Top 10 ATS Resume Formatting Mistakes to Avoid
Avoid these common resume formatting errors that cause ATS systems to reject or misparse your application. Practical fixes for each mistake.
Why Formatting Matters More Than You Think
You could have the perfect experience, the right keywords, and a compelling career story, and still get rejected by an ATS because of how your resume is formatted. Formatting errors do not just reduce your score; they can cause the ATS to completely misparse your resume, assigning your job titles to the wrong companies or losing entire sections.
Here are the ten most common formatting mistakes and how to fix each one.
Mistake 1: Using Tables for Layout
Tables are the single most common cause of ATS parsing failures. When a resume uses a two-column table layout, the ATS often reads across both columns, combining unrelated text into nonsensical strings.
What happens: Your name and contact info in the left column gets merged with your skills in the right column, producing something like "John Smith Python Jane@email.com SQL 555-1234 Project Management."
Fix: Use a single-column layout. If you want visual separation between sections, use horizontal lines or spacing instead of tables.
Mistake 2: Multi-Column Designs
Similar to tables, multi-column layouts created with text boxes or column breaks confuse most ATS parsers. The reading order becomes unpredictable.
What happens: The ATS reads content in the wrong order, mixing your education with your experience or skipping your sidebar skills section entirely.
Fix: Stack everything vertically. One column, top to bottom. It may look less creative, but it gets parsed correctly every time.
Mistake 3: Embedding Text in Images
Some resume templates include icons for contact info, skill ratings shown as filled circles or bars, or section headers rendered as images. ATS systems cannot read any text embedded in images.
What happens: The ATS sees a blank space where your skills, contact info, or section headers should be. Your resume appears incomplete.
Fix: Use plain text for everything. Replace icon-based contact info with simple text. Replace visual skill ratings with a text-based skills list.
Mistake 4: Using Headers and Footers
Content placed in the document header or footer is ignored by many ATS platforms. Job seekers commonly put their name and contact information in the header, which means the ATS may not know who submitted the application.
What happens: Your name, email, and phone number disappear from the parsed data.
Fix: Place all contact information in the main body of the document, at the very top.
Mistake 5: Creative Section Headings
Section headings like "My Journey," "Where I Shine," "Tools in My Belt," or "What Drives Me" may sound appealing but they prevent the ATS from correctly categorizing your content.
What happens: The ATS fails to identify your work experience as work experience, your education as education, or your skills as skills. Your information gets dumped into an "other" category or lost.
Fix: Use standard headings: Summary (or Professional Summary), Experience (or Work Experience), Education, Skills, Certifications. These are universally recognized by every major ATS platform.
Mistake 6: Inconsistent Date Formats
Mixing date formats within your resume (e.g., "January 2024" in one job and "03/2023" in another) can confuse ATS date parsing, leading to incorrect employment duration calculations.
What happens: The ATS may calculate your tenure at a job incorrectly, show gaps that do not exist, or fail to sort your experience chronologically.
Fix: Pick one date format and use it everywhere. "Mon YYYY" (Jan 2024) is the most widely supported format. Be consistent with "Present" or "Current" for your current role.
Mistake 7: Unusual File Formats
Submitting your resume as a .pages, .odt, or image-based PDF can cause parsing failures. Some applicants even submit .png or .jpg files of their resume.
What happens: The ATS either cannot open the file or extracts garbled or zero text from it.
Fix: Submit as .docx when possible. If the system requires PDF, ensure it is a text-based PDF (you should be able to select and copy text from it). Never submit image files.
Mistake 8: Excessive Formatting and Styling
Heavy use of bold, italic, underline, colored text, custom bullets, and varying font sizes can interfere with text extraction. While moderate formatting is fine, layering multiple styles creates parsing noise.
What happens: Text extraction produces extra characters, broken words, or formatting artifacts that muddle your keywords.
Fix: Use bold for section headings and job titles. Use standard bullet points (solid circles). Limit yourself to one or two font sizes. Avoid colored text and underlines.
Mistake 9: Missing Contact Information Fields
Some resumes bury contact information or omit key fields. ATS systems look for specific data points: full name, email address, phone number, and location (city and state minimum).
What happens: Your application gets flagged as incomplete or the ATS cannot properly file and match your profile.
Fix: Include your full name, professional email, phone number, and city/state at the top of your resume. LinkedIn URL is a bonus. Skip your full street address for privacy.
Mistake 10: Using Special Characters and Symbols
Unicode characters, special bullets, em dashes, smart quotes, and symbols like the copyright sign or trademark symbol can cause encoding issues during parsing.
What happens: Characters get converted to garbled text, question marks, or blank spaces. A bullet like ">" becomes something unpredictable.
Fix: Stick to standard ASCII characters. Use regular hyphens instead of em dashes. Use straight quotes instead of curly quotes. Use standard bullet points.
How to Test Your Formatting
The fastest way to know if your formatting works is to test it:
Fix All These Issues at Once
If your resume has multiple formatting problems, it is often faster to reformat from scratch using an ATS-optimized template rather than fixing issues one by one.
Resume ATS offers professional templates that are pre-tested against every major ATS platform. Upload your content, pick a template, and export a clean, ATS-friendly resume in under a minute. Plans start at $14.99/month, which is 70% less than comparable tools like Jobscan.