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Does an ATS reject your résumé?
Usually not because of how it looks. An applicant tracking system (ATS) stores your application, pulls the text out of your résumé and lets recruiters search it; the automatic rejections that are documented come from screening questions and the employer's own criteria, such as work authorization or a required license.
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What an ATS actually does
An applicant tracking system is the software employers use to collect and manage applications. The drugmaker Roche explains it plainly in its careers FAQ: parsing allows “the automatic extraction, storage, and analysis of resume data,” and the information “is then able to be categorized, sorted, and searched.”1 In practice, an ATS does four things with your application:
- Stores it. Every application for every job sits in one database the employer can come back to.
- Parses your résumé. It extracts the text and tries to sort it into fields such as your name, contact details, work history and education. Roche notes parsing is also meant to help candidates fill in the application form, and tells them to check that the data landed in the right fields1.
- Lets recruiters search and filter. Recruiters search by keywords, “usually whatever skills, qualifications, experience, or qualities are most important for performing the job.”1
- Runs the screening rules the employer sets. Greenhouse, for example, offers an Auto-Reject rule that “uses custom application questions to screen and reject candidates based on their responses,” for “essential criteria, like certain license or location requirements.”2
That last item is where documented automatic rejection lives: in rules the employer sets, most often knockout questions on the application form and sometimes thresholds such as years of experience or an employment gap, not in how your résumé is designed. It's also a setting the employer chooses. Greenhouse sets these rules up one job post at a time and offers Auto-Reject only on some of its subscription tiers2.
Where the “75% rejected” claim comes from
You've probably read that 75% of résumés are rejected by an ATS before a human ever sees them. We could not find a published study, sample or method behind that number. Even Enhancv, a company that sells résumé tools, says the claim is repeated “usually without a single source or piece of data to back it up.”3 A number with no method behind it is a slogan, not evidence.
What the evidence shows
Two sources are worth knowing. Neither is perfect, and they measure different things.
A small recruiter study
In September and October 2025, Enhancv interviewed 25 U.S. recruiters whose organizations used more than 10 different ATS platforms. 23 of them (92%) said their systems do not auto-reject résumés for formatting, content or design. Only 2 of the 25 said their ATS automatically rejects applicants for reasons other than knockout questions3. It's a vendor-run study of 25 people, so read it as a check on the myth, not a measurement of the market.
A large employer survey
Harvard Business School and Accenture's Hidden Workers report, published in September 2021, surveyed 2,275 executives in the U.S., U.K. and Germany4. 88% of employers agreed that qualified high-skills candidates are “vetted out of the process because they do not match the exact criteria established by the job description,” and the figure rose to 94% for middle-skills workers4. The report traces this to rigid rules, such as using a college degree as a stand-in for skills or treating a gap in full-time employment as disqualifying.
Put together, automated screening is real, but it screens on criteria such as credentials, years of experience, location and work authorization. You influence those by applying to roles you qualify for and answering screening questions accurately, not by redesigning your résumé.
Parsing problems are real, just narrower
Greenhouse's help center gives three reasons a résumé may not import correctly: it “doesn't have enough information, is a non-standard file type, or it includes characters that aren't recognized by our text parsing technology.”5 A bad parse doesn't have to reject you to hurt you. If your contact details or job history come out garbled, the profile a recruiter searches and reads is wrong.
What actually breaks parsing
Some problems are documented by the companies that build ATS software. Others are conventions: advice from employers and vendors because some parsers handle them badly, without a claim that every system does. The table shows which is which.
| Problem | What can happen | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| A scanned or photographed résumé, or a PDF that is an image | There is no text for the parser to read | Documented. Recruiterflow, which makes recruiting software, says its parser can't read a “PDF that's a scanned image without a text layer.”6 Some parsers add text recognition7, but you can't count on it. |
| Unusual characters, icons and symbol fonts | The résumé may not import correctly | Documented. Greenhouse lists characters “that aren't recognized by our text parsing technology” as a cause of failed imports5. |
| An unsupported file type | The file doesn't import | Documented. Greenhouse accepts .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf and .txt files8. |
| A password-protected file | The file can't be parsed | Documented. Recruiterflow says password-protected files can't be parsed6. |
| Contact details only in the header or footer | Your name, email or phone can be dropped | Employer guidance. Roche says header and footer information “sometimes gets dropped by the ATS completely.”1 Greenhouse's import help doesn't mention it. |
| Two or more columns | Lines from side-by-side columns get read across as one | Employer guidance. Roche says some systems “will read columns straight across.”1 |
| Tables, text boxes, logos and graphics | Content can come out of order or go missing | Employer guidance. Roche recommends avoiding them1. |
| Unusual section headings | Sections get sorted into the wrong fields | Employer guidance. Roche suggests conventional labels like “Education,” “Work Experience” and “Technical Skills.”1 |
| Links on important words | The system may keep only the URL and drop the words | Employer guidance. Roche suggests pasting the URL itself instead1. |
A quick test you can run yourself: open your PDF, select all the text and paste it into a plain-text editor. If nothing selects, the page is an image. If the text pastes in a scrambled order, a parser may read it that way too.
A checklist of fixes
Use a text-based file
Export your résumé from a word processor instead of scanning or photographing it, and confirm you can select the text.
Put contact details in the body
Start the page with your name, email, phone, city and state, and profile link as plain text, not in the header or footer.
