections like "Skills & Hobbies & Awards".

PDF vs DOCX

Both work with modern ATS when the PDF is text-based (exported from Word, Google Docs or a builder — not a scanned image). Some older systems prefer DOCX, and some job ads say so explicitly. Keep both versions ready. The CvPrais builder exports PDF, DOCX, Word and TXT from the same CV.

Dates and job titles

Write each role like this:

Senior Accountant — Müller & Co | 03/2021 – Present

Keep one date format across the document. Spell out the job title the way the industry does; if your internal title was unusual, add the common equivalent in brackets.

Free ATS-friendly templates

Every CvPrais resume template follows these rules: one parsing order, standard headings, real text. Choose a design, then run it through the ATS checker with your target job ad. If your score is low, it's usually content, not format — our list of 200+ ATS resume keywords helps there.

Designed your resume in Canva? Read whether Canva resumes pass ATS before you apply. Or create an ATS-friendly CV for free and skip the guesswork, then double-check it with our ATS resume checker.