How to Make Your Resume ATS-Ready

Before a person reads your resume, hiring software reads it first. If that software can't parse your file, you can be dropped before anyone sees your name. This guide shows how to turn a resume into a clean, machine-readable file. It also helps career coaches and recruiters who process other people's resumes and need to keep that personal data private.

Know what breaks parsing

Columns, tables, text saved as an image, details hidden in headers or footers, and fancy fonts all confuse the parser. The goal is a simple, single-column layout with real text.

Open the sanitizer

Go to the ATS Resume Sanitizer. It runs in your browser, so your resume and your personal details never leave your device. Load your current resume file.

Let it rebuild the layout

The tool reads your content and rebuilds it into a clean structure — flattening columns, removing graphics that add nothing, and repairing broken fonts so every character reads correctly.

Read the conformance check

It then runs a check that shows how well the result would be read by systems like Workday, Taleo, Greenhouse and Lever. Fix anything it flags, such as a section header it couldn't recognize.

Export the right format

Export as a clean PDF, DOCX and Markdown. Use the clean file for online application forms.

Keep a nicely designed version to send by hand or email, and use the clean version for any online form. The clean one is what gets past the software.