Why an ATS-friendly resume
Most employers send applications through an applicant tracking system (ATS) before anyone reads them. The software pulls the text out of your file and sorts it into fields such as contact details, job titles, dates, skills and education. Recruiters then search those fields for keywords. Fancy templates with two columns, tables, text boxes, icons and photos often confuse it: your job titles end up in your skills, your phone number disappears, or the whole page reads as gibberish.
This builder makes the kind of resume ATS software reads best. It uses one column, standard section headings (Summary, Skills, Experience, Projects, Education, Certifications), contact details in the main text rather than the page header, real bullet points, consistent dates, and fonts every system has. It still looks clean and professional to the person who reads it next.
How to use it
- Contact details: your name, the job title you’re aiming for, email, phone, city and links such as LinkedIn or a portfolio. Leave out your full street address, photo and date of birth: they aren’t needed, and in Canada, the US and the UK photos are discouraged.
- Summary: two or three lines on who you are and what you bring.
- Skills: one line per group, for example
Tools: Excel, SQL, Power BI. Use the job ad’s exact wording. - Experience: add each job, most recent first, with dates. Tick I work here now for your current job. Write 3 to 6 achievements, one per line. Start each with a verb and add a number where you can.
- Projects, Education, Certifications and More sections (Languages, Volunteering, Awards and others) are there if you need them. Empty sections are left out.
- Layout and order: choose a modern (Helvetica/Calibri) or classic (Times) font, Letter or A4 paper, and the order of your sections.
As you type, the preview shows the finished page and the ATS score updates, with the top things to improve. Open Match it to a job ad and paste a job description to see which of its key terms your resume already has and which are missing. The score uses the same checks as our ATS resume checker.
When you’re happy, press Download PDF or Download Word. The PDF has real, selectable text (not a picture), and the Word file uses Word’s own headings and bullet lists, so you can keep editing it in Word or Google Docs.
Keeping your work
Your resume is never uploaded. While the tab is open your draft stays in it, so a reload doesn’t lose anything. Tick Remember my resume on this device to keep it for next time, or press Save a backup file to download your details as a small file you can open later, on any device, with Open a backup file. Start over clears everything.
Worked example
Press Fill in an example to see a complete resume for a data analyst. It has a two-line summary, grouped skills, two jobs with measurable bullet points, a project, two degrees, a certification and a Languages section. It scores in the high 90s. Replace the details with yours, paste the job ad you’re applying for, and add the missing terms you genuinely have.
FAQs
PDF or Word: which should I send? Send what the job portal asks for. If it doesn’t say, both work with modern systems. Some older systems handle Word files more reliably.
Why no photo, colours or columns? They look nice to people but often break ATS reading. A plain, well-written resume gets through more filters.
How long should my resume be? One page for students and early-career roles, two pages for most experienced roles. The preview shows the page count as you go.
Can I write in another language? Yes. The Word file supports every language. The PDF uses standard built-in fonts that cover Western European letters, and it warns you if any characters can’t be shown. Use the Word file for other scripts.
Is it really free? Yes. There’s no sign-up, no watermark and no paywall on downloads.
Last updated 2026-11-07.