How to write a CV that passes ATS screening

Use a single-column layout, standard section headings such as Experience, Education and Skills, and avoid text boxes, tables or graphics — many Applicant Tracking Systems cannot read them correctly.

What CV score is considered good?

A score of 80 or above generally means clear structure, strong verbs and measurable results. Below 60 usually means missing sections or vague, unquantified bullet points.

How long should a CV be?

One page is safe for under five years of experience, and up to two pages for more senior roles — recruiters spend seconds on a first pass.

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CV Tips

Free CV & ATS advice

Everything we learned building the CV score engine, turned into practical, no-fluff tips.

The five things that move a CV score the most

After scoring thousands of CVs through the CVBoost checker, a clear pattern shows up: most low scores come down to the same five gaps, and fixing them is usually faster than people expect.

1. Missing or buried contact details

Recruiters and ATS parsers both look for an email and phone number at the very top of the document. Burying them in a footer or sidebar, or leaving one out entirely, is one of the most common — and easiest to fix — mistakes.

2. Duties instead of results

"Responsible for managing social media accounts" describes a duty. "Grew Instagram following from 2,000 to 14,000 in eight months" describes a result. The second version is what gets remembered and what a CV score rewards.

3. No action verbs

Bullet points that start with "Was responsible for" or "Helped with" read as passive. Starting with a strong verb — led, built, launched, reduced, negotiated — immediately signals ownership.

4. Formatting that fights the ATS

Multi-column layouts, tables and text boxes look fine to a human eye but can confuse the software that parses a CV before a recruiter ever opens it, sometimes dropping whole sections from the parsed result.

5. Length that's too short or too long

Under 200 words usually means missing detail; over 800 words usually means a recruiter won't finish reading. Aiming for 300–600 words covers most early and mid-career CVs comfortably.

Want to see exactly where your own CV stands on each of these? Run it through the free CV Checker for an instant score and a specific fix for each category.