12 free, customizable resume templates that pass ATS and recruiters

If you’re job hunting and applying to multiple roles, even within the same company, make sure to create one resume for each application.

ATS scores resumes based on how closely your skills, previous job titles, and language match a specific role’s requirements, which means a generic resume often gets filtered out before a human ever sees it.

For recruiters, a tailored resume makes it immediately clear that you’re a strong fit. Even small adjustments, like prioritizing relevant achievements or reframing past roles, can make a big difference.

ATS needs clean, predictable text to correctly identify your skills, job titles, and experience, as anything visually complex increases the risk of misreading or skipping key information. Humans, on the other hand, scan resumes in seconds, especially for roles with numerous applicants. A simple resume format removes obstacles for both of these impatient systems:

• Avoid tables, text boxes, icons, logos, photos, and charts. Even if they look clean, they often break ATS scanning.
• Stick to a one-column layout with clear section breaks and consistent formatting for job titles, company names, and dates throughout the document.
• Use a standard font like Arial, Helvetica, or Times New Roman at 11–12 pt. (or 15–16 px.).
• Keep text left-aligned and avoid full justification, which creates uneven spacing and hurts readability.
• Write in short bullet points (1–2 lines) instead of paragraphs to make key information easy to skim.
• Use easily recognizable section headings like Summary, Skills, Experience, Education, and Certifications. Avoid creative labels like My Journey, What I bring, or Superpowers.
• Place sections in a logical order (Summary → Skills → Experience → Education) to match how recruiters naturally scan resumes.
• Save and submit your resume as a PDF, unless the job posting requests a specific file type.

ATS systems rank resumes based on keyword relevance, and recruiters use those same keywords when skimming. So even if you’re qualified, your resume may get filtered out because it doesn’t use the same language. You can avoid this by pulling keywords from the job post and reusing the exact wording where it truthfully applies. This includes the job title, skills, tools, certifications, and core responsibilities.

Make sure to note how you used those skills in real, measurable achievements, such as managing teams, reducing costs, improving conversion rates, or delivering projects faster. When possible, use both acronyms and full terms to match different ATS parsing rules, such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Your resume should clearly link your experience to the role, which makes it easier to scan and for your most relevant qualifications to stand out, so avoid adding irrelevant roles, skills, or achievements.

If you don’t have enough experience for a specific role or feel like you don’t have much to add to your resume, you can reframe it around skills and impact by focusing on relevant projects, coursework, certifications, tools you’re familiar with, or volunteer work. And always include a cover letter.

Saying what you achieved is far more convincing than just listing keywords or responsibilities, because measurable results turn your work into proof. Here are some practical tips:

• Use numbers whenever possible, such as percentages, growth, time saved, revenue, or volume. Example: “Reduced customer support response time by 30%.”
• Estimate when exact numbers aren’t available, keeping it reasonable. Example: “Saved the team several hours per week by automating routine reports.”
• If your work is hard to quantify, focus on scope, scale, or outcomes instead of metrics. Example: “Coordinated onboarding for 20+ new hires across multiple teams.”
• Compare before and after to show improvements. Example: “Cut error rates from frequent to rare by introducing a QA checklist.”
• Lead with the result, then explain how you achieved it. Example: “Improved customer satisfaction scores by standardizing internal processes.”

Before submitting your resume, do a quick final pass to catch small mistakes or inconsistencies that could hurt your chances with both ATS and recruiters.

Check for spelling and grammar errors, make sure your resume clearly matches the job title and keywords from the posting, and confirm that the same language appears consistently across your summary, skills, and experience. Ensure formatting is uniform (dates, job titles, bullet styles) and that everything is easy to skim at a glance.

Finally, copy-paste your resume into a plain text editor to see how it reads without formatting. If it still makes sense, it’s likely ATS-friendly.