7 RESUME FORMATTING MISTAKES
THAT GET YOU FILTERED OUT IMMEDIATELY

Most resume advice focuses on what to write. This post is about what to fix — specifically the formatting mistakes that cause ATS software to reject your resume before a human reads a single word. None of these are obvious. They look fine on your screen and silently kill your application every time.

Mistake 1: Using Tables or Columns

Multi-column layouts look sharp. They also completely break most ATS parsers — it reads across both columns horizontally, merging your job title with a date into nonsense. Fix: Use a single-column layout. Simple, clean, parseable.

Mistake 2: Contact Info in a Header Text Box

Word's "Header" feature floats above the page and looks great. ATS software frequently can't parse it — meaning your name, email, and phone don't exist in the system. You've applied anonymously. Fix: Put all contact info in the main body of the document.

Mistake 3: Non-Standard Section Headings

ATS software looks for specific terms: "Experience," "Education," "Skills," "Summary." When you use "My Journey" or "What I Bring," the parser misclassifies or skips the section. Fix: Use standard headings. Boring wins.

Mistake 4: Skills Buried in Paragraphs

A paragraph mentioning Salesforce doesn't get parsed as a skill. The ATS is looking for a dedicated Skills section with a clean list. Fix: Have a Skills section with a comma-separated or bulleted list.

Mistake 5: Graphics, Icons, or Images

Headshots, rating bars, decorative icons — the ATS either ignores them or causes parsing errors. Fix: No images. No graphics. Text only.

Mistake 6: Wrong File Type

Some PDF creation methods produce text that's technically an image — ATS can't parse it at all. Fix: Unless specifically asked for PDF, submit .docx. If using PDF, use "Save as PDF" from Word or Google Docs — not "Print to PDF."

Mistake 7: Fonts That Don't Embed

That downloaded font may not embed properly in the PDF, rendering as something else entirely. Fix: Use standard fonts that embed reliably — Calibri, Garamond, Georgia, or tested Google Fonts.