Keep the main content in one column
A single column reads in the same order for people and parsers. If you use a sidebar, keep anything a recruiter needs to find out of it.
Use plain section headings
“Work Experience,” “Education” and “Skills” are easy for a parser to sort. Creative labels are not.
Keep symbols simple
Use standard round or square bullets, and write “Email” and “Phone” as words instead of icons.
Keep key details out of tables and text boxes
Job titles, employers and dates belong in ordinary lines of text.
Write links out
Paste the full URL for your portfolio or profile rather than hiding it behind a word1.
Check spelling and dates
Parsers look for keyword matches, and Roche warns that misspellings “could immediately disqualify your resume.”1 Write dates the same way throughout.
Answer screening questions accurately
These are where most documented automatic rejections happen2, so read each one carefully.
PDF or Word?
Both are widely accepted. Greenhouse takes .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf and .txt files8. Advice differs on which parses best. Roche's careers FAQ says PDFs are “best at keeping your format intact overall,” but “the .docx format is the most accurately parsed by ATSs.”1 That's one employer's guidance about the systems it sees, not a universal rule.
A practical approach: if the employer asks for a format, use it. If not, either works as long as the file is text-based and simply laid out. When you're unsure, upload the .docx.
Keywords: match the job, don't game it
Because recruiters search their ATS by keyword, use the posting's own words for things you have actually done. Roche suggests looking for the hard skills that come up more than once in a posting and near the top of the requirements, and notes that the most important keyword could be the job title itself1. If a posting asks for “financial modeling” and you've done it, say “financial modeling,” not just “built forecasts.”
Don't stuff keywords, and don't hide text. Some candidates paste the job description in white text or add instructions aimed at AI screeners: in Greenhouse's 2025 survey, 41% of 1,200 U.S. job seekers admitted to using “prompt injections, hidden text designed to bypass AI filters.”9 Hidden text doesn't stay hidden. Roche notes that an ATS “will return all text in the same color,”1 so white text can show up in the parsed version a recruiter reads, and a recruiter who spots it has reason to doubt the rest of your résumé.
Choose your résumé file in the free ATS Résumé Checker to see the text a parser extracts, what it misses, and how to fix it. It runs in your browser; your file is never uploaded.
See what an ATS reads from your résuméFrequently asked questions
Do applicant tracking systems automatically reject résumés?
They can, but the documented cases come from rules the employer sets, mostly answers to screening questions. Greenhouse's Auto-Reject rule, for example, screens on responses to application questions such as license or location requirements2. In a small vendor-run study, 23 of 25 recruiters said their systems don't auto-reject for formatting, content or design3.
Is it true that 75% of résumés are rejected by an ATS?
We could not find a study, sample or method behind that figure, and even Enhancv, a résumé-software company, notes it usually circulates without a source3. Treat it as a myth until someone publishes the data.
Should I send my résumé as a PDF or a Word document?
Use whatever the employer asks for. Otherwise either is usually fine if the file is text-based and simply laid out. Roche's careers FAQ says .docx is the format ATSs parse most accurately1, so upload the .docx when you're unsure.
Can an ATS read a two-column résumé?
Some can, and some read columns straight across, mixing lines from both sides1. A single column for your main content avoids the problem. You can test your file by pasting its text into a plain-text editor and checking the order.
Does a designed résumé template hurt my chances?
In the recruiter study above, 23 of 25 recruiters said their systems don't auto-reject for design3. But tables, text boxes, icons and header-only contact details can scramble what a parser extracts1. Keep the information a recruiter searches for in plain text.
What is a knockout question?
It's an eligibility question on the application form, such as whether you're authorized to work in the U.S., hold a required license or can work in the job's location3. Employers can set rules that reject applicants automatically based on the answer2. In the recruiter study above, these questions were the main automatic filter, so answer them accurately.
Should I hide keywords in white text on my résumé?
No. Roche notes that an ATS returns all text in the same color1, so hidden text can show up in the version a recruiter reads. Use the posting's words only for skills and experience you actually have.
How can I tell whether my résumé parsed correctly?
When an application form fills itself in from your résumé, check every field before you submit; Roche advises candidates to review that the data landed in the right fields1. You can also see what a parser extracts with LAYIQ's free ATS Résumé Checker.
Sources
- Roche Careers. Resume Parsing FAQ (opens in a new tab). Accessed October 6, 2026.
- Greenhouse Support. Application rules overview (opens in a new tab). Accessed October 6, 2026.
- Enhancv. Does the ATS Reject Your Resume? 25 Recruiters Explain What Really Happens (opens in a new tab). Published November 3, 2025. Accessed October 6, 2026.
- Greenhouse Support. Why didn't the candidate's resume import correctly? (opens in a new tab). Accessed October 6, 2026.
- Recruiterflow Help Center. My resumes are not being parsed? (opens in a new tab). Accessed October 6, 2026.
- Textkernel. OCR for Resume Parsing (opens in a new tab). Accessed October 6, 2026.
- Greenhouse Support. Supported formats for resumes, cover letters and other candidate uploads (opens in a new tab). Accessed October 6, 2026.
- Greenhouse. An AI Trust Crisis: 70% of Hiring Managers Trust AI to Make Faster and Better Hiring Decisions, Only 8% of Job Seekers Call it Fair (opens in a new tab). Published November 19, 2025. Accessed October 6, 2026.