How to Create an ATS-Friendly Resume
A practical guide to building a resume that applicant tracking systems can parse — and that a recruiter can skim in under a minute.
She Works Remotely · Published September 20, 2026 · Last reviewed September 20, 2026
An ATS-friendly resume is not a secret format that tricks software. It is a document with a predictable structure, readable text, and evidence that matches the job you are applying to.
She Works Remotely (SWR) shows remote jobs from employers and from public boards. Many of those employers parse uploads into an ATS. This guide covers what you can control in the file itself. After you have a clean base resume, use SWR’s ATS Resume Analyzer to see where the document is still vague.
Who this guide is for
People applying to remote roles that use an online application form
Career changers whose current resume is a designed one-pager
Anyone who has been told to “beat the ATS” and wants a concrete checklist
What an ATS actually does
Most applicant tracking systems store your application, extract fields (name, titles, dates, skills), and let recruiters search. Some employers also use knockout questions (“Are you authorized to work in X?”) before a human reads anything.
Software that cannot parse your file may store a messy text blob. Recruiters who search for “SQL” or “customer success” will not find you if those words never appear as text — for example if they live only inside an image or a chart.
File type, length, and layout
Use .docx or a text-based PDF exported from Word or Google Docs. Avoid image-only PDFs and files built in Canva or Illustrator unless you also keep a plain version.
One to two pages is enough for most individual-contributor remote roles. A third page is rarely a benefit for early-career applicants.
Single column. Left-to-right, top-to-bottom reading order.
Standard fonts (Calibri, Arial, Georgia, Garamond). Body text around 10–12 pt.
No text in headers/footers for contact details — some parsers skip them.
No tables for your work history. Use headings and bullets.
No icons that replace words (“globe” instead of “Remote”).
Section order that parses cleanly
Use ordinary names: Contact, Summary, Skills, Experience, Education, optionally Certifications or Projects. “Professional journey” or “Where I’ve been” looks distinctive and often parses poorly.
Contact: name, email, phone, city/time zone, LinkedIn URL. Skip a full street address unless the form asks for it.
Summary: 3–4 lines on the work you want and the proof you have — not an objective about “seeking a challenging opportunity.”
Skills: a short list of tools and methods you can discuss in an interview.
Experience: employer, title, location or “Remote,” dates (month + year), bullets with actions and results.
Education: school, credential, year. Coursework only if you are early career.
Write bullets the parser and the human both need
Start with a verb. Include the object of the work, the tool if it matters, and a result when you have one. If you do not have a metric, say the scope: team size, ticket volume, number of markets, or the artifact you shipped (playbook, dashboard, help center).
Do not invent percentages. “Reduced response time” is honest. “Reduced response time 47%” is only honest if you measured it.
Practical examples
Before (hard to parse, hard to skim)
Responsible for helping the team with various marketing tasks and social media in a fast-paced environment. Team player. Proficient in Microsoft Office.
After (same job, usable on SWR applications)
Scheduled and wrote 12 weekly LinkedIn and newsletter posts for a 4-person remote marketing team using Buffer and Google Docs. Maintained a shared content calendar so campaigns launched on time across US and EU time zones.
SWR recommendations
Build one master resume, then clone it per application so you are not rewriting from zero.
Run the SWR ATS Resume Analyzer on the version you will upload, not on an old file.
If the target job is open on SWR, keep that tab open and reuse the employer’s skill names only when they match your work.
Use Auto Apply only after the master resume is clean. The tool will send what you have.
Checklist
File opens as selectable text, not a picture of a resume
Contact details are in the body, not only in the header
Headings are Experience, Education, Skills (or close equivalents)
Each role has month/year dates and a remote or city label
Bullets start with verbs and mention real tools
Skills listed also appear in the experience bullets
No tables, text boxes, or multi-column maze
You can explain every line on a call
Mistakes to avoid
Keyword stuffing a skills block with tools you have not used.
Hiding the job title you want inside a graphic header.
Submitting a designer PDF as the only version to an ATS form.
Using a photo, chart, or skill bars instead of words.
Copying a summary from a generator that could apply to anyone.
FAQ
Will a designed resume always fail?
Not always — some humans love them. The risk is the application portal. Keep a plain version for ATS forms and use the designed version when a person asks for a PDF by email.
Do I need a two-column layout to look modern?
No. Remote recruiters skim titles, dates, and the first two bullets. Clarity beats decoration.
Should I include “ATS-friendly” in the filename?
No. Name the file FirstLast-Role-Resume.pdf so the recruiter can find it in a downloads folder.
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Written by the people building She Works Remotely. These guides explain remote job search, resumes, and interviews, and how to use SWR’s own tools. We do not invent experts, employers, testimonials, or statistics.