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How software reads your CV: the complete guide

By Stephen Reed · Published 4 November 2026 · Updated 4 November 2026 · 9 min read

Before a person reads your CV, software often reads it first. Many employers use applicant tracking systems, usually shortened to ATS, to collect applications, pull the text out of each CV, sort it into fields and let recruiters search it. If the software cannot read your file properly, the person at the other end may never see your best material.

This guide explains what is known about how that software works, which layout choices cause problems, how to use keywords honestly, and how to check your own CV. It relies on published guidance from UK careers services and from an employer describing its own system. Where little is published, we say so.

What an applicant tracking system does

An ATS is software that helps an employer handle applications. Prospects, the graduate careers site, says these systems screen CVs for keywords and are used mainly by large-volume recruiters ¹. The same page reports a survey by the Institute of Student Employers which found that nearly a third of employers use AI in their hiring processes ¹.

In general terms, the software does three things:

1. It extracts text from your file.
2. It sorts that text into fields, such as name, contact details, jobs, dates, education and skills.
3. It lets recruiters search and filter the results, often by keywords from the job.

Roche's recruitment team explains the second step clearly: using conventional headings helps "the ATS" sort your information ². If a heading or layout confuses the sorting step, your details can end up in the wrong place, or missing.

Two limits are worth knowing. Different employers use different systems, and few publish how theirs behave. And a person still decides who gets an interview. Reed notes that recruiters spend only seconds on each CV, and suggests checking whether yours passes a seven-second scan ³. So you are writing for two readers at once: software that needs a plain structure, and a human who needs to see your best evidence quickly.

What goes wrong: the layouts to avoid

Roche's resume parsing FAQ is one of the few published lists from an employer of what its software can and cannot handle. Its advice is to avoid ²:

• Tables
• Text boxes
• Headers and footers, because information there "sometimes gets dropped by the ATS completely", so everything should stay in the main body
• Logos, images, graphics and graphs
• Columns, because the software may read across the columns instead of down them
• Functional layouts, which group skills without dates, and can confuse both software and recruiters

Prospects gives the same advice in its own words: to optimise for an ATS, avoid images, logos and graphics ¹. The University of Reading's careers team also warns against cluttered layouts that make key information hard to find, which hurts with people as well as with software ⁴.

Why decorative CV templates are risky

Many popular CV templates use two columns, skill bars, icons and a coloured sidebar. They look striking, but every one of those features is on the list above. If the template uses a table or text box to place the sidebar, software may read the sidebar before, after or in the middle of your main text. Skill bars carry no readable information at all: "Excel: four dots out of five" cannot be searched. If you like a designed look, keep the design in colours and spacing, not in structure.

What to do instead

Use plain, conventional headings

Roche advises using ordinary labels such as "Education", "Work Experience" and "Technical Skills", and avoiding uncommon section headings ². "My Journey" or "Where I've Been" may feel more personal, but the software will not know what they mean. For a full list of the standard sections, see our guide to writing a UK CV.

Keep your contact details in the body

Put your name, email and phone number at the top of the main page, not in a header or footer ². It is an easy fix, and our free CV checker flags it for you.

Choose a safe font and simple bullets

Roche suggests universal fonts such as Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Garamond, Georgia or Cambria, and avoiding fonts that must be downloaded. It recommends standard circle or square bullets, says bold and italics are fine, and says to underline only headings and web addresses, because readers may mistake other underlined text for links ². The National Careers Service recommends a clear font such as Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri in size 11 or bigger ⁵.

Do not rely on colour

Roche notes that the system returns all text in one colour, so no meaning should depend on colour ². A coloured heading is fine. A rule like "green means advanced skills" disappears.

Use a chronological layout

Roche recommends chronological or combination layouts and warns against functional résumés ². List your most recent job first and work backwards.

Do not hide your key words in links

Roche advises against hyperlinking important words such as your job title. If you want a link, paste the full web address or link a word like "portfolio" ².

Choosing a file type: Word or PDF?

Roche's advice is that .docx is the format most accurately read by its software, while PDFs are best at keeping your formatting intact ². Prospects says to check the job advert for the file type the employer wants, such as PDF or .docx ¹. A sensible rule is:

1. Follow the instructions. If the advert says Word or PDF, do that.
2. If it does not say, send a .docx for online application systems, and keep a PDF for sending by email to a person.
3. Never send a scanned image. A PDF made by scanning or photographing paper is a picture of text, not text. Software cannot read it, and neither can a search. Make the PDF from Word or Google Docs instead, using Save As or Export, so the text stays real. (This is our advice, based on how text extraction works rather than a quoted source.)

