The ATS-friendly CV template, with the advice built in.
A clean one-column layout that applicant tracking systems read without trouble. Every placeholder tells you what to write, so the finished CV is good as well as readable.
- Word & Google Docs
- Guidance built in
- No account
- Free
Already have a CV? Check it free instead
Four things most CV templates get wrong.
Before a recruiter opens your CV, the applicant tracking system turns it into fields. Designed templates often break that step. This one is built around it.
One column, top to bottom
Columns and tables scramble the reading order, so a role's dates can end up attached to the wrong employer.
Headings the system looks for
Experience, Education, Skills. “Where I've made an impact” is not a section a parser recognises.
Contact details in the body
Many parsers skip the page header and footer, which is where most templates put your email.
One date format throughout
“Mar 2021 – Jun 2023” on every role, so the system can work out how long you stayed and how recent it was.
We ran a filled-in example through our own ATS check: all 12 checks pass.
Every placeholder tells you what to write.
[Start with a verb, then what you did and the result, with a number if you can: “Cut onboarding time from 3 weeks to 1 by rewriting the setup guide.”]
Ran 14 A/B tests on the checkout flow; the winning variant cut drop-off by 18% and lifted completed payments by 9%.
The format is half of it. What you write is the other half.
Once it's filled in, upload it: see how the ATS parses it, how a recruiter reads it, and the first thing to fix. Free, under a minute.
Questions
Is it really free?+
Yes. The template is free, and so is the first check of your finished CV. The in-depth report with rewrites is the paid part ($9.90), and you never need it to use the template.
Will it pass Workday, Greenhouse or Taleo?+
Nobody can promise that: we can't see which system an employer uses or how they've set it up. What the template does is avoid the layout problems that break parsing in general, and a filled-in example passes every check in our ATS check.
Should I send it as Word or PDF?+
Either, unless the advert asks for one. Most systems read both. If you export to PDF, check the finished file rather than the Word version.
Why no photo or date of birth?+
Most employers don't need them, and many screening processes strip them to reduce bias. Where a photo or date of birth is still the norm, follow the local custom; otherwise leave them out.