Free ATS-friendly resume templates
Six single-column designs in Word and PDF, each filled with a realistic example to replace with your own. No sign-up, no watermark.
Every file passes all 8 checks in our ATS checker, in both formats. See the text it reads.
Clarity
Clean sans-serif, calm accent
Classic
Traditional serif, centred header
Modern
Dates in a side column, accent bars
Minimal
No rules, plenty of air
Executive
Serif name, banded headings
Compact
Dense, fits the most on a page
What an ATS reads from Clarity
We render the real file, pull its text out the way our free ATS checker does, and run the same checks. This is the result, not a claim.
8 of 8 checks passed · 1 page
A parser can read the text
Found 1,172 characters of real text.
No unreadable symbols
Every character came out cleanly.
Email address
Found alex.morgan@example.com.
Phone number
Found.
Your name comes first
The parser reads "Alex Morgan" first.
Standard section headings
Found Experience, Education, Skills and Summary.
Dates on your roles
Found 5 dates.
Length
1 page, 225 words.
The text a parser gets, in the order it gets it
Alex Morgan Senior Data Analyst Austin, TX alex.morgan@example.com +1 512 555 0142 linkedin.com/in/your-name SUMMARY Data analyst with six years in retail and logistics, turning messy operational data into forecasts and dashboards that managers use every week. Strongest in SQL, Python and explaining results to people who don't work with data. EXPERIENCE Senior Data Analyst Mar 2022 – Present Acme Retail Group · Austin, TX • Built a weekly demand forecast in Python and SQL that cut stockouts across 140 stores by 18% • Replaced 30 manual Excel reports with one Tableau dashboard used by 60 store managers • Designed pricing tests on 12 product lines; the two changes rolled out added $1.2M in yearly margin • Mentor two junior analysts and run a monthly SQL clinic for the merchandising team Data Analyst Jun 2019 – Feb 2022 Globex Logistics · Dallas, TX • Automated route-cost reporting with SQL and Airflow, saving the finance team 15 hours a week • Found a carrier billing error worth $340K by reconciling 18 months of invoices, and led its recovery • Built the first customer churn model, which the account team used to choose which 200 renewals to work first EDUCATION B.S., Economics Aug 2015 – May 2019 State University SKILLS SQL, Python (pandas), Tableau, Excel, dbt, Airflow, A/B testing, Forecasting, Stakeholder communication CERTIFICATIONS Tableau Desktop Specialist 2021 Tableau
What makes a resume ATS-friendly
An applicant tracking system turns your file into plain text, then a recruiter searches that text. Anything that scrambles the text or hides it is the real risk. Every template here follows these rules.
- One column, in reading order
- Many parsers read straight across the page. Two columns, sidebars and tables can come out interleaved, with a job title from one column next to a skill from the other.
- Real text, not pictures of text
- Text inside images, text boxes and some design-app exports never reaches the parser. If you can't select it with your cursor, a parser probably can't read it.
- Standard section headings
- Experience, Education and Skills. Parsers and recruiters look for these labels; "My journey" or "What I bring" leaves them guessing.
- Contact details in the body
- Put your name, email and phone at the top of the page itself. Some parsers skip headers and footers.
- Words instead of icons
- Phone, email and LinkedIn icons often come out as gibberish characters. Plain text never does.
- A date on every role
- Use one format throughout, like "Mar 2022 – Present". Parsers use dates to work out how long you spent where.
- PDF or Word, whichever they ask for
- A PDF exported from Word or Google Docs keeps its text. A scanned page or a photo of your resume doesn't.
- The posting's words, where they're true
- Recruiters search for skills by name. Use the posting's terms for things you've actually done, and leave out the rest.
Using a template in Google Docs
- 1Choose a template above and download the Word file.
- 2In Google Drive, choose New, then File upload, and pick the file.
- 3Open it, then choose Open with Google Docs at the top of the preview.
- 4Replace the example text with your own. Keep the headings as they are.
- 5When you're done, choose File, then Download, then PDF document.
For freshers and graduates
With little work experience, put education and projects first, because that's where your evidence is. Give each project the tools you used and one result you can measure: users, time saved, accuracy. Internships, part-time jobs and volunteering still go under Experience.
Keep it to one page. Choose Graduate or fresher above to see every template filled with an early-career example in that order.
Already have a resume? Check it
Upload a PDF or Word file and see the text an ATS reads from it, with what to fix. Nothing is stored.
Check my resumeRather edit online? Use the builder
The same 6 templates, filled from your current resume, with colours, fonts and spacing to change. Free to download.
Build my resumeQuestions
What is an ATS-friendly resume?+
A resume that applicant tracking software can turn into clean, searchable text: one column in reading order, real text rather than images, standard section headings and a date on every role. Recruiters search that text, so what matters is that your skills and experience come through intact.
Are these templates really free?+
Yes. Download the Word or PDF files without an account. There's no watermark and nothing to unlock.
Can I use them in Google Docs?+
Yes. Download the Word file, upload it to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs. The templates use Calibri, Arial or Georgia, which Google Docs has, so the layout should hold. When you're done, use File, then Download, then PDF.
Should I send a PDF or a Word file?+
Whatever the posting asks for. If it doesn't say, a PDF exported from Word or Google Docs keeps your layout, and most modern systems read its text fine; some older systems and recruiters prefer Word. Both files here pass the same checks.
Are two-column resumes ATS-friendly?+
Often not. Many parsers read straight across the page, so two columns can come out interleaved. Some newer parsers handle columns, but you can't know which one an employer uses, so a single column is the safe choice.
Will an ATS reject my resume automatically?+
Rarely on formatting alone. The often-quoted "75% of resumes are rejected by ATS" traces back to a 2012 sales pitch with no study behind it. Most systems store applications for a recruiter to search; the real risk is your skills not showing up in that search.
How do I check if my resume is ATS-friendly?+
Upload it to the free ATS resume checker. It shows the text a parser pulls out of your file and flags missing headings, unreadable symbols and contact details it can't find. Nothing is stored.
Should I change my resume for every job?+
For the jobs worth the effort, yes: lead with the experience that matches and use the posting's terms where they honestly describe what you've done. Jobworthy does this for you, and blocks any line it can't trace back to your real experience.
Your resume is ready. Is the job?
A clean resume only helps if the job is real and you'd get it. Jobworthy checks each posting first: your fit, your deal-breakers and ghost-job signals. Then it tailors your resume to the ones worth it, without inventing anything.