Resume templates
Six ATS friendly resume templates, and how to choose
Every template here exports selectable vector text in a single column reading order, so the choice is about what a human sees rather than whether a machine can read it. What follows is when each one helps and when it gets in the way.
In short
- Six templates. Switching between them never asks you to retype anything.
- All six export a single column reading order in the text layer, which is what a parser follows regardless of how the page looks.
- Minimal is the safest choice when you do not know what system the employer runs.
- Technical and Academic use the employer first format that software and research CVs conventionally use.
- Colours, typeface, text size, line height, margins and spacing are adjustable on every template.
- Using and previewing the templates is free. Payment only applies to downloading the file.
The short version
If you are applying through a portal and do not know what runs behind it, use Minimal. If you are in software or IT, use Technical. If you are a recent graduate, use Academic. If your history will not fit on one page, try Compact before you start cutting content.
The rest is taste, and taste is worth less here than most template galleries imply. A layout cannot rescue a bullet that does not say what happened.
Technical template
Employer first, role in italics beneath. The format most software CVs use.
Reach for it when: Software, data, infrastructure and other IT roles, where the reader expects the employer on the first line and the title beneath it. Handles long tool lists without the page turning into a wall.
Pick something else when: Careers where the title carries more weight than the employer, such as academia or the public sector.
Academic template
Centred ruled headings, education first. Built for graduates and early-career engineers.
Reach for it when: Graduates, researchers and early-career engineers, where education outranks a short work history. Centred ruled headings suit a document that will be read closely rather than skimmed.
Pick something else when: A mid-career application, where leading with a degree from eight years ago pushes the relevant work down the page.
Minimal template
One clean column. The safest choice for applicant tracking systems.
Reach for it when: Anything, and the default recommendation when the employer or the tracking system is unknown. One clean column, standard headings, nothing decorative for a parser to trip over.
Pick something else when: Nothing much. It is plain by design, which reads as unremarkable only if your bullets are.
Modern template
An accent banner with a sidebar for skills, education and contact.
Reach for it when: Roles where some visual confidence helps, and applications sent to a person rather than into a portal. The sidebar keeps skills and contact details together at a glance.
Pick something else when: Portals you suspect are running older parsing software, where a single column is the more cautious bet.
Elegant template
Centred and airy, and it reads beautifully set in Times.
Reach for it when: Senior and client-facing roles, and any application where a serif reads as considered rather than dated. Airy and centred, and it holds up when printed.
Pick something else when: A dense history that needs every line. The air that makes it read well also costs vertical space.
Compact template
A label rail down the left. Fits more on a page without crowding.
Reach for it when: A long history that has to fit one page. The label rail down the left recovers width without shrinking the text to an unreadable size.
Pick something else when: A short history, where the density makes a thin resume look padded.
What actually decides whether a template parses
Four things, and none of them is the template gallery a site puts on its homepage. The text has to be real text rather than an image. The headings have to be ones a parser recognises. The reading order in the file has to match the reading order on the page, which is where multi column designs from graphic design tools come apart. And the characters have to be ones the standard PDF character set contains.
All six templates here satisfy all four, which is why the choice above is about the human reader. The ATS checker scores the parts a template cannot fix for you.
Questions about the templates
Which resume template is best for ATS?
A single column, standard headings, real text rather than an image, and no contact details buried in a graphic. Minimal is built to that description and is the safest of the six, though every template here exports a single column reading order in the text layer, which is the part a parser reads.
Can I switch template after writing my resume?
Yes, at any point, and nothing has to be retyped. Content and layout are kept apart, so switching re-typesets what you have already written. It is worth trying two or three near the end, because a different layout often solves a page that will not fit.
Are the resume templates free?
Using every template, editing your resume in it and previewing the finished PDF are all free, with no account. You pay once only when you want to download the PDF or Word file.
Do these templates work in Word?
The Word export is a genuine .docx that opens and edits in Word, Google Docs and LibreOffice. It follows the same structure as the PDF, though Word applies its own line breaking, so the page break can land differently from the PDF.
Build it now, decide later
The editor opens with no sign-up screen. Write the whole thing, run the ATS check and see the finished PDF before you spend anything.
Open the builder$3 once when you download. No account, no subscription, nothing uploaded.