An ATS-friendly resume: the checks that actually matter

Most "ATS optimisation" advice is about keywords. Keywords matter, but they only help once a parser can read your resume in the first place. These checks are the ones that change what a recruiter's software extracts from your file.

1. Export a real text PDF or a DOCX

Scanned PDFs and resumes exported as images contain no text. Open your PDF and try to select a sentence: if you cannot, neither can an ATS.

2. One date format on every role

Parsers compute your experience from date ranges. Use the same format everywhere, such as "Jan 2022 - Present" or "03/2020 - 12/2021". A role without dates often counts as zero years.

3. Standard section headings

"Experience", "Education", "Skills", "Languages". Creative headings like "Where I made an impact" are often not recognised, and the content underneath gets lost.

4. Skills as plain text

List tools and technologies in a "Skills" section, separated by commas. Skill bars, icons and logos are invisible to parsers. Write "PostgreSQL", not a database icon.

5. Name the stack inside each role

"Built payment APIs in Java 17 and Spring Boot" tells a parser which skills you used and when. A separate skills list alone does not.

6. Quantify what you can verify

"Cut settlement delay by 35%" or "served 1.2M monthly transactions" is stronger than "improved performance". Only use numbers you could explain in an interview.

7. Avoid tables and multiple columns for core content

Two-column layouts are often read across the columns, mixing your job titles with your skills. Keep the main content in a single column.

What JobWise checks

When you upload a resume, JobWise runs these checks and shows which ones fail, with the fix for each. It never adds skills or experience you do not have: it only reorganises and rephrases what is already there.