Resume formatting mistakes: check whether your file reads clearly
· Keyverta team · OnruTech
A document can look fine and still produce jumbled text when its content is extracted. That deserves a review, but it does not prove that every ATS will reject it. This guide helps you identify observable problems in the file you will actually send; no single check represents every system.
Run a reading test on the final file
Open the PDF, select the content and paste it into a text editor. Check name, contact details, sections, roles and dates. This test uncovers some problems; it does not reproduce every hiring platform.
If you cannot select the text, review how you exported the document. A scan may need text recognition, and a PDF generated directly from the editor is usually a more controllable starting point. Always follow the format the employer requests.
FAULTY EXTRACTION Excel Customer service 2024 English Example Company Education UNDERSTANDABLE ORDER Experience Customer service · Example Company · 2024 Answered questions about opening hours and products. Skills Excel: sorting and filtering lists. Languages English: level stated by the candidate.
A simulated reading problem with a two-column resume. It is not the output of a specific ATS and does not represent all of them.
Simplify when the design gets in the way of reading
Greenhouse lists layouts with columns, tables or details in headers among the possible causes of incomplete imports in its system. That is one provider's documented example, not a universal ban.
If your own test mixes up the content, try a single column and export again. Put phone and email in the body of the document. Replace graphics that represent skills with a concrete description of the tasks you can do.
Next steps
Nine useful checks before sending
Use this list to review the file. A single issue does not by itself explain the outcome of an application.
- The file has a format and size accepted by the portal.
- Name and contact details display and copy correctly.
- Each date is clear and linked to its education or role.
- Sections have understandable headings.
- No sentences are interleaved from different columns.
- Links point to the right resource and work.
- No important text is inside images without an alternative.
- The last page has no cut-off lines or forgotten content.
- The application form keeps the correct details after uploading the resume.
After the format, review the content
A readable file can still be vague. Check that relevant tasks are explained, that language levels are real and that this version matches the posting.
Keyverta extracts the text for its own analysis. Its reading and suggestions are not a certificate of compatibility with every platform. If information is missing from the extracted text, fix the document first: an analysis based on incomplete content will have limits too.
Sources and references
- Greenhouse: unsuccessful resume parse
One provider's documentation; its limits do not describe every ATS.
Written and reviewed by the Keyverta team (OnruTech). The examples are fictional and no recommendation guarantees an outcome in a hiring process. How we work and contact
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