PDF export
A resume PDF an ATS can actually read.
Your resume is typeset from text, not screenshotted from a web page — one column, standard headings, real characters. Then we read the PDF back the way a parser does, before you send it anywhere.
Maya OkaforProduct Managermaya.okafor@example.com · (415) 555-0187 · San Francisco, CA · linkedin.com/in/mayaokaforSUMMARYProduct manager with seven years in B2B software. I like turning messy customer problems into shipped, measurableproduct, and I work closely with design and engineering from discovery to launch.EXPERIENCETallyhouse Apr 2022 – PresentProduct Manager San Francisco, CA• Launched card payments on invoices with Stripe, moving $210M a year through the product within 12 months.• Designed the A/B testing programme for the pay page; the winning checkout raised paid-on-time invoices by 9%.• Wrote the SQL behind our late-payment analysis, which became the brief for automated reminders.• Own the product roadmap for invoicing, used by 14,000 small businesses.• Shipped recurring invoices, which now account for 38% of invoice volume.• Run weekly customer interviews and turn what we hear into specs with design and engineering.Brightpath Jun 2019 – Mar 2022Associate Product Manager Oakland, CA• Ran go-to-market for the self-serve trial with marketing and sales, from launch brief to enablement.• Brought sales, support and finance onto one quarterly plan, managing stakeholders through a pricing change withno churn spike.• Responsible for the onboarding flow and its help content.• Launched a self-serve trial that grew qualified sign-ups by 22% in two quarters.Brightpath Aug 2017 – May 2019Business Analyst Oakland, CA• Built the weekly revenue dashboard leadership used to plan hiring.SKILLSProduct: Product roadmap, Customer interviews, Jira, FigmaData: SQL, Amplitude, ExcelEDUCATIONUniversity of California, Davis 2013 – 2017B.A. Economics
Checked on every export
8 parse checks, with their weights.
The sample above passes all 8 — 100/100. Yours is checked the same way each time you export.
- Extractable text25 ptsThe PDF contains real text, not a picture of text. A scanned or image-only resume reads as a blank page.
- Reading order25 ptsText comes out of the PDF in the order it reads on the page. Columns and text boxes are the usual reason it does not.
- Section headings15 ptsEvery heading survives extraction and is one an ATS recognises — "Experience", not "Where I’ve been".
- Contact details15 ptsEmail, phone and links can be found in the extracted text, not locked in a header graphic.
- Dates8 ptsEvery date parses, and no role ends before it starts or starts in the future.
- Glyphs7 ptsNo icon fonts, private-use characters or letter-spacing tricks that extract as junk.
- Single column3 ptsA template that claims to be one column extracts as one column.
- File size2 ptsSmall enough for any upload form.
What breaks resumes
Six reasons a resume reads as blank — and what we do instead.
Two-column layouts
Parsers often read straight across both columns, so your skills interleave with your job history.
Every template is one column, and the export is tested to read in order.
Text in images or text boxes
A name or contact block drawn as a graphic simply is not there for the parser.
Everything on the page is real text, including your name and contact details.
Icon fonts and symbols
Phone and email icons from icon fonts extract as private-use junk characters.
No icon fonts. Contact details are written out, separated by plain dots.
Creative section names
"Where I’ve made an impact" is not a heading any parser maps to Experience.
Headings an ATS recognises, checked on every export.
Headers and footers
Many parsers skip the page header, which is where some templates put the contact block.
Contact details sit in the body of the first page.
Scanned or flattened PDFs
A PDF that is a picture of a page has no text for anything to read.
Typeset from your text, so every character is extractable.
Questions
About PDF export.
Is PDF or Word better for an ATS?
A PDF with real, extractable text in a single column is read reliably by modern applicant tracking systems, and it looks the same on every screen. The problems people blame on PDF come from how a PDF was made — columns, images, icon fonts — not from the format. If a posting explicitly asks for Word, send Word.
How do you test that the PDF parses?
We read the exported PDF back with a text extractor, the same way a parser does, and check what came out: that all the text is there, in reading order, with recognisable headings, parseable contact details and dates, and no junk characters.
Is there a watermark on the free plan?
No. Every template and every export is free and unbranded.
Can I choose A4 or US Letter?
Yes. Pick the page size in the editor; the layout re-flows to fit, and the export follows.
Read next
- TemplateTemplatesThree single-column resume templates, each typeset as real text and parse-tested on export. Switch between them without retyping a word.Read
- GuidePDF or Word: which resume format should you send?When a PDF resume is the right choice, when Word is, how to tell if your PDF will parse, and how to name the file so a recruiter can find it again.Read
- ProductATS scoreA deterministic resume score across parseability, job match and writing quality. Every point lost names the line that lost it and what would win it back.Read
Send a resume that reads the same to software and to people.
Start with the resume you already have. Importing it is free and uses no AI.
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