Question 1

What makes a resume template ATS friendly?

Accepted Answer

A layout a resume parser can read into the right fields. Greenhouse's help center lists formatting its parser may not interpret correctly, including graphics, photos or word art; tables, headers and footers; a name and contact details in a header, footer or text box; a columned layout; and a resume without clear sections. Workday's documentation says resumes without images or image-based styles give the best parsing results. So use one column and clear section headings such as Experience, Education and Skills, keep your name and contact details in the body of the page, and leave out tables, graphics and photos.

Question 2

What are the best ATS friendly resume formats in 2026?

Accepted Answer

A simple single-column layout with clear sections, saved in a file type the employer's upload box accepts. One clear order is contact details, a short summary, work experience with the most recent job first, then education, skills and certifications. Write job titles in full: Greenhouse lists incomplete titles, such as "Sr. Account Exec" instead of "Senior Account Executive", among the things its parser may not read correctly. The Greenhouse, iCIMS and Workday pages we checked set no font or margin rules. For federal jobs, USAJOBS recommends a sans-serif font such as Lato, Calibri, Helvetica or Arial and 0.5 inch margins, and suggests 14 point titles with 10 point main text.

Question 3

Can I use a two-column resume template for ATS?

Accepted Answer

It is safer not to. Greenhouse lists resumes with a columned layout among those its parser may not interpret correctly, which can leave a partial parse that has to be corrected by hand. Workday says parsing results can vary with a resume's format and the order of its words. A single column avoids the problem. If you keep two columns, test the file: copy all the text into a plain text editor and check that it still reads in the right order.

Question 4

Is a PDF or Word document better for ATS?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the employer, so the upload box has the final say. Here is what three ATS vendors document, checked October 2026. Greenhouse accepts .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf and .txt, and its candidate FAQ says to upload a PDF for best results. iCIMS's candidate guide lists no file types and says the options on each company's career portal differ; its developer documentation lists PDF, DOC, DOCX, ODT, RTF and TXT among the formats it can extract text from. We found no single list of resume file types for career sites in Workday's documentation, so use a type the upload box lists; where an employer uses Workday HiredScore to grade applications, HiredScore supports DOC, DOCX, PDF, RTF and TXT resumes. For federal jobs, USAJOBS recommends uploading your resume as a PDF to keep its formatting and page count. Whichever you choose, upload a document with real, selectable text, not an image of one: Greenhouse lists image uploads among the resumes its parser may not read correctly.

Question 5

Can I use a resume template from a design app?

Accepted Answer

Judge the file, not the app. Greenhouse lists graphics, photos or word art, columned layouts and resumes uploaded as an image among the things its parser may not interpret correctly, and Workday says resumes without images or image-based styles parse best. Before you send a designed resume, open the PDF, select all the text and paste it into a plain text editor. If every word comes out in reading order, the file has real text. If nothing can be selected, the words may be stored as an image, which ATSAlign cannot read either. In that case, rebuild the resume as a simple one-column document.

Question 6

How do I check if my resume template is ATS friendly?

Accepted Answer

Try two checks. First, the copy test: open your resume, select all the text, copy it, and paste it into a plain text editor such as Notepad on Windows, or TextEdit set to plain text on a Mac. If words are missing or the order is scrambled, a parser may have the same trouble. Second, run a free ATSAlign check with a real job description. ATSAlign reads the text in your PDF or DOCX, tells you if it cannot read the text, and shows your match score and the first 2 missing must-have keywords. No outside tool can see how a particular employer has set up its ATS, so treat both checks as a guide.

System	Resume file types	Also documented	Source
Greenhouse	.doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf and .txt	Its candidate FAQ says to upload a PDF for best results.	Greenhouse: supported formats Greenhouse: candidate FAQ
iCIMS	Varies by employer. Its candidate guide lists no file types.	Its developer documentation lists PDF, DOC, DOCX, ODT, RTF and TXT among the formats it can extract text from.	iCIMS: candidate guide iCIMS: developer docs, Binary Files
Workday	We found no single list of resume file types for career sites in Workday's documentation, so use a type the upload box lists.	Where an employer uses Workday HiredScore to grade applications, HiredScore supports DOC, DOCX, PDF, RTF and TXT resumes.	Workday HiredScore: candidate profiles
USAJOBS (federal jobs)	PDF, Word (DOC or DOCX), RTF, TXT, ODT and some image types, 5 MB or less. No PDF portfolio files.	Recommends a PDF to keep your formatting and number of pages.	USAJOBS Help Center: How do I write a resume for a federal job?

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