Resume Builder

What does 'ATS-friendly' actually mean?

Applicant Tracking Systems (Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Taleo, iCIMS, and roughly 30 others) are the software that receives your uploaded PDF and extracts structured data from it — name, contact info, work history, education — for the recruiter and hiring manager to search and filter. ATS parsers use varying degrees of sophistication; older ones stumble on multi-column layouts, text in images, PDF header/footer content, and non-standard section headings. An ATS-friendly resume uses a single column, plain text (no text rendered inside images or shapes), standard section headings ('Work Experience' not 'Where I have made things'), and avoids tables. Getting these basics right is the difference between your resume being searchable in the ATS and being filed as unreadable.

Should I include a photo on my resume?

Depends on the country and industry. In the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and most of Western Europe, photos on resumes are discouraged or outright avoided because anti-discrimination laws restrict hiring decisions based on visual appearance, and including a photo can trigger legal caution in the recruiting workflow. In continental Europe (Germany, France, Italy, much of Eastern Europe), photos remain standard practice. In Asia (Japan, Korea, China) photos are often expected. Our default template omits the photo for broad international compatibility; add one via the optional Photo section only if you are specifically applying within a region where it is expected.

How should I list my skills?

Context-specific skills relevant to the target job, grouped logically, without made-up proficiency ratings. For a software role, group skills as 'Languages: Python, TypeScript, Go', 'Frameworks: Django, Next.js, FastAPI', 'Infrastructure: AWS, Docker, Terraform'. Do not rate yourself as 'Expert in Python 9/10' or 'Proficient in Git 8/10' — those ratings mean nothing to the reader and often look juvenile. Simply listing skills implies working knowledge; any claimed skill should be defensible under interview questioning. Omit skills you cannot demonstrate; listing them creates embarrassment when a technical interviewer drills in and you cannot explain the basics.

Can I save my resume and come back later?

Not through the tool directly — drafts are not persisted between sessions. Instead, use the Save JSON button to export your current form data as a JSON file to your computer, then the Load JSON button to import it back later. This is an intentional design choice: we do not want confidential resume data (job history, current employer, compensation expectations) stored in third-party infrastructure or browser localStorage where another user on the same machine could see it. The JSON workflow treats your resume data like source code — saved to your drive, version-controlled if you like, under your complete control.

Why one page? Can I go longer?

One page is the norm for under 10 years of experience because recruiters processing 200 applications for a single role will spend maybe 10 seconds per resume on the first pass. A longer resume at junior to mid level is almost always padded — the candidate included content that was not their best material. For senior roles (10+ years experience, VP and above), two pages is acceptable because a senior's story needs the extra space. Academic CVs for research positions can run 10+ pages because publications, grants, and teaching appointments are expected detail. Outside of academic and senior executive contexts, one page is the discipline that forces you to cut weak content and present only your strongest material.