The difference between a resume that gets callbacks and one that disappears into the ATS void often comes down to two things: formatting and language. Not your qualifications. Not your experience level. How you present what you have.
Formatting is a survival requirement
Before a recruiter sees your resume, the applicant tracking system tries to parse it. The ATS reads your document, extracts text, and drops it into structured fields: name, contact info, work history, skills. If your formatting confuses the parser, the extracted version is garbled. The recruiter sees a mess, or worse, sees an incomplete profile because the system couldn't find your work experience buried in a text box.
This isn't about making your resume boring. It's about making it readable by both machines and humans. A clean, well-structured resume is also easier for a recruiter to scan during that initial 7-second review.
What works
Single-column layout. ATS parsers read left to right, top to bottom. Two-column resumes split information in ways that confuse the reading order. Your name might end up next to a random skill instead of your contact info.
Standard section headings. "Work Experience" not "My Professional Journey." "Education" not "Academic Credentials." "Skills" not "What I Bring to the Table." ATS platforms look for standard labels to categorize content. Creative alternatives get filed under "other" or ignored entirely.
Consistent date formatting. "Jan 2020 - Mar 2023" or "01/2020 - 03/2023" or "January 2020 - March 2023." Pick one format and use it throughout. Mixed formats make the ATS guess, and it guesses wrong often enough to matter.
Simple bullet points. Round dots or hyphens. Not checkmarks, arrows, stars, or custom symbols. Many ATS platforms strip special characters, leaving your carefully formatted list looking like a wall of text.
What breaks things
Headers and footers. Most ATS platforms ignore header and footer content entirely. If your name and contact information live in the header, some systems won't capture them at all. Put everything in the main body of the document.
Tables. They look organized on screen, but ATS parsers read table cells in unpredictable order. Your skills section formatted as a neat 3x4 table might get read as a random string of words.
Images, logos, and graphics. Invisible to ATS. If your section heading is an image (even one that looks like text), the system skips it. Same for your photo, company logos you've embedded, or decorative elements.
Saved as PDF with scanned content. If your PDF was created by scanning a printed page (rather than saving a Word document as PDF), the text may not be extractable. Always create your PDF from a digital document, not a scan.
The language problem most resumes share
Resume language has become its own dialect, and most of it is empty. "Results-oriented professional with a proven track record of driving strategic initiatives" sounds professional. It says nothing. Every applicant claims the same adjectives. After 200 resumes, these phrases become invisible.
The fix is specificity. Replace adjectives with evidence. Instead of "experienced project manager," write "project manager, 8 years, delivered 14 software launches on time and within budget." Instead of "strong communication skills," write "presented quarterly results to a 12-person board of directors."
Phrases to remove from your resume today
"Responsible for." This phrase turns every bullet point into a job description. You weren't responsible for increasing sales. You increased sales (or you didn't, and this bullet shouldn't exist).
"Successfully." Every accomplishment on your resume is presumably successful. The word adds nothing. "Successfully managed" is just "managed" with padding.
"Various" or "multiple." Be specific. "Managed various projects" tells a recruiter nothing. "Managed 12 concurrent client projects across three verticals" tells them a lot.
"Assisted with" or "helped to." If you were involved enough to put it on your resume, describe your actual contribution. "Assisted with the company rebrand" could mean you approved fonts or you led the creative direction. Be clear about your role.
The professional summary, revisited
A professional summary at the top of your resume should be two to three sentences. Not a paragraph-long mission statement. Not a list of soft skills. Two sentences that answer: who are you professionally, and what's the most impressive thing you've done?
"Marketing director with 10 years in B2B SaaS. Led demand generation at [Company] that drove $8M in pipeline revenue over two fiscal years." A recruiter reading that knows exactly what you do and has a number to anchor their impression.
If you're re-entering the workforce: "Operations manager with 6 years pre-pause experience in healthcare logistics. Recently completed PMP certification and freelance consulting engagements in supply chain optimization." This addresses the gap, signals current activity, and positions you for your target role in two sentences.
Take five minutes right now. Open your resume. Delete every instance of "responsible for," "successfully," and "various." Replace each one with a specific verb and a number. You'll be surprised how much sharper those bullets sound.