Free ATS Resume Templates
Three .docx templates that parse cleanly in Workday, Greenhouse, Taleo, and every major tracking system. Open them in Word or Google Docs. No sign-up, no watermark.
ATS Resume Template (US)
One-page, reverse-chronological resume on US Letter. Professional summary, skills section, and achievement-bullet prompts with examples.
US Letter 路 .docx
Download freeATS CV Template (UK)
A4 CV with personal profile and key skills sections, following UK conventions: no photo, no date of birth, no full address.
A4 路 .docx
Download freeGraduate / Entry-Level Template
Education and projects first, for applicants with little work history. Prompts show how to turn coursework and side projects into keyword-matched bullets.
US Letter 路 .docx
Download freeWhy these templates pass ATS screening
Applicant tracking systems fail resumes for predictable, mechanical reasons. Every choice in these templates removes one of them:
- Single column. Parsers read left to right; multi-column layouts interleave unrelated content and scramble your work history.
- Standard headings. Work Experience, Education, Skills: the exact section names parsers map to their database fields.
- Contact details in the body, not the header. Some parsers skip document headers and footers entirely.
- No tables, text boxes, graphics, or skill bars. Anything that is not text is invisible to the parser.
- Consistent date formats that the experience-timeline calculations in some systems can read.
The full reasoning is in our guide to the ATS-friendly resume format.
How to use the templates
- Download the version that fits your situation. For Google Docs: upload the .docx to Drive and open it (File, Open, Upload). It converts cleanly.
- Replace every [bracketed prompt] with your own content. The prompts tell you what recruiters and parsers expect in each section, with examples.
- Mirror the job description. Pull the exact skills and terms from the posting you are targeting into your skills section and bullets. Our keyword guides by role list the standard terms for your field.
- Test before you apply. Run your finished resume through the free ATS checker against the actual job description. The template guarantees the parse; the checker verifies the content.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a resume template ATS-friendly?
A single-column layout, standard section headings (Work Experience, Education, Skills), a common font, consistent date formats, and no tables, text boxes, images, or content in the document header. These templates follow every one of those rules, which is why they parse cleanly.
Do the templates work in Google Docs?
Yes. Upload the .docx to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs (File, Open, Upload). All formatting in these templates uses features Google Docs supports, so nothing breaks in the conversion. Word, LibreOffice, and Apple Pages open them natively.
Are the templates really free?
Yes. No sign-up, no email, no watermark, no premium version. They are the same layout rules our checker recommends, packaged as a starting point.
Will an ATS template alone get my resume through screening?
No, and anyone who says otherwise is selling something. The template solves parsing, which is half the problem. The other half is content: whether your text contains the terms recruiters search for, which changes with every job description. Fill the template in, then run it through the free checker against the actual posting.
Should I submit my final version as .docx or PDF?
Follow the job posting's instructions first. If no format is specified, both are safe with modern systems as long as the document is text-based. Keep the layout simple either way; it is the layout, not the file type, that breaks parsing.
Filled in your template?
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