ATS Friendly Resume Template – Format Guide & Sample CV Templates

Finding a good job has always been quite a challenge. But times change, and the process of looking for a dream job is also undergoing certain changes. To succeed in this quest, you need to understand how people get employed these days and what factors can help you achieve the desired result. The most crucial thing to start with is writing your CV. The great news is that nowadays, you don’t need to waste your time creating your resume from scratch. There are many excellent resume templates to choose from. Moreover, some of these resume templates are also ATS friendly. Thus, your chances of getting the job of your dream skyrocket with one of them. Does ATS friendly resume template sound queer and mean nothing to you? It is high time to learn more about ATS friendly resume templates, especially if your aim is to get a good job with a respectable company!

What Does ATS Mean?

In the contemporary world, whenever you apply for a job in a serious company or a big corporation, in most cases your resume won’t be read by a human being, at least at the first stage. The truth is that nowadays successful companies face a situation where they get hundreds or even thousands of applications when they open a position. In order to reduce the number of resumes revised by personal managers, they use an applicant tracking system (ATS). This system’s main task is to screen the application forms and to get rid of unsuitable candidates in a quick and efficient way. That is why the key to success is to manage to get through this system. Here we are! In this situation, an ATS-friendly resume template turns into your life-saving belt which will keep you afloat.

One more detail to take into consideration is that it is really wrong to say “an applicant tracking system”. In fact, there is a great number of them. And, as you realize, all these tracking systems are rather different. It means that your ATS resume must be quite flexible and meet the requirements of all types of ATSs.

What Should You Pay Attention to while Filling an ATS Friendly Resume Template?

You should be well aware of the fact that your talents, skills, and knowledge are nothing but products for sale. Yes, it is rather unpleasant to realize that all the achievements you are proud of are only a kind of ‘commodity’, but you’d better do. So, to find an excellent job, you have to learn how to create a CV and advertise yourself. Your ATS resume is nothing but an advertisement company for you as a professional. As a result, you can’t be too picky in such a situation and should do everything to present yourself in the best possible way.

Read the Job Description Attentively.

Scan the position description for the keywords and use them while writing your resume. Keep to the requirements for the position. Stress the skills and achievements that make you suitable for the job. Add details and numbers which prove the level of your qualification. Remember that the most important information should be placed in the top third of your resume because this is the part that is more likely to be read thoroughly. Make sure to include all the information your prospective employer wants to have. Here is a nice marketing ATS CV template example.

At the same time, do not give extra information you are not asked about. First of all, it concerns your marital status, the date of your birth, your race and religion. You are to be selected according to your professional qualities, but not according to your social status, aren’t you?.

Give a Careful Thought to Your Photo Including

You may use a photo on your resume but consider all pros and cons before doing it. Under certain circumstances, it is really worth doing it, especially if your appearance may influence the final decision. In this case, attach a high-quality professional photo. Still, quite often it is better not to add any photo at all. You are a professional, let the recruiter choose you for your skills. Here is an example of a well-composed ATS friendly CV template with a photo.

Provide Clear and Understandable Contact Information

You do want them to contact you, so make it easy. Think of a professionally sounding e-mail address as well. Go for serious email providers like Gmail. Use your name and surname for it. Don’t use nicknames – they quite often sound a bit light-minded. If you have a professional website or a blog, include its URL. You may also consider mentioning your social media URL (especially of such profession-oriented networks as LinkedIn). Include the contact information in the body of the ATS-friendly resume template, not in the header or footer, to ensure the ATS resume test doesn’t miss it. Using an AI Resume Builder can help you format your resume correctly and optimize it for ATS compatibility.

Represent Your Professional Activity in a Clever Way

You may have a really long professional life. But there is no use in listing all the positions you held in your life. The optimal time period to talk about is the last 10-15 years. Put extra emphasis on your professional progress by singling out the change of your professional titles. At the same time, this is a good way to get past an ATS.

What Should You Know about the Formatting of Your ATS Resume?

Format Your ATS friendly Resume Template Wisely

The format of your resume is also worth careful thinking about. The most common one is a reverse chronological format. This format brings into the focus of your work history and experience, so it is excellent for an ATS resume test. But this format will work against you if you have large gaps in your work history. The same is true if you have decided to change the sphere of your professional activity. Besides that, with this format, it is quite difficult to put stress on some particular skills and achievements of yours. That is why in some situations it is better to use either a combined format or a functional resume format.

Break the Text of Your Resume into Sections.

The researchers have a lot of evidence that when the material is divided into sections the recipient perceives it much better. Giving the sections subtitles is also an excellent adjustment of your resume. Moreover, this is exactly what any ATS resume test loves about resumes. But do not include unique headlines. Instead, keep to the standard titles like Summary, Work Experience, Education like in this front-end web developer resume template.

How Does the Outlook of Your Resume Influence the Final Result?

The typography of your resume is truly salient. Take your time and make your resume good-looking and easily readable. To achieve this result take into consideration the following tips:

• The font you use should be both readable and attractive. Be careful while choosing the font type. Avoid Times New Roman because this font type is used too often and is difficult to read at a small size. You’d better go with Garamond, Cambria, Veranda, Calibri, Helvetica, or Georgia.
• The size of the font is important. Choose 10-12 points to keep your resume easily readable.
• Be wise in using Capitalization, Italics, and Bold. Keep the balance. Emphasize only really important parts of the resume. Do not underline because applicant tracking systems do not like this peculiarity in the resumes they scan.
• Be consistent in the resume layout.
• Balance the blank space and the text on your resume. Keep to the margins and do not crap the text into the page.
• Avoid using tables, images, charts, etc, because ATS used by recruiting and staffing agencies may have problems with processing this information.

Also read: What is expert staffing?

Mind the Language of Your Resume

Use up to matter the business language. Do not use ‘extra’ words. Keep your text as short as possible. Employ a bit of professional jargon to show your deep knowledge of the sphere. But be careful not to overwhelm the text with it – too many complicated words are not good. Do not forget to proofread the final version of the resume. Mistakes are not likely to produce a good impression. Moreover, the ATS resume test may fail because the program won’t be able to interpret the misspelled word correctly. It is also a wonderful idea to ask a friend or a knowledgeable person to read your resume before sending it.

Save the final version of your resume in either Word format or as a text file.

Don’t forget that your resume needs to satisfy both an ATS program and a human being who may read your resume. In this situation using a professionally designed ATS friendly resume template is an excellent idea which will save you plenty of time.

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What’s more, MotoCMS offers you a number of efficient resume samples. You can use in Word, EPS, PDF, PSD, and AI formats in any of them. Besides that, feel free to customize these wonderful designs using a Resume and CV Builder, a comprehensive WYSIWYG tool that is extremely easy to handle.

Go ahead and pick the ATS friendly resume template which will help you get the desired job. Your professional success is our biggest aim. Good luck!