12 Formatting Mistakes That Break ATS Parsing

You can have the right experience and still get filtered out because the software could not read your CV. Getting your ATS resume format right is not about making your document ugly — it is about making sure an ATS friendly CV parser can extract your work history, skills, and education without mangling them. Here are the twelve formatting mistakes we see most often, and what to do instead.

1. Multi-column layouts

Designers love columns. Parsers hate them. When a CV has a narrow sidebar for contact details and skills beside a wider experience column, many systems read across the page rather than down each column. Your email ends up glued to a job title from 2019.

Fix: Use a single column. Stack contact details, summary, experience, education, and skills vertically.

2. Tables for layout

Tables are a common trick to align dates and job titles. Unfortunately, CV columns tables ATS parsers often flatten tables into a jumble of cells that lose their relationship. Dates drift away from the roles they belong to.

Fix: Use simple paragraphs and line breaks. Put the date on the same line as the job title using tabs or consistent spacing — not a hidden table grid.

3. Text inside images

Logos, headshots with embedded text, infographic-style skill charts, and certificate badges baked into graphics are invisible to most parsers. If your key achievements live in an image, they do not exist as far as the ATS is concerned.

Fix: Keep all substantive content as selectable text.

4. Headers and footers

Putting your phone number, LinkedIn URL, or page numbers in the header/footer seems tidy. Many parsers skip these regions completely. Recruiters searching for your name may not find you if it only appears in a footer on page two.

Fix: Repeat essential contact information in the document body.

5. Fancy or non-standard fonts

Script fonts, ultra-light weights, and custom typefaces can render as blank spaces or odd characters when extracted. Stick to Arial, Calibri, Georgia, Garamond, or Helvetica.

6. Non-standard section headings

"Where I have been" instead of "Experience", "My toolkit" instead of "Skills" — creative headings confuse parsers trained on conventional labels. Your project section may never map to the right field.

Fix: Use standard headings: Professional Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications.

7. Text boxes and floating elements

Word and Google Docs text boxes break reading order. Content inside a box may appear at the end of the extracted text or disappear entirely.

8. Scanned PDFs

A PDF that is really a photograph of your CV has no text layer. The ATS sees a blank page unless it runs OCR — and OCR is error-prone on small fonts and columns.

Fix: Export a digital PDF from Word, Google Docs, or LaTeX. See our PDF or Word for ATS guide for detail.

9. Hyperlinks that replace plain text

A LinkedIn URL displayed as "LinkedIn" with a hyperlink sometimes extracts as just the word "LinkedIn" with no address. Recruiters lose the link.

Fix: Show the full URL in plain text, or list it in a dedicated line.

10. Excessive special characters and bullets

Custom bullet icons, arrows, and decorative dividers may not survive extraction. Standard round bullets or hyphens are safest.

11. Critical info only on page two

If your most relevant role is buried on page two and page one is mostly design elements, parsers and humans alike may never see it. Front-load relevance.

12. "ATS-optimised" templates that are not

Templates marketed as resume formatting for ATS often still use tables, columns, and icon fonts. Judge the structure, not the marketing copy.

Before and after: a layout fix

Before: Two-column CV with skills in a left sidebar table, contact info in the footer, and "Career journey" as the experience heading.

After: Single-column CV with name and contact at the top, "Experience" heading, plain-text skill list after education, standard bullets throughout.

Same candidate, same roles — but the second version parses cleanly and ranks correctly on keyword searches.

How formatting mistakes show up by role

The mistakes are universal, but the consequences differ. A software engineer who lists twelve languages in an icon grid may never match searches for "TypeScript" or "Kubernetes". A nurse whose NMC pin sits inside a header graphic may look unregistered. A marketing manager whose campaign metrics live in a Canva infographic loses every ROI figure the hiring manager screens for.

In each case the fix is the same: pull credentials, tools, and outcomes into plain-text bullets and a conventional skills list. Design can live on your portfolio site; your application document should prioritise extraction over aesthetics.

Your ATS-safe formatting checklist

• Single column, standard headings
• No tables, text boxes, or images for content
• Contact details in the body, not header/footer
• Text-based PDF or DOCX export
• Standard fonts and bullet points
• Full URLs written out
• Most relevant experience on page one

Print this list and run through it before every application batch. Better still, upload your CV to an analyser that simulates extraction — you will catch issues your eyes skip because you already know what the CV is supposed to say. Parsers do not have that context; they only see what they can read.

For the full strategy beyond formatting, read how to beat applicant tracking systems and our explainer on how ATS software reads your CV. Then run your CV through Cvaluate's free analysis to see which parsing issues apply to your document specifically.