An ATS resume template that parsers can actually read
The prettiest template loses if the software can't read it. ATS-safe means structurally boring on purpose: one column, real text, standard fonts, standard headers. Here's what that looks like — and why.
What makes a template ATS-safe
- Single column — multi-column layouts get read in the wrong order or skipped entirely
- No tables or text boxes — many parsers flatten or drop their contents
- No photos and no icons in the content flow — they add noise, and in some markets bias problems too
- Standard fonts only: Arial, Calibri, Georgia, Times New Roman, Helvetica — decorative fonts can break text extraction
- Body text 10–12pt, headings 14–16pt
- Standard section headers — “Experience”, not “My journey”
- Contact details in the document body, never in the Word header or footer — parsers miss header content roughly a quarter of the time
The three templates
justfreecv ships three looks — Classic (underlined headings), Modern (accent-colored headings), and Compact (tighter spacing for more content per page). All three share the same ATS-safe skeleton: single column, real selectable text, standard headers. The choice is purely visual; the parse is identical.
Why we don't offer a two-column “creative” template
Because it would be a trap. Two-column resumes routinely fail parsing, and the people the design impresses — designers, recruiters at portfolio-driven companies — are exactly the people who will see your portfolio anyway. For everyone else, the ATS sees your resume before a human does.
Fonts, sizes, spacing
Templates export with your choice of the five standard fonts, body size 10–12pt, and headings at 14–16pt. The PDF is text-based (never rasterized), and the DOCX uses real Word heading and list styles — so a human, a parser, and Word itself all see the same structure.