An ATS resume template, and how to check yours

What an applicant tracking system does with your resume

An applicant tracking system, or ATS, is the software a company uses to collect applications. When you upload a resume, it pulls the text out of the file and tries to fill fields such as name, email, job titles, employers, dates and skills. Recruiters then search and filter those fields, or read a plain-text view of your resume.

The ATS does not usually reject you by itself. The risk is quieter: if the software reads your file badly, your job titles land in the wrong field, your dates go missing, or your skills never show up in a recruiter's search. A clean layout avoids that.

What makes a template ATS-friendly

• One column. Parsers read top to bottom. Two columns can be read across both columns at once, mixing lines from each side.
• Real text, not images. If you can't select a word in the PDF, the parser can't read it either. That includes text inside pictures and icons.
• Standard section headings: Summary, Experience, Education, Projects, Skills, Certifications. Creative names like "My journey" are harder to map.
• Contact details in the body of the page, not in a header or footer, which some parsers skip.
• No tables for layout, no text boxes and no skill bars or star ratings. A bar showing "80% Python" means nothing to software or to a person.
• Dates in one consistent form, such as "Jul 2024 to Present" or "2021 to 2025", next to each role.

How to write the content

Formatting gets you read correctly. Content is what gets you shortlisted. Recruiters often search for the skills and tools named in the job posting, so use the same words the posting uses when they are true for you. If the posting says "Power BI" and you have used it, write "Power BI", not just "dashboards".

Do not copy the whole job description into your resume, and do not hide keywords in white text. Recruiters read the plain-text view, where hidden text shows up, and it costs you more than it gains.

• Start each line with what you did: built, wrote, reduced, led, analysed.
• Add a number where you honestly have one: how many users, how much time saved, how big the team was.
• Put your most relevant experience first. For freshers, that is often projects or an internship rather than work.
• Keep it to one page if you have under five years of experience.

Check your PDF before you apply

Open your PDF, select all the text and paste it into a plain text editor such as Notepad. Read it top to bottom. If the order is wrong, words run together, or your name and email are missing, an ATS will have the same trouble.

The Octrahire builder makes a text-based PDF from the same page you see while editing, so the pasted text reads in the right order. Its templates are marked by how well they parse, and the single-column ones are the safest choice for online applications.

PDF or Word?

Most applicant tracking systems read a text-based PDF well, and a PDF keeps your layout exactly as you made it. If an application form asks for a Word file, send a Word file. The problem is rarely the format itself; it is a PDF made by scanning or exporting a picture, which has no text inside.