- Use one column when you do not have a reason to accept more extraction risk.
- Keep contact values and section labels in the document body.
- Use ordinary Unicode characters for bullets and punctuation.
- Test the final export, not the editor preview.
Recommended baseline
- One primary content column.
- 10 to 12 point readable body text with clear size contrast for headings.
- Section names that describe their contents plainly.
- Consistent month and year dates placed beside the correct role.
- Full email address, phone number, and portfolio URLs as text.
- Real bullet characters or simple hyphens with normal text after them.
Are columns ATS-friendly?
Sometimes. The failure mode is reading order, not the mere presence of a second column.
Modern extraction tools can recover text from many column layouts. The unresolved question is whether the words arrive in the intended order. A PDF can store content in an order that differs from what you see on screen.
A narrow sidebar containing only skills is less risky than a layout that splits work history across both columns. For a high-stakes application, one column removes an avoidable variable.
Are tables ATS-friendly?
Tables are structured in DOCX, but a parser may flatten their cells in an unhelpful order.
A two-cell table used for a job title and date may survive extraction cleanly. A nested table that carries the whole resume has more ways to separate labels from values. Treat tables as a testable risk, not a forbidden HTML-like object.
Do fonts affect parsing?
Font style matters less than valid character encoding and a good export.
A parser works with text recovered from the file. Problems appear when an export lacks usable character mappings, substitutes symbols, or turns text into paths or images. Common system fonts are a conservative choice because rendering is predictable.
Arial, Calibri, Aptos, Helvetica, Georgia, and Times New Roman are reasonable defaults. This is a display recommendation, not a claim that ATS software keeps a font allowlist.
Five-minute export test
- Search the file for your surname and one employer.
- Select all and paste into a plain-text editor.
- Read the pasted work history from top to bottom.
- Check that links contain visible text and do not rely on icons.
- Upload the file only after its type matches the posting instructions.
Sources used on this page
- What you may be missing when you search PDF documentsPDF Association
Demonstrates how PDF content order can differ from the order visible on the page.
- Structure of a WordprocessingML documentMicrosoft Learn
Documents the paragraph, run, and text structure inside DOCX files.
- Unsuccessful resume parseGreenhouse Support
Documents parse failures, a 2.5 MB parsing limit, and layout-related errors.
- Manually add a candidate or prospectGreenhouse Support
Advises recruiters to verify parsed fields and notes that embedded images or some layouts can produce incorrect imports.