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Most large employers filter resumes with software before any human reads them. A strong candidate with the wrong formatting gets rejected silently — no feedback, no second chance. Run this checklist before every application.
Is your file technically readable?
- Selectable text everywhere. If you cannot copy text out of your PDF, the ATS cannot read it at all.
- PDF or DOCX only — never images, never scanned pages.
- No text inside graphics. Charts and icons render as nothing to a parser.
Is your structure parseable?
- Standard section headings: Work Experience, Education, Skills. Creative labels confuse extractors.
- One column for your work history. Multi-column layouts get read in the wrong order.
- No tables for experience entries — cells scramble your chronology.
- Critical data in the body, not in the file header/footer, which several systems skip.
Does every role parse completely?
- Job title, company, start date, end date — all four, for every role. These are the exact fields systems validate; one missing field can void the entry.
- Consistent date format throughout (e.g., Jan 2024 – Mar 2026).
Will you match the job's keywords?
- Mirror the posting's exact terms. Some systems match literally: if the job says "Search Engine Optimization", the abbreviation alone may not count.
- Weave keywords naturally, 3–4 mentions across sections — stuffing triggers human rejection even when it passes the machine.
- Never use hidden text. White-on-white keywords get flagged, and it can end your candidacy permanently.
How do you verify instead of guessing?
Run a free ATS scan — in under a minute you get a readiness score and the exact issues systems see, no signup required. Building from scratch? The CV builder exports templates that are re-checked by the same scanner before you download.