Name the file sensibly. Prospects suggests something like "Joe-Smith-CV" ¹.

Keywords: how to use them honestly

Recruiters search for terms from the job. Roche's advice is to include hard skills, such as software, methods, languages and measurable abilities, that appear repeatedly in the posting, especially near the top of the requirements, and notes that the job title itself may be a keyword. In fields like nursing and teaching it advises including required qualifications and registrations. It also stresses putting keywords in context by showing how you used each skill, because people judge the strength of that experience ². Prospects agrees: tailor your CV, use keywords from the job description, and name your qualifications precisely ¹.

In practice:

1. Read the advert and pick out repeated terms. Our checker can do this for you: paste the advert in and see which key terms your CV is missing.
2. Use their words where they are true. If you did "stock control" and the advert says "stock control", write that.
3. Show the skill in a result. "Managed stock control for a 4,000-line warehouse, cutting write-offs by 18%" works for software and for people.
4. Check the spelling. Roche warns that a misspelled keyword may stop your CV matching ².
5. Do not stuff. Repeating a word, or adding invisible white text, can read as manipulation by a person, and none of our sources recommends it. Only claim skills you have.

Myths and what we can honestly say

You may see bold claims online about how many CVs software rejects, or promises to "beat the ATS". We have not found a published UK source for any such figure, so we do not use one. What the published guidance does support is simpler: avoid features that scramble text, use standard headings and tailor your wording to the job. Nobody, including us, can promise that any change will get you an interview. A CV score is a guide to how readable your CV is, not a prediction of what any employer's system will do.

How to test your own CV

The quick test

Open your CV, select all the text, copy it and paste it into a plain text editor such as Notepad. If the order looks wrong, with sections mixed together or details missing, software may see it the same way. Check that your name, email and phone number are all there, and that your jobs and dates are in the right order.

Use our checker

Our free CV checker shows a "what software sees" view: your CV as plain text, with a checklist of what it could find (name, contact details, sections, layout) and the lines behind any issue highlighted. It runs in your browser, so your CV is not uploaded. See how we score for the sources behind each check.

A last check by eye

Look at the CV for a seven-second scan ³. Can you see your name, your latest job title and one or two strong results at a glance? If not, fix that before anything else.

A software-friendly CV checklist

• Single column, with no tables, text boxes or sidebars
• Name and contact details in the main body, not the header or footer
• Standard headings: Profile, Work Experience, Education, Skills
• Plain font, standard bullets, no skill bars or icons
• Dates in a consistent format, most recent first
• Key terms from the advert used truthfully, in context
• Saved as the file type the employer asks for, from Word or Google Docs, not a scan
• Copied into Notepad and still in the right order

Frequently asked questions

What is an ATS?

An applicant tracking system is software employers use to collect applications, read CVs and let recruiters search them. Prospects says they screen CVs for keywords and are used mainly by large-volume recruiters ¹.

Should I use a two-column CV template?

It is safest not to. Roche advises avoiding columns, because the software may read across them instead of down ².

Is a PDF or a Word file better for software?

Roche says .docx is the most accurately read by its systems, while PDFs keep your formatting. Follow the employer's instructions, and never send a scanned image ^{1 2}.

Can I put my contact details in the header?

It is better not to. Roche warns that header and footer content sometimes gets dropped by its software completely, so keep all your text in the main body ².

Do I need keywords from the job advert?

Use the advert's important terms where they are true, in context. Roche and Prospects both advise this ^{1 2}.

Will an ATS reject my CV automatically?

No source we found backs a specific rejection figure. What is supported is that formatting problems can make your details harder to read, and that tailoring helps. We cannot say how any individual employer's system works.

Check what software sees in your CV

Run your CV through the free checker to see the plain-text view, the score for readability, structure and content, and the exact lines to fix.

Sources

1. Prospects (Jisc), How to write a CV (sections on ATS and AI in recruitment, and on layout and formatting)
2. Roche Careers, Resume parsing FAQ (an employer's guidance on its own systems; some points are written for US résumés)
3. Reed, How long should a CV be?
4. University of Reading Careers, The top 10 CV mistakes
5. National Careers Service, CV sections